Call To Action

This week we’ve laid bait of a pint and picture round to snare sharp thinker, pub quizzer and Strategy Director at Wunderman Thompson, Will Humphrey. A lifelong problem solver with experience across Advertising, PR, CRM and Digital, he’s devised award-winning strategies for the likes of O2, Budweiser, NatWest and Land Rover and is a huge advocate for mentoring junior folk in the industry. He talks to us on a treasure trove of topics including ad land as a walled garden, binding machines and nappies, asking Londoners to find Coventry on a map, empathy, educated guessing, planning from within, what’s special about Robbie Earnshaw, hippos, custard creams and lots more. You’d be a fool not to let us bend your ear ‘ere. ///// Follow Will on Twitter and Instagram Check out his blog Here's his advice for junior strategists/planners And keep an eye out for future Getting In & Getting On events Will proudly dedicates his episode to @sarahspoon, give her a follow too Will’s book recommendations are:

We lurked in the waters of Loch Lomond to catch Strathclyde’s top dog in data for a natter; independent analytics consultant, Andrew Willshire.    Andrew is the Founder of Diametrical, a Strategic Analytics Consultancy. He has over a decade of experience in media analytics and his expertise includes marketing mix modelling, media optimisation, segmentation and market analysis.    This pod is packed with nuggets of golden insight as Andrew talks to us on his work with JP Castlin (and their argument over mint sauce), the state of analytics in media, data problems in The Long and the Short of it, murky metrics on Facebook, why ROI stinks, Christopher Nolan, Franz Ferdinand, Ferrari, and lots more. /////   Follow Andrew on Twitter  Check out Diametrical  And enjoy his Marketing Week articles   ROI is Dead: Now Bury It by Tim Ambler   If Russ Ackoff had given a TED Talk video    Remember, JP is offering Call to Action listeners the Castlin Manifesto for nothing. Just email hello@rouser.se and ask nicely.   Andre

We’ve gone all in with a pair of Jacks to bluff and catch journalist and broadcaster Harriet Minter this week.   Harriet is an expert in female leadership, working from home and accidental autoerotic asphyxiation. After a hugely successful stint at The Guardian, founding a first-of-its-kind Women in Leadership editorial section, Harriet’s latest foray into writing, Working from Home: How to Build a Career you Love Outside the Office, is a bullshit-free guide to the new flexible workplace.    We up the ante and chat on her first (and worst) job at The Lemon Tree café, ditching university for Ocean Road, working at The Guardian, finding a safe space to fail, winning a £15,000 handbag in a poker tournament, managing remote teams, proceeding until apprehended and loads more.    ///// Follow Harriet on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram  Make sure to pre-order Harriet’s book here  And watch both her brilliant TEDx Talks; What yoga taught me about business, bravery & bras and Proceed until apprehended     Harri

This week we’ve laid bait of fried chicken and Guinness to snare the recently rebranded Stockholm strategist who now has a new name and manifesto, JP Castlin.     JP is an independent strategy and complexity management consultant who shares his views on strategy in Marketing Week, The Drum, the IPA’s EffWorks, his own no-nonsense talks across the globe, and his hugely popular annual manifestos.    The imminently available Castlin Manifesto promises to be more provocative than ever, so we’re first in line to fill our plate and stuff our faces with a scintillating smorgasbord of JP’s most controversial opinions.    We tuck into deliberate and emergent strategy, why context is king, complexity theory, experimenting, marketing in “praxis”, A/B testing and porn, the effectiveness shaped elephant in the room, challenging context-free rules in a context specific world and loads more.   /////   Follow JP on Twitter  Listen to his first Call to Action episode here  Catch Chapter 1 of the Castlin Manifesto on ISOLATED

This week, by order of the Peaky Blinders, we’ve slipped into Small Heath and taken up a table at The Garrison to catch the best Brummie Tommy since Tommy Shelby, Tommy Mason.    An exceptionally talented designer, Tommy is Founder and Lead Designer of Studio Mason, a digital and branding studio based in Birmingham. An experienced creative specialising in UX, UI and branding, he was nominated for The Drum’s Young Designer of the Year 2018, and more recently nabbed himself one of their Chip Shop Awards.   Tommy talks to us on tonnes of topics, including doing a design apprenticeship, function over form, designing for accessibility, going freelance, why self-branding is b*llocks, the creative scene in Brum and a whole lot more. /////  Follow Tommy on Twitter  And on Instagram   Check out Studio Mason  Here are the Accessibility Tools mentioned     Tommy’s recommendations are: Interface Lovers Magazine  Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix  /////

