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 InstagramCheck out his blog Here's his advice for junior strategists/plannersAnd keep an eye out for future Getting In & Getting On eventsWill proudly dedicates his episode to @sarahspoon, give her a follow tooWill’s book recommendations are: The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan  Saki, The Complete Short Stories by H. Munro   Viral Marketing: The Science of Sharing by Karen Nelson-Field  Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi /////

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. Andrew’s book recommendations are: How to Measure Anything by Douglas W. Hubbard   Management F-laws by Russel L. Ackoff & Herbert J. Addison  Everything Is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer by Duncan J. Watts   The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater  /////

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   Harriet’s book recommendations are: When the Body Says No by Dr Gabor Maté  The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk   Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier  /////

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 Talks  JP dedicates this episode to the magnificent Murray Calder:“As good as he is a marketer, he’s an even better person.” Follow Murray on Twitter too. JP is offering Call to Action listeners the Castlin Manifesto for absolutely nada. Simply email hello@rouser.se and ask nicely. It won’t be free forever, so get your grubby paws on it pronto.   JP’s book recommendations are: The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by Henry Mintzberg  Cynefin by Dave Snowden /////

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 her talk from Nedbank   Gillian’s book recommendations are:Anything from the BBH World Cup of Advertising Books The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton  Drive by Daniel Pink  Madison Avenue Manslaughter by Michael Farmer  Delusions of Brandeur by Ryan Wallman  Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman  Predatory Thinking by Dave Trott  The Anatomy of Humbug by Paul Feldwick /////

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 Account Management Hovering Art Directors on Tumblr Nick’s book recommendations are: How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp  Paid Attention by Faris Yakob  Delusions of Brandeur by Ryan Wallman  Strategy is Your Words by Mark Pollard  Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell  Slade House by David Mitchell  The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman /////

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 WARC article on the Future of Strategy  Shekhar’s book recommendations are: Roots by Alex Haley  The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan  Illusions by Richard Bach  Born a Crime by Richard Noah (Audiobook)  We Need to Talk About the British Empire by Afua Hirsch (Podcast)  Alchemy by Rory Sutherland (Audiobook) /////

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: Hollowpox Trilogy by Jessica Townsend  Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens  Daring Greatly by Brené Brown  Dare to Lead by Brené Brown Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik  Uprooted by Naomi Novik  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig  How to Stop Time by Matt Haig/////

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 booksAnd his ISOLATED Talk He also co-hosts two successful podcasts; Connected, where he talks to the greatest names in marketing, technology and beyond, and Echoes of Glory, a podcast dedicated to Tottenham HotspurASD’s book recommendations are:48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene The Hero with A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography by Mike Tyson Sweat the Technique by Rakim /////