Brand-Side

In advertising, image is everything. 

Yet in a world quickly getting onboard with DEI, only 0.1% of agencies are founded by women. 

Today, I had the opportunity to speak with Madonna Badger , Chief Creative Officer and Founder at Badger Agency, about her journey in changing advertising by recognizing shortcomings in DEI and reshaping conversations around unconscious bias. 

Join us as we discuss:
Madonna’s journey through the advertising industry
Navigating conversations on diversity in casting and hiring
Why brands are starting to see the value of DEI in their advertising



Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

In the last few years, performance marketing creative has exploded in popularity. 
Yet for many organizations, there are still plenty of misconceptions about how to best incorporate and integrate it to the larger marketing strategy. 
To help demystify performance marketing, today I’m speaking with Sharon Romang, VP, Creative at Headlight, who has a vast wealth of experience in the space. 
Join us as we discuss:
Why performance marketing thrives when applied across multiple channels
Some of the ways Sharon has applied performance marketing to help her client’s unique needs
The communication between teams and mindset necessary to maximize the benefits of performance marketing  


Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for marketers and creatives: Super Bowl!
With the ad industry buzzing about Super Bowl commercials left and right, I sat down with Jones Krahl, Executive Creative Director at Deloitte Digital and Ryan Sichelstiel, Senior Customer Success Manager at Celtra with a popular TikTok (follow @ry_sic) to rank, debate, and discuss this year’s commercials for the big game.
We cover:
- Jones’ Super Bowl PSA for She Can Stem with The Today Show hosts
- Overall thoughts on Super Bowl commercials and what goes into producing them
- Our takes on the Super Bowl ads by brands like Rakuten, Busch Light, Budweiser, Quaker Oats, Lay’s, Bud Light Seltzer, and many more.
Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Don’t be ashamed of the organizational problems that you have; and definitely don’t hide them. Not only are problems always going to be present, but they're the first step to strategy.
We speak with Rodrigo Maroni, CSO at Wunderman Thompson NY, discusses strategy, how to quantify inspiration data, and advice to marketers everywhere.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The transition into strategy & Wunderman Thompson
- Researching the connection between brand growth & inspiration
- The role of strategy in marketing & where it’s headed
- Thoughts on Metaverse & future mega trends in advertising
Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Culture comes from the margins.
But, in advertising, creatives take that culture and put it front-and-center.
And whether that’s good or bad depends on how they join the cultural conversation.
My guest today is Elizabeth Paul, CSO at The Martin Agency, who joins the show to discuss how brands and agencies can become better stewards of popular culture.
We cover:
- The importance of mission and purpose to any organization
- How marketers can engage popular culture responsibly and elevate the diverse voices creating it
- How Elizabeth put this into action in a campaign for Old Navy
Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Never participate in anything where replacing you is easy.
Before your immortalize your brand in music videos — or anywhere else — there’s a question you must ask:
Are we replaceable?
That’s the philosophy powering Michelle Gabe, Director of Marketing at Truff, where she relies on the company’s unique market position and its founders’ equally unique personal aesthetic to foster a formidable word-of-mouth marketing machine.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The drastic change in consumer shopping behaviors and how to respond
- Why, once you move brand-side, you get things done
- The problem with impressions as a KPI
Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Fashion is a notoriously difficult industry to break into.
The market is saturated. The competition is fierce. It’s a wonder anyone finds success.
So, a recent immigrant ascending from a fashion internship to launching a disruptive handbag line in less than 6 years — in a pandemic, no less — is jaw-dropping.
That’s why I’m excited for the chance to learn from someone who pulled off such a remarkable feat.
Today’s guest is Luciana Rozenberg, the Founder of Naissant, a Brooklyn-based handbag brand recently featured in Forbes Magazine and a music video for a Grammy-winning artist.
Rozenberg shares her journey launching a product line in the midst of a global crisis and shares tips and tricks for authentically connecting with her customers
In this episode, we discuss:
- Effective storytelling to build brand awareness
- Launching an organic marketing plan during a pandemic
- Shifting your marketing plan based on customer feedback
- Social Media as a tool for featuring product functionality
- The risks of department store retail and how to decide when it’s time to go wholesale
- The role celebrity marketing plays out in brand marketing
- Protecting your brand during rapid growth
Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Consumer packaged goods are an enormous product category with players spanning the gamut from Goliath household names to smaller but fast-growing challenger brands.

Regardless of size, creating a brand that consumers can fall in love with is the lifeblood of every CPG marketer.

Today’s guest, Lindsay Martin , VP Marketing at Reed’s Inc , is someone CPGs big and small turn to when they need experience and expertise in branding and marketing.

In this episode, we discuss:
-The differences and similarities in marketing for giant CPG-staples and scrappy upstarts
-Why highly targeted marketing efforts can compete with large campaigns 
-The value in eking out a niche

Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Behind every innovative idea defining a brand, there is a creative who heard a hundred “no’s” before they ever heard one “yes.”

If you want to innovate, you need the tenacity to bounce back from every “no” with another solution.

Today’s guest, Theodor Arhio , Executive Director of Innovation at TBWA Chiat Day Los Angeles , is someone with the kind of tenacity to start an ad-agency sitcom where each episode created a real campaign for a real brand client.

In this episode, we discuss:
-Theodor’s innovative ad-agency sitcom 
-Why mistakes aren’t the enemy, doing nothing is
-How to balance the need for diverse input with leadership

Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or on our website.

Marketers are given millions of dollars to get their brand message out to millions of people. That’s a lot of power, and there’s a lot of social responsibility tied up in it.
According to today’s guest, Nobles Crawford, Senior Media Manager at Reckitt, that’s a big reason why this industry has incredible cultural importance. Brands have the potential to build a more equitable and inclusive society, and in this episode, Nobles shares what marketers should be doing with that opportunity.
What we talked about:
-Demanding accountability from social media platforms
-How privacy initiatives impact media strategy
-Conducting a risk assessment on creative ideas to drive innovation
Nobles Crawford’s LinkedIn Profile can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noblesc/
Find this interview and many more by subscribing to BRAND-SIDE on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website.Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for BRAND-SIDE in your favorite podcast player.