We’ve laid the Table (Mountain) with a bountiful Binet and Field feast to snare Cape Town’s creativity champion and industry agony aunt, Gillian Rightford, this week.  Gillian is Founder of Adtherapy, a management, skills development and communication consultancy ridding the world of bad ads using her simple equation; Better skills = better relationships = better results. Previously, Gillian honed her craft at agencies across South Africa, culminating in an impressive stint as Group Managing Director at Lowe Bull.    In this episode, we tuck into tasty topics like why loads of creative work is so mediocre, tips for marketers and agencies to get the best out of each other, the Bill she can’t live without (clue: it’s either Bernbach or tong?), the importance of account leadership, creativity, risk, cats, astrology and loads more. Go forth and gorge.   ///// Follow Gillian on Twitter  And on LinkedIn  Check out Adtherapy   Watch The Cracks in Things Let the Light Shine In on ISOLATED Talks   And here's h

This week, armed with the promise of sex and drugs and How Brands Grow, we’ve waded our way through gaggles of groupies to catch ex-rock star, pitch addict and award winning creative, Nick Ellis.    A respected strategic thinker and pre-watershed sex toy advert pioneer, Nick is Creative Partner & Co-Founder of Halo, a Design Week UK Top 100 independent brand agency based in Bristol. He has over 20 years’ experience working on significant global projects for clients including Jack Daniel’s, SEAT, BT, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and Diageo.    He talks to us on his failed career as a rock star, running an agency, why he’s ashamed of his “womb room”, tips on creative briefing, the importance of account management, making the world’s most boring advert for a sex toy client and loads more. Tune up, plug in and enjoy. ///// Follow Nick on Twitter  And on LinkedIn  Check out his agency Halo  Watch Wow How Now: A Creative Pitch Technique on ISOLATED Talks  And check out the slides from his ZeeMelt talk on Acco

This week, marking our Half Century 50th episode (not out), we’ve caught and bowled Facebook’s Head of Strategy, and cricketer, Shekhar Deshpande.   One of the world’s great strategists, Shekhar spent nearly two decades at the creative agency J Walter Thompson, across Bangalore and London, prior to joining Facebook. He’s had work awarded at Cannes, performed judging duties for the Effies, and worked with clients including Nike, Unilever, Shell, Diageo and Mondelez.    Shekhar shares stories of his 19 years at JWT, running away from and towards things, how a cricket match in Guildford helped change his life, working at Facebook, the importance of expressing your feelings and the future of strategy.    If that wasn’t enough, in the final over, he knocks us for 6 with career advice from Calvin & Hobbes, delivers a glorious googly on why he detests pitches, and loads more. Howzat? ///// Follow Shekhar on LinkedIn  And on Twitter  Watch ‘Being the Best Strategist You Can Be’ on ISOLATED Talks  Here’s his WA

Wielding a witch’s wand, we hot-footed aboard the Hogwarts Express for a magical chat with Founder of Bodacious and strategy’s own Severus Snape, Zoe Scaman, this week.   Zoe’s love for sci-fi and strategy has sent her searching around the world for the next shiny thing, working for the likes of Droga5, Ridley Scott Creative Group, and Adidas. She’s developed a TV series for a huge fashion label, branded a celebrity or two, and is the go-to-guru for expertise on brand planning and entertainment strategy.  In this episode, she adds magic and mojo to topics like avoiding university, Sydney’s strategy scene, PPC for porn sites, agencies ‘sausage factory’ problem, world-building and what-if planning, fetishizing frameworks, why the smartest people ask stupid questions, and a treasure trove more.  ///// Follow Zoe on Twitter  And check out her Substack  Here’s Bodacious  Her out of this world ISOLATED Talk  And her article on breaking our non-fiction addiction    Zoe’s book recommendations are: Hollowpo

This week, we fired up the big screen and laid bait of a reminiscing watch of Wales’ glorious 3 – 1 Euro 2016 victory over Belgium to catch the best thing since sliced Bara-Brith; MediaCom’s Global Digital Director, Andrew Spurrier-Dawes.   Arguably Wales’ finest export since Huw Edwards, ASD has worked with stellar brands like Mars, Sky, Tesco and eBay. Described by Rory Sutherland as ‘MediaCom’s polymath’, he still finds time to be an IronMan, Campaign 30 Under 30 winner, co-host of two successful podcasts, keen photographer and family man. He talks to us on missing a McDonald’s armed robbery by 30 seconds, why his first boss called him a c*nt, why ads should be more expensive, advice for onboarding clients, why the internet is f*cked, clicks, China, his struggles with mental health, and loads more. You’d be a fool not to fill your ear canals up. Iechyd da. ///// Follow ASD on Twitter Or drop him a line Here are more of his favourite books And his ISOLATED Talk He also co-hosts two successful

