The Fuel Podcast

Howard Gossage - often dubbed the "Socrates of San Francisco," revolutionised advertising in the 1950s and 60s with his unconventional and humanistic approach. So it took two equally unconventional and humanistic creatives - Steve Harrsion and Dave Dye, to write - no, craft - a book documenting some of the most captivating and exemplary pieces of Gossage's short but prolific career, producing a form of advertising so ahead of its time that we're only now catching up with it.

The problem is, that, like the man in the river surrounded by crocodiles, we’ve forgotten that the original objective was to get to the other side.

We’ve forgotten the point of advertising - and that is to entertain.

Gossage was a born showman and it lived and breathed in his work, which is what makes it sadly unique.

If you’ve never been Gossaged before, I suggest you start here. If you have, then I hope you’ll appreciate this podcast and an opportunity to reminisce on a lost period of advertising that we still have a chance to reclaim and make advertising great again.

Thank you to Steve Harrison and Dave Dye for a memorable podcast. If it sounds a bit jumpy, I apologise and hope that it doesn’t spoil your listening enjoyment. We had to record it in two goes and splice the best bits together because of a technical SNAFU.

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How much your agency charges for its work is critical to success.

Or is it?

What is creativity worth? How long does it take?

Keith & Natasha - two new business experts sit down over a coffee to discuss the issue and how it impacts agency life.

We also interview David Meikle, author of 'Tuning Up' and 'How to Buy a Gorilla' on the value of creative ideas to clients.

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We need a hero. We need someone Pleasingly Reserved and Artfully Modest.

Mark Denton is a creative veteran of some 40 years. He’s directed over 500 commercials. He’s one of the most awarded creatives in the world

Yet he still regards himself as the new boy.

An hour of entertainment, delivered in Mark's inimitable style:

Ageism, the best old TV adverts, Stingo, a tribute to Brian Griffin, AI Photography, Magic Markers, how creative used to be done, making your own clothes, making the creative genesis, the SKIP button, the advertising industry's biggest star, the ultimate umbrella campaign and Cobra Kai & Eagle Fang.

Living at St Luke's, Mark is available for your next campaign.

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Influencer marketing is a form of marketing as old as commerce itself, but in recent times, where there's so many messages being blasted at us and lies dressed up as facts, the medium has taken on a new level of credence.

We trust influencers more and more these days, and it's fast becoming THE weapon of choice for so many CMOs.

It's not just the high-profile consumer icons we all know - it's happening at b2b and micro levels too.

We're all under the influence! But why? How can they reach the parts that other forms of marketing cannot reach?

In this 15-minute podlet I sit down with my go-to fact man Victor Houghton to uncover the intelligence of influencer marketing.

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"Stand and Deliver!" is not a recommended sales technique we've ever heard of, so why are behemoths like Apple, Google, Twitter and Facebook all doing it?

Keith & Natasha dissect the right and wrong way to generate new business and create loyalty.

In less than 20 minutes!

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Who are you?

Director, Relater, Socialiser or Thinker?

Who you are – how you communicate and who you’re communicating to, depends on knowing this.

Grant Thornton says that within this decade, every leader of every dynamic organisation will need to have a clear strategic vision and be able to articulate that to the business.

This is important stuff, and as part of The Fuel Podcast’s quest for answers to how we communicate better as humans, our sponsor The Advertist has teamed up with author and business coach Trenton Moss to give you a FREE workshop, so you can begin your journey of greater communication discovery!

On Tuesday 5th March at 1pm, Trenton is offering friends of The Advertist a free workshop to hear how the contents of his best-selling book ‘Human Powered’ can be implemented in your agency.

He’s doing this exclusively for The Advertist, so don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity.

Take part in this fun hour of a workshop.

https://forms.gle/m7mwc52Xnoii5DraA

It’s so good, we’ve all done it.

Book your place now and we look forward to seeing you.

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Discussing morality in the creative agency world.

What role do agencies play in changing the public mindset when it comes to big oil or tobacco?

And what other sins do creative agencies regularly commit?

Also - your chance to choose our theme music!

Vote:

1. Acid

2. Dance

3. Starsky

4. Chill

5. Cheezy

6. Bebop

All in a highly caffeinated 15 minutes.

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What effect does faith have in the sales and marketing

process?

Whether you’re a religious person or not, belief in things

yet to happen is part and parcel of sales and marketing.

We’re all doing things now that will hopefully benefit us in

the future.

But does believing in the future make it happen?

There’s more to the sales process than technique, there’s

also attitude and that’s what this show is all about.

Brad Smith is the CEO of Succeed Digital and his belief

system helps him every day – and it can help you too.

Digging the ditches, having faith that it’s going to rain

will make it rain.

In this truly enlightening show, Brad outlines his

philosophy for winning business and creating memorable and meaningful client

relationships.

We discuss:

When it’s OK to compete on price

Retention v Acquisition

The 30-second summary for your business

Making growth a team sport

How to choose your prospects

Being nice as a business skill

Using referrals

Treating people as you’d like to be treated

Credibility, memorability and visibility

SHOW NOTES

Brad’s LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/succeedwithbradsmith/

Succeed Digital’s web site: https://www.succeed.digital

Sir Anthony Hopkins’ ‘Digging Ditches’ speech: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=714018422472470

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In this show, we discuss the unspoken signs of success; in

leadership, branding, and work and personal relationships.

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or

interpretation and my guest - Dr Rachel Lawes is a social psychologist

specializing in the interface between individuals and consumer culture. She is

a Fellow of the Market Research Society and her latest book "Using

Semiotics in Retail: Leveraging Consumer Insight to Engage Shoppers and Boost

Sales" makes her the ideal person to tackle this subject.

This show is packed with insights that will give your brain

a load of new wrinkles, including:

Those leaders with high EQs

How to make the best of a cold

Why Christmas decorations are like viruses

The delirium of duty free

Top down and bottom up semiotics

Elite Waitrose shoppers

Creating a reality that others will follow

The downside of tech driven relationships

Semiotics and the pharmaceutical sector

The baboon that finds lost things

The horrors of The Bible

Show notes:

Dr Rachel’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachellawes/

Buy the book ‘Using Semiotics in Marketing: How to Achieve

Consumer Insight for Brand Growth and Profits’: https://www.amazon.com/Using-Semiotics-Marketing-achieve-consumer/dp/1789662079

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Is the advertising business a form of business or

entertainment? It needs to be entertaining but there definitely is a science to

it.

Paul Bainsfair is the Director General of the IPA – the Institute

of Practitioners in Advertising. He’s a veteran of the industry, with

board-level experience at TBWA, Saatchis and Iris, he’s using his 35+ years in

the business to champion the cause of advertising as a driver of the economy.

But he’s also acutely aware of the issues facing the world

of advertising – the environment, DE&I, frequency and advertising fatigue.

So, the IPA’s focus for 2024 is the 60:40 rule and helping

companies and brands to strike a balance between brand building and activation –

as the old song goes, like love and marriage, you can’t have one without the

other.

In this wide-ranging chat, Paul and I discuss the difference

between US and UK advertising, why ads need to deliver the relevant unexpected,

the latest Bellwether reports and a marketing budget forecast for the next 12

months, the wisdom of Tim Delaney, balancing the standards, saving the economy,

new business opportunities for all agencies, the analogy of steam trains and

Irish songwriters.

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