MediaCat UK Podcast

For this latest podcast MediaCat Magazine's Editor Mike Piggott spoke to Sinead Lambe and Helena French of Imagen Insights. Helena is a Client Success Exec. and Sinead is Associate Director of Communications. The conversation focused on the March theme at the magazine, 'Kill Your Idols', specifically in relation to Gen Z. Sinead and Helena talked about idols they had growing up, like the first generation of YouTube influencers, and how what they demand from idols has changed as they've gotten older. They discuss whether idols have a place in today's world, what Gen Z thinks about cancel culture, wholesome idols like Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan, and where Gen Z stands on happiness.

Jay Richards and Jamie Oyebode on Gen Z and joy in simplicity

Featured image: Ron Lach / Pexels

For this latest MediaCat Magazine podcast our Editor Mike Piggott chatted to Tara Austin. Tara is a behavioural and brand strategist, but also, more importantly, a psychedelic evangelist, and campaign director for PAR.Global. PAR.Global is working to get psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, rescheduled so that the scientific community can study them, with the aim to use their properties for countless medicinal purpose, not least to hugely help with mental health.

Mike and Tara discuss the UK wellness industry and touch on political regulation, and political will, and how Gen Z and millennials are looking to shape the world as they want to be.

In this episode of Rebel With A Cause Opal Turner sits down with Asad Shaykh, Head of Strategy at Grey London and Group Strategy Director at Pride in London. This episode will leave you feeling more whole, confident and content. Asad’s holistic and poetic approach to life and work gives us beautiful lessons: from a productive mindset and philosophy for creative work and what makes great versus good, to a desire to manifest positive projections when it comes to our trans and non-binary siblings.

For the latest Rebel With A Cause episode (recorded in February) the focus is on climate hope and human kindness, with a bumper book list to keep you going for the next 10 months. In this episode, RANKIN's Opal Turner talks to Stuart Lambert, co-founder of Blurred, a strategic and creative advisory firm specialising in ESG and Purpose (ESGP). The roaming conversation touches on lots of interesting things, from creating workplace culture (at home or in the office) to Stu’s view on how storytelling is actually a logical and strategic process, and of course, a little nerding out with Opal deciding Star Trek is the OG Hopepunk series. Jump in. 

Charles Clover of the Blue Marine foundation Rewilding the Sea

George Monbiot’s book Regenesis

Humankind by Rutger Bregman 

Kim Stanley Robinsons' The Ministry for the Future 

'I’m sort of a natural storyteller, that’s what I enjoy doing. I always think of that as a really logical, strategic process.' 

'We conflate creative with art, there’s a lot of frustrated artists maybe in our creative, advertising, PR & Marketing world… but we’re not George R Martin, we’re communicators and sellers of ideas. I believe that’s more of a well-constructed argument that you persuade with.'

'There is real change happening and I think it’s important we know that and believe in it and feel inspired because what's the alternative?' 

'I do think that stories of hope and optimism and belief in an individual's capability to create a positive impact and make a difference, I think there’s a need for it.'

Featured image: George Monbiot's Regenesis, reviewed on jackwallington.com

For the latest Rebel With A Cause podcast RANKIN's Opal Turner chats to Isabelle Bale, Strategy Director at M&C Saatchi World Services. Opal and Isabelle dive into the topic of non-binary thinking and how it can help move the industry forward. On the back of Isabelle’s recent win of the Chair’s Prize for Attitude & Inspiration for the 2022 IPA Excellence Diploma in Brands, this discussion explores the large amount of binaries in our industry’s practices. From hierarchy to audience definitions to scrapping awards in favour of a system like that of higher education. This podcast's shout out is to Essity, for Womb Stories being a brilliant non-binary piece of work.

You can read Isabelle’s paper here.

Featured image: Delia Giandeini / Unsplash

We kick off the MediaCat Magazine podcast for 2023 with one of our Rebel With A Cause series, hosted by RANKIN's Opal Turner. For this one we hear from Kenyatte Nelson, Chief Membership & Customer Officer at co-op. Kenyatte managed to give us an unintentional masterclass on intentional living, leading and luck.

Maybe it’s just Opal’s FYP (that's For You Page on TikTok) filled with ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ posts, but Kenyatte gives great practical advice on defining what we want — from ourselves, our lives and the brands we work for, because, in his words, 'It’s incredible how lucky you become when you start working towards something.'

Kenyatte encourages us all to see the value in pure curiosity, to reframe failure and success by defining these things for ourselves, which even prompts a personal realisation from Opal. Insightful, heart-warming and helpful, this episode is just the listen for starting your year with an intentional step towards being your best self, and absolutely nobody else. 

Opal wants to give a shout out to RANKIN CREATIVE's Through The Lens series for introducing her to Kenyatte. You can find the episodes here.

This latest Rebel With A Cause podcast starts with a shoutout to Jed Hallam’s platform for working class folk in adland, Common People, and its journey to redefine ‘working class’. For this episode Opal speaks with Headland Consultancy's Jo White. They dive into how being both the 'rebel' and the 'cause' often leads one to become cause driven. This discussion is peppered with brilliant analogies... from something about a concertina to the SAS and Trojan horses that we find in language. Plus some fangirling over Extinction Rebellion's tactics and more.

We hope you enjoy the last MediaCat Magazine podcast for this year, and we'll see you next year!

For the latest MediaCat Magazine podcast our Editor Mike Piggott spoke to Jade Tomlin. Jade is Group Creative Director at AKQA, previously Creative Director at Tribal Worldwide London. She was one of Campaign's Faces to Watch in 2009, one of Campaign and Creative Equals ‘30 future female leaders’ in 2017, and one of The Dots '100 trailblazers for women and non-binary talent' in 2020.

They discussed side quests, and how much of life and work goes according to plan, specifically within the creative marketing industry. They discussed having a main goal versus getting bogged down in a plan, the impact of parenthood and covid on planning, how side quests can grow in interesting ways, and Jade's future side quest plans.

In this latest episode of Rebel With A Cause, RANKIN's Opal Turner chats to UNKNOWN's founder, Ollie Scott. This episode tackles non-linear paths into the industry and getting the most out of side quests.

Plus... helpful nuggets of wisdom on ensuring the best employer/employee match, the best questions to ask during interviews, and the questions to ask ourselves along the way. (Shout out to Ant Jackson for an additional golden nugget of practical wisdom in there, too.)

Perfectly timed in a tragic era of lay-offs, panic hiring and firing, this one is a must-listen.

Ollie Scott LinkedIn

The Dog Days podcast (Ollie is co-host)

We Are Unknown

For the latest episode in our Rebel With A Cause series, RANKIN's Opal Turner chats to award-winning strategist and the 24-year-old co-founder (and Head of Strategy ) at archtype, Josh Akapo. Their conversation explores age and wisdom from a Gen Z point of view, including experiences of the myth of meritocracy, systemic oppression and using culture as a tool of rebellion. They question whether it is the job of the marketing industry is to the generators of hope. This bumper episode is full of energy and insight into the rebellious minds of the next generation.

archtype

Josh Akapo's portfolio