Welcome Adnerds. Today you’ll hear host Tom Christmann's conversation with Jeff Benjamin, Chief Creative Officer at Tombras.

Tombras is one of the top independent agencies in North America, headquartered in Knoxville Tennessee, with offices in New York, Atlanta, Charlotte and DC.

 

Jeff Benjamin has been at the forefront of digital creative innovation at agencies like Goodby, Crispin Porter Bogusky, JWT and Barton F. Graf. He continues that at Tombras with The MoonPie MoonMate—a virtual roommate that ran on Alexa and Google Home that kept people company while quarantining alone. And paid you rent in the form of MoonPies. (Yum!)

 

Jeff and I talk about how he found advertising at a computer lab in college, his start at the first digital ad agency in Connecticut and how to be the “digital guy” in a traditional world. It’s a fascinating and long conversation. I didn’t want to cut a word.

 

Hey, please subscribe to our show wherever you listen and if you could leave a review, it would really help us reach more #adnerds.

Theme music: Ross Hopman - duotoneaudio.com.

A conversation with Mo Osunbor, Creative/Art Director at Facebook. Before his current job, he worked at Razorfish, Deutsch and JWT, where he created the Unsafety Check for Black Lives Matter that got him noticed by Facebook.

This year, Mo collaborated with Spotify’s Alex Reinoso, Nick Elliot of Havas and Vaibhav Bhanot of Wunderman Thompson to create https://www.linkit.black/ a digital movement to help get more opportunities for black people in advertising. (Follow their Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/linkitblack/ )

Mo and host Tom Christmann discuss:

- the importance of being uncomfortable

- having the courage to bring your unique perspective to any problem

- how to be an intern

- the joy of getting in flow and enjoying the process

- turning passion projects into jobs

- and a whole lot more

The A-List Podcast is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School. For one low price, you get ten weeks of live Zoom classes with an advertising pro like Paul Fix, who teaches the Intro to advertising class that has been taken by some of the industries top creatives over the years. We’ve got a new round of classes starting end of January, so check adhousenyc.com for details.

Music by Ross Hopman at https://www.duotoneaudio.com/

Today you’re going to hear an episode we recorded back in August. I have thankfully gotten busier with freelance work recently and that plus the Adhouse class i teach and just the general malaise of 2020 have made the A-List hard to get to these days. Thanks for being patient everyone, especially all the people who are still waiting for their episodes to launch.

So back in August I got to talk to Molly Mitchell. We met when she was a rep for a production company. Today, Molly is the Executive Producer and founder of Houseboat, a creative resource for production and post production that connects brands and agencies with independent artists globally. Houseboat’s mission is to represent a broad range of voices and diverse perspectives. Certainly an idea whose time has come.

Molly grew up in Hope, Arkansas, hometown of President Bill Clinton but not exactly a center of advertising. Still, Molly somehow managed to write, direct and star in a commercial at 7 years old. That led to a lifelong fascination with advertising creative work that took Molly on a journey that included four years at the University of Arkansas, a job as a radio DJ in Little Rock and, finally, a trip to New York City, a city she now calls home.

Agencies and brands who want diverse, independent talent should check out houseboat.tv. And if you’re an independent artist looking for representation, Molly can help you there too.

Oh and look for new Adhouse classes soon. We’re starting a new semester at the end of January, with more teachers than ever. For more info, check out Adhousenyc.com.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got more episodes to edit. :)

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You can connect with tom at tomchristmann.net.

Music by Ross Hopman at Duotone Audio Group.

Laura Canzano and Bre Fern are the Co-Founders of Breaking Ad, an instagram account dedicated to breaking down the ad game for newbies.

Bre was born in Cuba, raised in Miami, dropped out of Law School in DC and discovered advertising while on a meditation retreat to China.

Laura Canzano was born in Switzerland, raised in Panama, was denied acceptance to the creative track at University of Texas, but found herself at Miami Ad School Madrid.

These two awesome women demonstrate the importance of networking and finding allies as you navigate your career. And now both are giving back with https://www.instagram.com/breakingad_/. They're also involved with https://www.thesideshow.org, an award show celebrating the side projects of people in the ad biz.

It’s only a matter of time before these two are running the industry. And it will be a better industry for it.

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The A-List is sponsored by Adhousenyc.com.

Music by Duotone Audio Group.

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On this episode of The A-List (the podcast that asks the world’s top advertising professionals how they got started in the business) Tom talks to Mischief USA ECD Kevin Mulroy.

Mischief is an offshoot of Canadian Agency No Fixed Address, the fast-growing disruptor agency that scooped up Greg Hahn after he was fired by BBDO this summer. Kevin describes Mischief USA as “a small band of experienced, accountable creatives moving fast and caring about what they make.”

Kevin tells us about being a bad student in high school (except for creative writing), hating and losing his first job in advertising as a media planner, and a conversation with comedy writer and actor Brian Stack that made him realize he needed to go back to ad school at 25.

Follow Kevin on twitter at @sethmoe.

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There are still spots available in every class at Adhouse Advertising School. The fall application is live right now at Adhousenyc.com. Learn from industry pros George Tannenbaum, Mike Rovner and Soren Youngren, Matt Low and Mani Schlisser, Paul Fix or Tom Christmann. You get ten weeks of classes for just six hundred bucks. Go to adhousenyc.com and apply right now.

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You can connect with Tom at tomchristmann.net. Our music was composed by Ross Hopman at Duotone Audio Group. This episode was edited by Tom "All Thumbs" Christmann.

Thanks for listening. Please subscribe to The A-List Podcast on Soundcloud or wherever you listen to pods. And share us with a friend.

See you next time.

In this episode, Tom talks to Steve Pacheco, CEO of The American Advertising Federation.