They say you should leave an audience wanting more, but sod that, as this week we are giving you a huge double helping of more, as it is part 2 of our chat with George Tannenbaum.    One of the most highly awarded, revered and talented copywriters and creative directors on the planet, George is a freelancer who was previously Executive Creative Director and Copy Chief at Ogilvy for over 10 years, and has worked with huge brands like IBM, Boeing, PayPal and General Motors.   Allow your ears to be bent by George’s blissful yet biting NY tones, as he talks on subjects such as the state of copywriting, what he would do if he was Joe Biden, rediscovering his love for advertising, what he would banish from the industry, his time at Ogilvy including his last assignment working on the Boeing account, clickbait and how to write a good headline and more. Go tune in, you lucky, lucky people.   Oh. And that’s not to mention a perfectly timed comedic cameo from his wife. ///// Follow George and Le Agency Holding Company

We’ve pulled a network agency worm out of the Big Apple and used it as topic-bait to catch one of advertising’s biggest fish this week; the one and only George Tannenbaum. One of the most highly awarded, revered and talented copywriters and creative directors on the planet, George is a freelancer who was previously Executive Creative Director and Copy Chief at Ogilvy for over 10 years.   George has worked with huge brands like IBM, Boeing, PayPal, and General Motors, writes a hugely influential marketing blog called Ad Aged, and has a charming if alarmingly deluded French alter ego called ‘Le Agency Holding Company CEO’ who holds up a satirical mirror to the holding company era.   Listen to George chat and vent eloquent fire on a variety of subjects such as his family’s settlement in the U.S, his early career, working and learning from Ron Rosenfeld and Len Sirowitz, the NY agency scene in the 80s and 90s, what the industry has become, ageism, his time at Ogilvy, why he hates the Yankees, and tonnes more. So

This week we’ve trawled and traversed all 50 US states in a 27-foot-long hot dog to catch former male cheerleader, Assistant Tour Manager to Britney Spears, mentee of Magic Johnson & ad land’s most diverse and disruptive Diversity Officer; Doug Melville.    Another chapter of his remarkable CV tells us that as the first-ever Chief Diversity Officer of TBWA\North America, Doug has driven TBWA’s supplier diversity efforts to over $250 million in spend with female and diversely owned-and-operated businesses in the creative space…and still found time to interview Snoop Dogg.     He talks to us on that giant wiener (!!), studying at the University of Magic Johnson, touring with the Princess of Pop, nailing your diversity strategy, valuing progress over PR, how brands can take a stance on social issues, and loads more. Anyone who simply wants their company or agency to produce better, more diverse work should bend their ear hither now. /////   Follow Doug on Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram  Check out his d

This week, armed with a first-aid kit and copy of Bushcraft 101 we head through the hinterlands of Gloucestershire to catch Sarah Townsend for a chinwag.    As a freelance copywriter, Sarah has over 20 years’ experience traversing the tumultuous territory of self-employment and now she’s written the book on it. Boasting over 100 5-star Amazon reviews, Survival Skills for Freelancers provides practical advice on the nuts and bolts of freelance work.    She chats to us on a load of topics, including the struggles of freelancing before (and after) social media, how to avoid isolation, burnout, the dreaded ‘comparisonitis’, the importance of boundaries, tips for working from home and tonnes more. Plus, there’s talk of copywriters who charge by the word and how a tomato could be your secret productivity weapon.   Pause Man vs Wild, fire up the Trangia and enjoy. ///// Follow Sarah on Twitter  And LinkedIn  Here’s her book Survival Skills for Freelancers  Pick up a copy on Amazon  Check out Sarah's copywriting

This episode is a Call to Action first as we’ve landed a supersized bumper catch; the power couple Alex Jamieson & Bob Gower. Alex was one of the co-creators and co-stars of the Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me, and is also the best-selling author of 5 books, a highly-sought-after wellness expert and success mentor, and has also been interviewed by Oprah.   Bob is the amazing author of Agile Business: A Leader’s Guide to Harnessing Complexity, as well as an in-demand speaker and consultant, working with leaders at huge multinationals like Chanel, Ericsson, and Ford. They talk to us on their early careers, how they met, their new book Radical Alignment, what it was like to work together, the writing process, behavioural change work with people and organisations, their All-In Method, and more. ///// Check out Alex & Bob’s book Radical Alignment (out August 11th) And the Radical Alignment website Here’s Alex's website, LinkedIn and Instagram And Bob's website & LinkedIn Read mor

