This Modern Brand

When Katy Hornaday became CEO in 2025, the advertising industry was shifting fast—new technology, new pressures, and no clear playbook. In Tell Me Everything, Katy sits down with leaders for candid conversations about navigating uncertainty, tough decisions, and change in real time—replacing the loneliness of leadership with honesty, perspective, and community.

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We’ve hit the final episode of Camp Cannes Roll Call, and the BarkleyOKRP village goes out on a high (and hilariously sleep-deprived) note. Mariah Haberman hosts our last fireside chat from the French Riviera with Katy Hornaday, Nate Swift, and Sean Corcoran. From luggage drama to media magic, the crew dishes on their biggest takeaways, Cannes MVP moments, and what they’re bottling up (not rosé, Sean) to bring back to the Midwest. There’s one last roll call, one chaotic word game, and a whole lot of optimism about the future of creativity, media, and Big Indie ambition.

Day 4 from Camp Cannes brought the heat—and not just the Mediterranean sun. Mariah, Katy, Nate, Sean, and special guest Nicole Portwood (CMO at Suja Life) rallied around the campfire to break down the Fizz FM campaign for Slice—a nostalgia-fueled AI radio station built in a lightning-fast two weeks with BarkleyOKRP and Google. From Lo-Fi beats to 40 original songs about soda, the work sparked conversation not just for its creativity, but for doing something AI literally made possible for the first time. We also get honest, audacious takes on what AI can and shouldn’t do, dinner with the Clios, optimism from DeepMind, extinct animals, and hot dogs that slay.

Day three at Camp Cannes was anything but chill. Between panels, croissants, and one unfortunate pre-dessert cheese incident, the BarkleyOKRP crew dug into work that went deep and got people talking—like balloon installations spotlighting teen mental health and a Vaseline hackathon turned influencer marketplace. The crew tackled AI anxiety, risk-taking brands, and the power of long-term agency-client trust, all before logging 25,000 steps in jeans. Also? Snail mail. Real(ish) snail mail.

Day two at Camp Cannes Roll Call kicks off with three hours of sleep, one missing gate clicker, and a glitter-suited bunny sighting. Amid jet lag and iced latte revelations, the BarkleyOKRP crew recaps a jam-packed day—highlighted by an intimate leadership lunch with Charles Day, an inspiring story from Tubi’s CMO playbook, and a reminder that creativity, connection, and the occasional Viking-style fish entrée still cut through. And yes, the tote bags were a hit.

Welcome to Camp Cannes Roll Call, where the luggage is missing, the seagulls are thieving, and the creative conversations are somehow still flowing. In our kickoff episode, Mariah wrangles the crew—Katy, Nate, and Sean—for a casual debrief from the Côte d’Azur. We talk flooded hotel rooms, jet lag, rose-fueled crafting, and what it means to show up in Cannes with Midwest soul and creative ambition. There’s honesty, there’s audacity, there’s even some shopping-for-bras. It’s very us.

What truly sets independent agencies apart, and why does it matter now more than ever? In this episode, Jason Parks sits down with Katy Hornaday and Doug Zanger to explore how independence drives greater creativity, agility, and long-term success in a landscape increasingly shaped by holding companies.

In this Super Bowl 59 recap, host Jason Parks is joined by Ben Pfutzenreuter and Kyle O’Brien to break down the night’s biggest ads—grading the overall lineup, unpacking standout themes, and predicting which spots will have a lasting cultural impact.

What even is athleisure? Big-spending Gen-Xers don’t know, but that’s not stopping athleisure brand Vuori. It’s pursuing a go slow to go fast approach to brand and performance marketing that’s building a fashion phenomenon. Join host Jason Parks and his guest Karen Riley-Grant, Vuori’s CMO, stitching together insights on the psychology of consumer needs, the creation of Vuori’s London brick-and-mortar retail flagship as a social hub, and why loyalty and quality are the fabric for success in a world of fast fashion.

What’s standing in the way of true innovation? Spoiler: it’s not just silos or stale thinking—it’s the way we try to innovate. In this episode of This Modern Brand, Emily Cohen, Senior Director of Global Innovation at Pernod Ricard, shares how ditching cookie-cutter approaches unlocked breakthrough results. Tune in to learn how to “brainstorm the brainstorm” and revolutionize your creative process.