The Overthinkers

Celebrities and advertising have been a love story for as long as most of us can remember. And as Superbowl kicked off, it is clear the trend is not reducing. But do celebrities really make brands stronger? Or is their use just a creative cop-out for when a brand doesn't really have an idea?

Today we're joined by Tattiana Bamba, Comms Strategy Director at Droga5, to talk about comms / connections planning. A chance to discuss what it does and what it doesn't do, as well as what it takes to be a comms planner and what it takes to be good at it. Whether you're eyeing a shit into comms planning or a veteran, we promise you won't miss the chance to hear what Tattiana has to say about it!

Over the last 5 years we've seen a growing trend celebrating "contrarianism". In this episode, we discuss whether this has a positive impact on the industry, whether it's reserved to a certain group of people, and the overall role of critique in moving us forward.

Hint: it's not behind a computer screen. This week, we're delighted to bring you 3 brilliant people from Nonfiction, Lindsey Wehking, Gunny Scarfo and Ben Zeidler. They tell us about their unique approach(es) to getting to more insightful truths, from spending time actually meeting people to making them comfortable to answer unexpected questions. First and foremost, theirs is a call to get out of the cage we're all putting ourselves into so that we can get to the questions that really matter.

Web 3 has been a buzzword of 2021, and as trends read are being rolled out, will no doubt be a feature of many outlooks. But is too early for brands to look at it, and will it really matter to marketers in the long term? To discuss this topic, we're joined by "technology meets brands" expert Nilesh Ashra, founder at Pragmatic Futurism and ex Director of Creative Technology at W+K.

It's pretty common for brands to use fear in their marketing to motivate purchase. Recently for example, we've seen Apple selling their watch on the premise it can save your life, when in fact 99.999% of use cases are not related to those events. Is there a fine line, or even a line at all that marketers can cross?

Off-the-cuff reactions happening within hours (sometimes minute) of pop culture unfolding are often celebrated in marketing circles. But are those "sparks of genius" really sustainable, or even meaningful to brands'?

NFTs have been making the corporate headlines lately, with the likes of Nike and Adidas taking big swings. Is this the beginning of the grand "mainstreamization", or just peak bubble?

Every strategist is familiar with the importance of "the deck". Often, the expectation is that the strategy is basically only expressed in slideware. Is that a good or a bad thing for strategic planning, and are there ways for us to make the most of those softwares without being enslaved to them?

Marketers have a core task of growing a company's market. Our mindset is always one about getting more value. But is that an aspiration the world needs? This week we're joined by Katie Dreke, ex-Nike / Droga5 / W+K, and independent consultant helping brands figure out how to survive longer term challenges.