We’ve lurked stage left disguised as a Victorian wench to nab musical theatre fan and exceptionally talented writer gem Higgins this week.  A creative problem solver and a strong mental health advocate, gem rules ‘The Twitters’ with her unrivaled gift of creating the perfect GIF for any moment. She can also read an entire book in one bath soak (one can only imagine how wrinkly she would get if she took War & Peace into the tub). She talks to us on the inspiration behind her hugely popular ‘Sit Fucking Still’ donation to the ISOLATED Talks fundraising campaign, paper cutting as an artistic medium, Twitter as a community, her mental health and dealing with exceptionally tough times, the writing process, papier-mâché turds, how shit Slack is and so much more. So run a nice hot bath, listen, get wrinkly, and enjoy. ///// Follow gem on LinkedIn On the Twitters And Instagram Here is her Medium profile  And her ISOLATED Talk Check out her website Where you can specifically see how she likes to sti

We’ve lurked in the wings of the Café De Paris, Piccadilly to catch the hugely successful entrepreneur and former burlesque dancer Paulina Tenner this week.    Paulina is the founder of Grant Tree, an open culture company that pioneered an open salary scheme to help tech start-ups navigate the complex world of government funding.   She talks to us on her ‘vomit edit’ writing process for her new book; ‘What the Business Leader Learnt From the Stripper’, Open Culture and Holacracy, how she got into burlesque and what it brought to her business chops, why today’s leaders need to be more of a C.U.N.T., blagging a position as a company director when barely out of UCL and tonnes more. Put your fishnets on, boys and girls, and have a listen. ///// Follow Paulina on LinkedIn On Twitter And she’s also on Instagram Here is her website & book And her ISOLATED Talk Watch Freddie Mercury and Queen perform The Show Must Go On Paulina’s book recommendations are: Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux In Over O

We’ve laid down lures of cool Friday drinks to catch the ‘Pharrell Williams’ of statistics; happiness expert Nic Marks. Nic is the CEO and Founder of Friday Pulse, helping organisations understand employee wellbeing, as well as being a leading statistician and TED speaker, and is arguably best known for his work in creating The Happy Planet Index; the first global measure of sustainable well-being. He’s worked with The British Government and The Kingdom of Bhutan and has been featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and Wired. He talks to us on the drivers of happiness, how businesses can measure and monitor happiness, Aristotle, shining toilet brass, tips for managing teams during the pandemic, how to have a good Zoom call, neuroscience and loads more. It’s packed like a pandemic second date picnic hamper (too soon?) so go consume until your ears are content. ///// Follow Nic on LinkedIn  And on Twitter  Check out his personal website  And the website for Friday Pulse wh

We’ve cast a net off the coast of Adelaide this week to catch one of the globe’s greatest researchers and Sci-Fi fans, Jenni Romaniuk. Jenni is Research Professor and Associate Director (International) at that conveyor belt of marketing stars, the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, where she has advised many of the world’s biggest brands. She is the author of two must-read books; Building Distinctive Brand Assets and How Brands Grow Part 2, co-authoring the latter with industry legend Professor Byron Sharp, as well as being an engaging and entertaining keynote speaker at global industry conferences. She chinwags to us on her first job as a talented mixologist in a football club bar making fruit cups, her two books, how to build mental availability, best practices for managing and measuring distinctive brand assets, and tonnes more. You’d be a fool not to fill your ear canals up. ///// Follow Jenni on LinkedIn. Check out her books: Building Distinctive Brand Assets and How Brands Grow Part 2. Here is the Ehrenberg-

An internationally acclaimed copywriter and author who is partial to some wolf nipple chips (who isn’t?), Ryan Wallman is Creative Director and Head of Copy for Wellmark, a Melbourne-based creative agency specialising in healthcare.   He has written for numerous industry publications, including Marketing Week, and is a co-author of the bestselling marketing book Eat Your Greens. More recently, Ryan smashed out his own masterpiece; The Drum Roses award-winning satirical scalpel that is Delusions of Brandeur; a hilarious, piss-taking how-not-to-guide for getting on in the marketing industry.   Praise for the book has been knockout:   “I love this book. Anything I spend my time on, I either have to learn something or be entertained, with this book I get both.” – Dave Trott   “Not only is this a marvellous book – but no one but Dr. Wallman could have written it.” – Rory Sutherland   Ryan chirps to us on the origins of Delusions of Brandeur, rumours of a sequel, what the world of medicine can teach marketing, th