On Strategy Showcase

Garrett Kay, VP Brand at Coinbase, expands brand across product and experience. Whitney McGraw, Global Head of Brand Marketing for Airbnb, aligns product and marketing for travelers. Brian Wakabayashi, Head of Brand at CoLab/WestCap, simplifies storytelling for startups. Danielle Hawley, Global Head of Creative and Brand at Uber, ties brand to rides and Eats. They debate tech culture, in-house vs agency influence, product-brand tensions, and practical AI uses.

In a category dominated by generics (60%) and fixated on ever-faster pain relief, Nurofen escaped the category's tropes with a message that connected with women in a deeper, more meaningful way. I'm joined by McCann London's CEO, Mel Arrow and Strategy Partner, Jocelyn Major. 

Nick Docherty, Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, a strategic creative thinker. Jo McClintock, VP Brand & Marketing at Trainline, who shifted the company from ticketing to owning journeys. They explore rail market complexity, emotional fallout from disruptions, flipping disruption into advantage with predictive data and Travel Forecast, and aligning product and marketing around a journey-led proposition.

Jim Curtis, CCO at LePub, who led the creative relaunch, and Matt Saltzstein, VP Brand Marketing at Heineken, who steered the brand strategy, discuss Dos Equis' return. They cover why the Most Interesting Man comes back, balancing archive assets with fresh social-first work, testing consumer recognition, and casting choices like Jonathan Goldsmith and Will Lyman.

Vanessa Chin, System1 ad metrics expert; Caitlin Cody, BBDO strategy lead; Emily Garvey, Zulu Alpha Kilo strategist. They debate Rocket Mortgage's shift to emotional home storytelling and trust challenges. They rate Super Bowl spots: humor vs fluency, tech nostalgia, clear category benefits, and how songs, stars, and platform strategy drive brand impact.

Andrew Tindall, System1 SVP specializing in behavioral data and ad effectiveness; Juliet Haygarth, Effie CMO focused on marketing effectiveness; Traci Alford, Effie CEO championing measurable marketing. They discuss The Creative Dividend book, why creativity needs media support and sustained investment, the role of emotion and distinctiveness, and new tools and frameworks to make creative work defendable and business-driving.

Hugh Derrick, partner at Eat Big Fish and longtime challenger brand strategist, revisits Adam Morgan’s challenger principles. He discusses how challenger thinking must live across organizations. He contrasts challenger vs disruptor, explores modern battlegrounds like content and commerce, and explains how to embed conviction and a guiding 'lighthouse' identity in bigger firms.

Travis Robertson, creative co-founder of Colossus; Ross Sidlowski, strategy lead at The LEGO Group; Gail Felcher, global partnerships lead at Shark Ninja; Brie Rossetti, Chief Strategy Officer at Arnold; Sean McBride, Chief Creative Officer at Arnold. They chat Boston’s creative DNA, balancing in-house teams with agencies, agency identity versus national ambition, product-led storytelling, and how strategy and creative collaborate.

After hitting a dead-end using traditional planning methods, the frustrated team discovered the true problem and pivoted to success. I'm joined by VCCP's CSO Max Keane and Planning Director Matt Hayes to talk through their Müller Rice award-winning Rice, Rice Baby campaign.

Andrew Tindall, SVP at System1, offers creative effectiveness analysis. Matthew Herbert, co-founder of Tracksuit, provides brand-tracking data from London. Kate Rush Sheehy, CSO at GSD&M, brings strategic perspective on positioning. They dissect Burberry’s Olivia Colman spots and brand cues. They debate Johnnie Walker’s Keep Walking evolution and whether to rebuild category relevance or sharpen storytelling.