The New Abnormal

Series Two In this reposted episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interviewed the filmmaker, broadcast journalist and presenter Wyn Baptiste. He's currently senior producer of the hugely successful TV drama 'MTV Shuga' which, for anyone not in the know, is essentially an entertainment show with a message aimed at young people; with the action set in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya,...

Series Two This reposted episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features John Dunleavy,  Global Chief Client Officer, Ogilvy Group & IBM Global Client Leader, WPP.  He's spent over a decade leading agencies and working with some of the most iconic tech brands in the world. (He's the ex-Global President of m:united//McCann, before which he was Exec-VP/MD of Saatchi & Saatchi NYC, and...

Series Two This episode of #TheNewAbnormal is a masterclass in retail c/o a renowned specialist.  Ian McGarrigle, an ex-senior retail journalist and Parter at Bell Pottinger, is Chairman of the World Retail Congress, the major annual event that attracts personnel from throughout the retail sector, on a truly global basis.  In this interview, Ian discusses the key issue impacting retail, namely the...

Series Three In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interview Julian Boulding, President of TheNetworkOne, who work with around 1200 agencies in nearly 120 countries worldwide, providing 'open source creativity' and comms services from independent agencies, for a growing number of leading international marketing companies.  Julian's been attending the Cannes Lions for nearly...

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Cailin O'Connor, who is an associate professor of logic and philosophy of science at the University of California.  She's also the co-author of 'The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread' (published by Yale University Press. In our interview, we discuss Cailin's most recent writings on the subject of &apos...

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Jack Godfrey Wood, VP Design at Native Design in San Francisco.  They're an independent design company who 'drive growth by creating what people love', with a client roster including Audi, Bentley, Diageo, Google, Microsoft, Oxfam and Santander.  Jack leads physical, digital, research and engineering design teams, whose wo...

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview Ben Hughes, Professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.  He's also a consultant at, and an ex-professor of, the Central Academy of Fine Arts School of Design in Beijing; and was previously a consultant at the Innovation Centre, Central St Martins + the Course Director MA Ind Design at CSM.  In this episode, we discuss his fascin...

Series Two  In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview David Shah, the renowned Publisher and Owner at View-Publications; five leading-edge magazines specialising in textiles, colours and branding strategy.  He's also the Director of DRS Consulting, which specialises in the design of private label brands for menswear and womenswear, and is a consultant to numerous companies on future con...

Series Two This episode of #TheNewAbnormal features Sarah Rabia, the Global Director of Cultural Strategy & Backslash Co-Founder at TBWA\Chiat\Day.  Based in Los Angeles she's an award-winning Content Marketer and Cultural Insight Expert, who was previously a Strategist at BBH London and Mother London; having been the Senior Trends Analyst at The Future Laboratory and a journalist at The...

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview David Nottoli. He's an award-winning brand and communications strategist re: some of the world's top advertisers inc Hershey, Nike, Levi's, Coca Cola, Samsung, Best Buy, and Bank of America.  Dave's built a track record of re-energizing big brands, helping small brands get noticed, and finding new ways into the consumer...

This isn’t actually an episode of #TheNewAbnormal at all…but as it’s my podcast series, I’m taking the outrageous liberty of linking to a separate one that features me - as opposed to my guests. Hence linking to 'The Speaker Show' which is run by the renowned global speaker-bureau, Speakers Associates. In this episode, their brilliant host Maria Franzoni interviewed me as the launch epis...

Series Two  In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Steve Vranakis.  He's an award winning creative who worked on the launch of the iPhone, with Amazon, NASA (Space Lab), The United Nations, UNICEF and headed up the Creative Lab at Google in EMEA for nearly a decade.  Appointed as the first ever Chief Creative Officer for Greece, he developed a new country narrative as a Special Adv...

Series One In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Charlie Waterhouse, Creative Director of This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll (with an ethos based on  identity + activism for culture + causes) whose clients include those such as Amnesty International, English Heritage, Médecins Sans Frontières, National Gallery, and UNICEF.  He's also co-founder of the Art Group and Media &amp...