Steve was a journalism student at the University of Memphis when an ad class showed him how fun advertising could be. Soon he was making radio ads for a local laundry service that worked TOO well. This led to a job at Humphreys Ink, a small ad and design agency which quickly grew to be one of the largest agencies in Memphis. Then recession hit and Steve went client-side at International Paper, where he first worked with BBDO. This led directly to Steve’s job at FedEx, where he oversaw dozens of award-winning ads for A-List Creative Directors like Gerry Graf, Eric Silver, Chris Beresford-Hill, Dan Lucey and Greg Hahn. (Oh, he also worked with Tom there on a little spot called "Pahowenicks")

Let's just ay Steve has made a few Super Bowl ads.

Steve describes his new role at the AAF as “setting a high standard for the values of advertising, connecting the talent that drives it, and progressing the issues that will evolve the industry for the better.”

Hear, hear, Steve!

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The A-List is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School. Our fall application is live right now at Adhousenyc.com. There’s only 72 spots in 6 classes taught by ad industry pros: We've got George Tannenbaum, Mike Rovner, Soren Youngren, Matt Low, Mani Schlisser, Paul Fix and Tom Christmann. You get ten weeks of classes for just six hundred bucks but classes are filling up fast. Go to adhousenyc.com and apply today.

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You can contact Steve Pacheco at [email protected]. The AAF has lots of free resources at AAF.org.

You can connect with Tom at tomchristmann.net.

Our music was written and performed by Ross Hopman over at Duotoneaudio.com

This episode was edited by Tom. Slowly.

Thanks for listening. Please subscribe to The A-List Podcast on Soundcloud or wherever you listen. And share us with a friend. :)

Today we’re serving up Tom's conversation with Mr. Keni Thacker, the founder of 100rosesfromconcrete.com, a network for men of color in the advertising, marketing, media and public relations industries. Keni is also a creative consultant, accomplished writer, director, documentarian, motivational speaker and tech guru. He’s speaking at the three percent conference. He’s judging the Next Creative Leaders Awards at The One Club for Creativity. And he continues to be an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the advertising industry.

When Tom first met Keni back in 2009 he was doing Event Technology at J. Walter Thompson. (He was the guy who would run all the technology in big client meetings and pitches.) Keni was in every big meeting. And he was watching. And learning.

Keni tells us about growing up as an American in Kenya. That's where he got his first taste of advertising when his mother took him to a studio to record a jingle she wrote. A passion for music, technology and pop culture led Keni to a career in audio and visual, which got him inside Ogilvy New York and then JWT, where he would eventually help the agency found their Young Commodores Program, aimed at getting more young people of color into advertising.

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The A-List is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School. We are finishing up our summer classes and they’re going great. All of our teachers will be back in the fall. Tom Christmann. Paul Fix. George Tannenbaum, creative team Mike Rovner and Soren Youngren and young upstarts Matt Low and Mani Schlisser. You get 10 weeks of zoom classes for just $600. Classes start week of September 14 and the application is live at adhousenyc.com. Applications are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, so apply today at adhousenyc.com.

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Thank you to Ross Hopman at Duotone Audi Group for the music.

Thanks to Duotone Audio Group for the music. Thanks to you all for listening. If you liked what you heard today, you can help us out by sharing this episode on social media, subscribing on soundcloud or rating us wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and please wear a mask. Peace.

Freelance CD/writer Mike Rovner may not be a household name, but he has made bobblehead dolls out of people with household names. (For the full story, you have to listen). He's also gone from English Major to Account Guy to Accomplished Ad Creative, making some award-winning, funny work, even if he didn't make his first tv spot until he was nearly 28 years old.

Mike is also a professor at Adhouse Advertising School, teaching a class called YOUR IDEA SUCKS (BECAUSE THEY ALL DO AT FIRST) with his art director partner, Soren Youngren. After you've been inspired by his story, you can check out Mike's work at Rovnerwriter.com

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The A-List is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School. Sign up to get all the latest from our professors and students at adhousenyc.com

Recorded this over a month ago. But the current state of our world has made my brain into cottage cheese. Anyway, I got to talk to George Tannenbaum, former Copy Chief and Executive Creative Director on IBM at Ogilvy AND CURRENT ADHOUSE PROFESSOR.

If you're not reading Ad Aged, George's daily blog, then you are in for a treat. https://adaged.blogspot.com/ is required reading for anyone interested in the daily musings of a really talented writer and thinker.

We begin with George’s first in-house job writing (typing, actually) copy for the Montgomery Ward catalog in 1980. We talk about the importance of craft and working well with others. We learn about Name-monics and collaborative agitators. George gives tons of tips and tricks you can use right now to make better advertising.

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The A-List is sponsored by Adhouse Advertising School, where you get ten weeks of classes with an A-List teacher like George Tannenbaum for just six hundred bucks. We have six classes in session right now and more are coming in the fall. And we have lots of other great stuff coming your way too. Sign up at http://www.adhousenyc.com and be the first to know about all that we have planned.

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You can reach me at http://www.tomchristmann.net. I write pretty good and stuff.

Listen in as host and Adhouse professor Tom Christmann speaks with Derek Walker, owner of Brown & Browner Advertising in Columbia, SC and a brash and opinionated voice that never lets the industry off the hook on twitter (@derklwalker).

Derek's origin story is fascinating. He grew up in Germany as the son of a U.S. army drill sergeant. He was turned away from a job he had all but landed on the phone because, according to the unnamed Atlanta agency owner: “our clients aren’t ready for a black copywriter”.

Tips from this episode: ALWAYS READ THE EMPLOYEE MANUAL, take a sales class and always be your raw, authentic self.

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SPONSORED BY ADHOUSE ADVERTISING SCHOOL. Apply for fall classes now at adhousenyc.com