The Immortal Life of Agencies

Today’s guest is Eric Zuncic, Global Managing Director and Chief Product Officer at Stagwell’s creative collective, Forsman & Bodenfors. And he’s passionate about the work.  Eric describes why our industry’s obsession with outputs is hampering impact. So if your agency is still taking briefs at face value and churning out content, then you’re missing a trick.  He unpacks how Forsman...

Today’s guest is the highly experienced Holly Maguire, Global Chief Growth Officer at Design Bridge and Partners. She shares her unique perspective on how agencies can evolve with empathy, not ego. As her career has progressed from advertising to brand design, and as a former agency CEO, Holly describes the power she’s seen in humility, collaboration and enduring craft skills.  We also explor...

Today’s guest is Michael Lebowitz, Founder and Executive Chairman of SPCSHP – an agency that’s defied trends and labels for 25 years, and been a Harvard Business School case study not once, but twice.  Using the metaphor of a living, breathing organism, Michael describes SPCSHP as a creative canvas, where culture and imagination are more important than rigid labels or passing trends.  We...

Today’s guest is a true agency advocate – Marla Kaplowitz, Chief Executive Officer of the 4A’s. As her 8-year tenure draws to a close, Marla speaks up for the pressures that agencies are under and the opportunities she sees in an industry transformed since the pandemic.  The conversation explores the value of creativity, why speed should command a premium and how AI can drive premiumisation r...

Today’s guest is James Townsend — CEO EMEA at Stagwell and also CEO of their Brand Performance Network. Stagwell is now a multi-billion dollar challenger to the established agency HoldCo.s, so how are they approaching growth differently to their competitors?  In a word: adaptation — by embracing the evolving needs of modern clients. James describes how Stagwell’s digital-first structure aims...

This episode features Nils Leonard, Co-Founder of Uncommon Creative Studio – one of the world’s most influential creative forces right now. It’s a searingly honest conversation about what it means to matter - as an individual, a creative, an agency, and as a citizen of the world. Nils unpacks why many agencies have a broken relationship with success - and why even for a high-profile creative, it’s...

From President to Presidency, Conrad shares his journey - from chasing Barack Obama around Virginia, to taking the reins at Grey London.  He describes the importance of balancing intuition with evidence - an essential skill when balancing change with heritage at Grey over the last 12 months.  We dive into value propositions and what makes them succeed, particularly how they become insula...

Today’s guest is Toby Southgate, newly appointed Global CEO of We Are Social, and this episode is a real treat. Few leaders advocate so vocally for our industry as a whole, or - as you’ll hear - have such a refreshing perspective on their competitive set.  Toby shares his perspective on what agencies are getting wrong when it comes to differentiation - from bloated service offerings and overu...

Burnout is everywhere. And let’s be honest – agency life isn’t helping. The pressure’s relentless, deadlines never stop and somehow you're just supposed to keep going. So how can you avoid running yourself and your team into the ground? Bianca Best is the Global Growth Officer at Performics – the performance marketing arm of Publicis Media. She’s also the founder of The Burnout Business and the au...

Have you ever attached a 270-foot dragon to the top of the Empire State Building? No, me neither.  And how do your most audacious ideas make it into the world - especially if your agency doesn’t offer clients the reassurance of a readymade creative reputation?  To explore that question, today’s guest on The Immortal Life of Agencies is Trevor Guthrie, co-founder of US-based independent,...

Today’s guest is Ruud Wanck, CEO of Candid - who describe themselves as ‘next generation holding company’. Candid’s offering has been specifically designed to address the defining challenge for modern clients - the twin needs for specialisation and integration.  Ruud shares how he’s consolidated his group into three core offerings - brand, communications and media. And by removing so much com...

This episode features Omid Farhang, co-founder and CEO of Majority - Adweek's newly crowned Multicultural Agency of the Year. This is a fascinating insight into how one man very consciously transitioned from insecurity to market leadership.  From starting a podcast that became his personal 'business school curriculum', to purposefully connecting with the CMOs he most admired, Omid shares how...