Series One This episode of #TheNewAbnormal features Paul Kemp-Robertson, the co-founder of Contagious Communications and co-author of 'The Contagious Commandments'. To put it mildly, he has a very deep knowledge of the global marketing communications industry.  A graduate of Goldsmiths, and the ex-worldwide director of creative resources for Leo Burnett, in 2004 he then co-founded Contag...

Series One In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview the leading futurist, author and speaker Anne-Lise Kjaer.  Her wholebrain methodology bridges the rational and emotional universe – shaping the strategies and core concepts driving the businesses and brands of the future.  According to the Financial Times her unique world vision is "as fertile as Dali’s only she creates social prototy...

Series One In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Carl Miller, who specialises in how technology is changing society and politics.  He co-founded the first UK think tank institute dedicated to studying the digital world, at Demos (Britain's leading cross-party think tank)  nearly a decade ago, and has been their Research Director ever since.  Carl writes widely on tech and society...

Series One In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview the writer Tom Hodgkinson.  His philosophy is of a relaxed approach to life, enjoying it as it comes rather than toiling for an imagined better future.  After lounging around at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he played bass in the thrash band Chopper, he took the natural step of getting a job in Rough Trade records before moving on to bec...

Series One  This episode of 'The New Abnormal' features the renowned semiotician Dr Rachel Lawes.  One of the earliest providers of British commercial semiotics, her PhD was in social psychology, hence bringing a unique perspective to semiotics, placing her at the exact intersection of psychology, linguistics and cultural studies.  Rachel has been using semiotics for nearly 20 years to r...

Series One  In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interviewed Joakim Noren, who is now a consultant, having been the Marketing Director and Vice President of Artipelag - a unique international venue for art, culture and design, beautifully set among pine trees on Varmdo in the Stockholm archipelago.  Previously, Joakim was at the Swedish Institute, where he developed the 'Brand Sweden...

Series One In this episode, I talk with the renowned strategist Gareth Kay, a founding partner of the cutting-edge independent creative studio Chapter, in San Fransisco, whose clients inc Google, Airbnb, Sonos, Dropbox, Uber, Facebook and PayPal.  (Although , since we recorded the episode, Gareth has now moved into fintech). Prior to setting up Chapter, he'd spent 20yrs at some of the world&a...

Series One  In this episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interview Emily Hare, the Global Content Strategy Director of the Publicis Groupe. (Prior to this, she was Head of Content for Make Honey, before which she spent over a decade with Contagious Communications, where she was the Managing Editor.)  In our discussion, which is a reposted episode, she explains her views on a wide range of iss...

Series One In this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, I interview the journalist and broadcaster Emma-Louise Boynton, who has a background as a broadcast producer, working with the likes of Sky News, the BBC and Tina Brown Media.   She's the co-founder and CEO of Her Hustle, which launched in 2019 and lifts the veil on the world of work, empowering women to carve out a career they want, on...

Series One In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal I interviewed Jen Urich, a marketing strategist and founder of Sparrow Strategy in Portland, Oregon.  She's also the ex-Group Planning Director of Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, ex-Director of Account Planning at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky in Miami, and Director of Account Planning at J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, in Mexico City. (Previously, she wa...

Series One In this episode, I spoke with Nicole Fall, the CEO of the renowned strategic research, innovation consultancy and forecasting agency Asian Consumer Intelligence.  She's spent 20 years in Asia working with leading brands in countries inc China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.  In the interview, we discuss her expert views on decoding cultural/social trends in Asia, and the...

Series One Martin Raymond is an author, journalist and co-founder of The Future Laboratory - one of the world's most renowned futures consultancies.  Established in 2000, they've worked with more than 1000 businesses in 50 countries.  In this reposted episode, we discuss his thinking around a wide range of areas, including journalism being 'the last refuge of the desperate - and the...