Rebel's Center of Creativity

In another poddie, Rubes conspired with the sinister sensation, Gail Zaharek, to talk about authentic brand advertising and the workplace. Meanwhile, James reminds everyone he's dumb by quietly taking an online quiz for way too long, creating great silent podcast content. Enjoy!

Recorded live in the Rebel Studio, Rubes, Hammer, & James hang out with guest Russ Martonis -- a writer, content creator, eater of food, and game-changing marketer for Amex and other major brands. The topic was supposed to be food marketing, but they goof around, drink Snoop wine, and play a random game to see who is normal (spoiler: none of these weirdos are normal). Enjoy the poddie!

In this episode, Emmy-award winning television production executive Dennis Denniger takes us on a journey through the evolution of sports broadcasting. Currently a Professor at Syracuse University, Dennis was named Falk College Faculty Member of the Year in 2014 and played a key role in founding the sports communications graduate program at the Newhouse School. With a 25-year tenure at ESPN, he led production teams for studio programming, live remote events, and digital video platforms, witnessing and contributing to ESPN's transformation from startup to a household name.

Beyond academia and broadcasting, Dennis is a prolific author, sharing insights into sports television in "Sports on Television" and exploring the Super Bowl's evolution in "The Football Game that Changed America."

Dennis Denniger is not just an educator and author; he's a technological innovator. He introduced the digital instant review technology "Shot Spot," now ubiquitous in major tennis tournaments and known as "Hawkeye" in various professional sports leagues.

Join us for a captivating conversation as Dennis Denniger reflects on his career, the evolution of ESPN, and the intersection of technology and sports broadcasting that has shaped the industry we know today.

Sammanz is back! The first-ever return guest! Why? Cause she made us. (This is to see if she reads these and gets mad at us for saying that) In this very special episode, we talk about the Pink Tax and how it's pure bullshit.  Pour your Snoop wine, relax, listen, learn, enjoy!

Join us for an exciting conversation with Rebel's Chief Strategy Officer BJ Kito and Bernt Ullmann, who is often referred to as “The Man Behind the Brands.” Mr. Ullmann has been the trusted business acceleration expert by top fashion moguls and CEOs such as Daymond John, Eddie Lampert, and Tommy Hilfiger.

You'll hear first-hand how Bernt went from a pizza entrepreneur to one of the world’s leading experts in celebrity brand development, brand management, licensing and distribution, and monetization having contributed to the successful launches of brands for clients including Jennifer Lopez, Adam Levine, Nicki Minaj and many others. The brands he has worked with have generated over $6 billion in global sales. 

 This episode gets at the heart of understanding what a "brand" really is, why you should think BIG, and how seeing through the noise is the best pathway to reaching your vision.

Rubes & James are joined by VP of Strategy, Mark Anderson, to talk about how brands leverage (sometimes foolishly) holidays to market themselves. From Guinness on St. Patrick's to Reece's on Halloween, hear all about how brands are winning (and losing) with their holiday marketing. As usual, little was planned, chaos ensues, drinks be drank. Enjoy!

Apologies. This was the most unhinged episode yet. Fueled on Four Lokos, we recorded 3 hours of stories and then cut out 2 of them to not embarrass our parents. These lost hours may be released in the future if you ask aggressively. Until then, experience gross energy drink expert Dr. Jones and his connoisseur-like deep-dive into the infamous brand story of Four Loko.

Paid media magician Julio Amaro joins Sammy Rubes & James to talk about tokenization vs representation, how brands sometimes try and fail to connect with different cultures, and how agencies fail to create true access to multicultural voices. Sam spit stats and James said he was afraid he'd say something culturally insensitive. Let's see how he did. Enjoy!

In this special episode, it's a public service announcement on mental health management for the creative mind. Why? Cause when you create, you expose yourself -- your thoughts, ideas, emotions, and energy -- for all to see and judge. And, when it's broken or burned out, it can be crippling. It's a scary world out there in agency life! That's why the legendary V (Veronika Zhikhareva) explores creative burnout, psychological safety, and learning how to adapt to the modern workplace (with old people like James). Enjoy!

Sam & James dig into generational marketing with legend and VP of Marketing Strategy Craig Wilson. As three generations of marketers, the team digs into how brands and consumers have evolved over decades. It's so interesting that James finally shuts up to learn something. Enjoy!