“Running an agency is like doing a jigsaw with some of the pieces missing.” How’s that for candour from GroupM’s EMEA’s CEO Josh Krichefski? This conversation unpacks the joys and challenges of running an agency of international scale - from the inevitable cycle of client wins and client losses, to the increasingly transformational needs of modern clients.  Josh also offers his perspective on...

“The best way to win the game is by not playing the game.”  How’s that for a hot take on the agency business?  It’s from Mischief’s fascinating and thoughtful Chief Creative Officer, Greg Hahn. In this episode, we unpack just how pervasive fear has become in the agency business - including where it shows up and what to do about it.  In a world where agencies have become so meek, he’...

“Creativity is our ‘special sauce’”. Really, though - is it?  This is the episode I’ve wanted to record for ages. I finally get to address my bemusement at agency leaders claiming that ‘creativity’ is their agency’s point of difference, and then delivering conference keynotes where they also say it’s the whole industry’s USP.  Thankfully, here’s Jo Wallace - the always eloquent Global EC...

Just over a year ago, Common Interest burst onto the scene with the acquisition of former Coke and Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall’s fabled branding agency, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand. It was one hell of an entrance into the global agency space. Today’s guest is Anthony Freedman, Common Interest’s CEO and Founder. Together we unpack how he’s building a new kind of holding company.  Of course, we’...

DESCRIPTION For all the talk in agencies about change, transformation and - kill me now - ‘agility’, what exactly do these words mean in practice? And is blundering through ‘change’ causing more harm than good?  To shine a light on all this, today’s guest is Neil Perkin - the founder of Only Dead Fish, a consultancy sitting at the intersection of digital strategy, transformation and agility....

More and more ‘mini-networks’ are seeking to beat the holding companies at their own game. These often PE-backed groups of agencies can play the agile indie card, and they can also club together to service global clients. Unsurprisingly, each group claims its own point of difference vs the traditional holding company model.  Meet The People is one such emerging network. And our guest today is...

Having touched on the omnipresent topic that is AI in pretty much every episode, this time we dive right in. Our guest is Chris Johnson, Founder and CEO of the AI consultancy, TomorrowToday.  And wow, does he give value for money. While much of the industry discourse around AI centres on creative tools and ideation speed, Chris is focused on commercial application.  Our conversation star...

When it comes to advertising agencies, they don’t come much more prestigious than Omnicom’s DDB. Whenever any of us needs a quote of substance, Bill Bernbach - the B in DDB - is always a rich source of wisdom.  So what a treat to sit down with their global CEO, Alex Lubar, to find out what makes DDB successful. Alex speaks to what he sees as the two driving forces of agency culture - momentum...

In seven short years, Uncommon Creative Studio has gone from launch to the very top of the advertising world. Alongside the reputation, the awards and of course the work, their deal with Havas now gives them the scale to go truly global.  So how can a newly minted agency achieve so much success so quickly? To find out, we sat down with one of Uncommon’s founders, Natalie Graeme.  Startin...

Sue Unerman is the Chief Transformation Officer of EssenceMediacomX. And having spent 34 years with Mediacom in its various incarnations, it’s fair to say that ‘transformation’ is a subject that Sue knows a thing or two about.  Unpacking her personal journey across five decades (sorry, Sue!), this far-reaching conversation explores how to build an agency career amidst constant change and incr...

Our guest today is the wonderful Harjot Singh - Global Chief Strategy Officer at McCann & McCann Worldgroup. This is a rich and personal conversation about the impact of people being different in our industry.  Harjot has a real way with words and he shares some lovely thoughts, not least on the critical difference between discipline and dogma when it comes to great work. He also beautifu...

This episode features Katie Lee - former CEO of Lucky Generals and now Chief Operating Officer of Wavemaker, the WPP media agency. Together, we explore the differences between healthy and unhealthy growth. As a case in point, Katie shares her experience of how agencies often confuse growth with strategy, which in turn leads to unhelpful - and unhealthy - places. So if you recognise her definition...

Ruth Mortimer is the Global President of Advertising Week, so it’s fair to say that she has an unusually broad perspective on our industry, on clients and of course on agencies.  In this episode, you can really feel her breadth of knowledge - as well as her passion for creativity - as she compares and contrasts different markets. In particular, Ruth unpacks what’s holding back the UK market,...