Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Derek Walker is a creative director turned agency owner. He writes and reflects extensively about the industry and he believes the advertising industry is operating in the face of constant fear. And he believes a big part of this is because agencies haven’t fought hard enough for themselves. You can find Derek here https://twitter.com/dereklwalker For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www....

1. Empathy 2. What’s the difference between a strategy and a plan? 3. I got the dates wrong - Kickstarter Tuesday Nov 5, NYC event Wed Dec 4 http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Eaon Pritchard is working on his second book. Sort of. You see, he published his first book in 2018. It was called “Where Did It All Go Wrong?” Then he ran into a career surprise and is now working out what kind of work he wants to do and how to get that work. We talk about how all of this feels like and how to keep going when the going gets shitty. You can find Eaon here: https://twitter.com/eaon...

Mary Ergul is a strategist who wants to see companies help strategists start new jobs well. So she made a deck called “Sinking Isn’t An Option” (http://bit.ly/strategyonboarding). Grab the deck, fill it in, and help your fellow strategists fly... or, at least, not drown. Mary mentions working at Havas a few times. She recently left and is joining Madwell. You can find Mary here https://twitter.com...

Sarah Watson likes big pictures. First, as an account planner then as a chairman, Sarah has been drawn to the big picture and to grand narratives and to drawing them out of people, companies, and brands. But, over time, she’s had to learn how to adjust to her clients and colleagues because not everyone knows what to do with a big picture. After all, you don’t usually just hang them on a wall, stan...

Today’s walk - yeah, things I’m learning about through therapy, confidence, a happy life, job interviews, how maternity leave can feel. This weekend, make some art, yo! http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In a happy coincidence, an interview I'd scheduled with Jim Carroll occurred hours before he was due to attend the Account Planning Group's Creative Strategy Awards.  The APG really is the leading industry group for the awkward among our industry and, after a hefty career in London, Jim just chaired two days and 27 presentations from England's strategy brains for the APG. So we talked about how he...

Justin Lines is a marketer who recently completed a year at the University of Edinburgh. He's on a mission to investigate the connection between comedy and marketing. His paper "How do comedians reveal the funny?" discusses insights and, especially, how comedians deploy benign violations - thoughts that offend yet seem true - to stir their audiences.  You can read Justin's research here https://ju...

It's an outer-body experience to have written a bunch of pages about empathy and feelings and how they can affect a strategist (not all strategists because, let's face it, not everyone has feelings), and to then start therapy and have some of the ideas in your writing played back to you but about you.... very about you. Take a listen if you're into any of this. I am. I need to be. You - you have c...

I wanted to re-record the introduction to my book "Strategy Is Your Words" after making a few changes and because the sound wasn't great six months ago. I'm launching the book as a Kickstarter on November 5, 2019. I'd love your support - even if it's just telling every single person you know about it. Joking. But not joking.  Let me know what you think. I think I'm happy with it which is a very un...

Here are stories about mental health experiences from the Sweathead Facebook community. Ben Breier, Julia Vanderput, Abbey Gaunt, and Mariana Cotlear step up and share their minds with us. A huge thanks to them.  You can read Ben's Medium article here: https://medium.com/@misterdisco For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instag...

What's your brain up to? How is technology affecting it? How does dating in New York City affect it? Divorce? Talking on stages? Writing a book? Therapy? Thinking? Tom Goodwin somehow manages to work in a very public role for Publicis while also expressing spontaneous and very candid thoughts about our industry and our world. How does he survive every day? Great question. We get into all these top...

It's World Mental Health Day today and I'm going to post multiple episodes. I wanted to start with this excerpt from my book to help people understand that the strategy life is about a search for truth, how many parts of our public lives aren't interested in truth, and how this tension can create conflict that we risk bringing too much into our internal lives. This is why art is good. It helps you...

Heleana Blackwell is a London planner who recently discovered herself doing stand-up comedy. Her brain told her to do it because it would make her better at her job. But Heleana was also looking for new ways to express herself and to experience the world. As she simultaneously moves deeper into comedy and planning, how do the worlds work together? Which skills and techniques transfer? And which do...

We don’t easily discuss how we feel and what to do when we lose a job. In the Sweathead Facebook group, tens of people answered a question about this last week. We discuss the topic and four people phone in their answers (Brian, Giovanna, Ben, Gustavo). I also talk therapy, dealing with strategy bosses, and I read about Fog from my upcoming book “Strategy Is Your Words.” http://www.instagram.com/m...

Stan Johnson is a creative director. After years in agencies, he spent half a decade running an in-house team. When he started, he thought people never came back from that kind of move. Yet he made the move. And now he’s back. And this is what we discuss. You can find Stan here: http://www.twitter.com/branddna For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. I...

There's something pure and powerful about pitches - largely because the thinking rarely reaches the public and the time pressures force fast decisions, but they can be wrought with bad behavior. How do you deal with the bad behavior? Do you just have to put up with it? Tim Dunn is an English Executive Strategy Director in Canada. He loves pitches. He has a way with them. And, in this interview, we...

Jon Wilkins has big titles. Yes, two of them. After co-founding and running the agency wunderkind Naked, he's moved into the roles of Executive Chairman of Karmarama and MD and Creative Lead at Accenture Interactive. Actually, perhaps that's three titles. In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss how creative minds are fitting in at management consultancies, what management consultancies can offer...

In which I read from my book “Strategy Is Your Words” and focus on why I think practicing and publishing are important ideas for strategists. We also talk about which skills are useful for someone in business intelligence to learn to make the leap into planning, seeing patterns, and an insight I think is amazing. Ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

How comfortable are you with putting your personal details into the world? Do you think they'll hurt you or help you? Last time Nayantara Dutta appeared on Sweathead, I interviewed her about identity - and growing up in different places around the world. This time, we have more of a conversation - and less of an interview - about telling the stories, perhaps secrets, that make us who we are. Nayan...

Tom Crichtlow is an independent consultant who helps start-ups with digital strategy. Based in Brooklyn, Tom originally moved from London to New York to help establish a US presence for his brother's agency Distilled in 2007. His work in SEO, content, and digital marketing then took him to the Google Creative Lab but, after two years of bouncing around and not quite hitting his stride, he struck o...

Another episode of Live Action Strategy with Julian Cole. We chat The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass, the 4 Live Action Strategy decks that are now online (lamps, tacos, vegetarian burgers, and crocs), and we riff a strategy live for getting people like Julian to go to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to renew their licenses.  The Megaclass details are here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com...

Today we chat about how to make a point and why so much advertising talk and writing seems to lack one. You can ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Praveen Vaidyanathan has worked around the world but currently calls Copenhagen home. He's a strategy director at VIRTUE/VICE Nordics, and, as he's traveled around, he's contemplated the agencies in which he'd like to work and how they talk about themselves. He's contemplated them so much that he compiled a list of 700 agency philosophies. In this interview, we discuss what an agency philosophy is...

Vicky Chen is Head of Strategy at VIRTUE Nordic (part of Vice) in Copenhagen. She arrived in strategy via psychology and writing. She's worked in New York, Amsterdam, and San Francisco at agencies such as Naked, Sid Lee, and AKQA. She reached strategy in an indirect way, much like many of us. And this is what we discuss. How do you get into strategy? What are the pros and cons of advertising schoo...