Any Insights Yet? with Chris Kocek (Chris Kocek)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Any Insights Yet? with Chris Kocek
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
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| 30 May 2024 | Any Insights Yet? Trailer | 00:01:08 | |
Introducing Any Insights Yet? with Chris Kocek. | |||
| 20 Jun 2024 | Transforming Clients and Customers Into True Believers with Seth Gaffney & Marika Wiggan at Preacher | 00:54:04 | |
Curiosity, conviction, and a desire to get out of one’s comfort zone - these are just a few of the characteristics that Seth Gaffney and Marika Wiggan look for in strategic candidates at Preacher, and it’s this non-traditional approach to finding talent and building campaigns that has led to Preacher’s continued success, winning them Small Agency of the Year for four of the last five years. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Clipper Confessions - Tashanee Williams and Zachary Stubblefield understand from first hand experience with focus groups that bad research environments lead to bad answers which result in bad learnings and bad representation. So they took focus groups out of the focus group facility and into the Barbershop with Rich “Smash” Payne. Questions include: “What’s the dopest thing about black culture?” and “If a CEO was sitting in the shop right now, what advice would you give them to better support black people?” The answers are nuanced, rich, and revealing. A few campaigns from Preacher: Tommy John Campaign - No Adjustment Needed Vital Farms Campaign - Bullsh*t Free Eggs Tecovas Campaign - Don’t Go Gently Favor Campaign - How Texas Orders In Foot Locker - The Heart of Sneakers A few campaigns that Seth and Marika admire: IKEA - Proudly Second Best Amazon - Spend Less on Your Kids Capri Sun - Wireless Kid-Noise Canceling Technology Favorite Books Marika’s favorite recent book - Big Swiss Seth’s favorite recent book - Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest | |||
| 11 Jul 2024 | How Honor and Vengeance Can Grow Your Brand with Brent Vartan at Bullish Inc. | 00:35:24 | |
Most ad agencies have clients. That’s not exactly the case with Bullish Inc. Started in 2015 by Michael Duda and Brent Vartan, the co-founders of Bullish asked a provocative “what if” question that re-envisioned what an agency could be to help maximize a new brand’s success. Their question: “What if we invested in early stage brands by providing actual money along with world-class strategic and creative services?” That question and their counterintuitive approach to brand-building has led to some impressive results for brands like Warby Parker, Harry’s, Casper, Peloton, Hu, Care/of, Nom Nom, and many more. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Brent include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Jolly Rancher and the Jolly Rancher Sunday Lawns - The Old Way Campaign Spot Brent’s favorite recent book - Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss | |||
| 25 Jul 2024 | Putting “What If” At the Center of the Creative Brief with Shobha Sairam, Chief Strategy Officer at 22 Squared Inc | 00:44:22 | |
For over two decades, Shobha Sairam has worked on a wide variety of brands at a number of agencies around the world, including Leo Burnett, Mother, Deutsch, and The Community among others. Most recently, Shobha has led strategy at 22 Squared Inc, based out of New York, where she and her team have breathed new life into brands like Baskin Robbins, Party City, Publix, and Toyota. Over the years, Shobha’s research for different brands has exposed her to a variety of sensitive and challenging subjects, including sexual wellness, banking, and the American Dream, and her process for getting to the heart of people's feelings around such complicated subjects is inspiring. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Shobha include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Oatly - Forced Perspective Campaign Shobha’s most recent favorite book - The Sword and The Scimitar | |||
| 08 Aug 2024 | Easy ways to Cut the Crap and Build Something Great With Alex M H Smith, Author of No Bullsh*t Strategy | 00:35:35 | |
There are a lot of strategy documents in the world. Briefs. Decks. White papers. Books. According to Alex M H Smith, most of them are full of shit. Impenetrable, calcified, piled-high bullsh*t. That’s because, despite all their words and charts and graphs, these so-called strategies fail to inspire action. And that’s what Alex wants to change in the world of strategy. With his book (No Bullsh*t Strategy) and his consultancy (BasicArts.org), Alex is on a mission to help brands differentiate themselves through bold, decisive action. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Alex include:
Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. No Bullsh*t Strategy - Alex M H Smith Alex’s favorite recent good book - The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist | |||
| 22 Aug 2024 | How to Make the Invisible Visible With Sascha Mayer, Co-Founder at Mamava | 00:50:43 | |
Sascha Mayer knows what it’s like to be invisible. Like so many new moms nursing their children, if she wanted to nurse or pump when she was away from home, her options were often limited to a bathroom stall, an unattended room, or a parked car. But it was around Labor Day weekend in 2006 that an article in the New York Times and a confluence of other events inspired a question that would change her life’s trajectory. “Why are these women who are so visible to me so invisible to everyone else?” That question - and the answers that followed - led Sascha and her co-founder Christine Dodson on a seven year journey to create Mamava, a revolutionary lactation pod for on-the-go moms (and dads) who need a clean, comfortable space for nursing, pumping, or bottle feeding. From the first location in 2013 at the Burlington International Airport to more than 5,000 Mamava locations today, Sascha has channeled her bodacious optimism for mission-driven brands into the Mamava ecosystem, transforming a topic that was once invisible into something that is now highly visible, approachable, and welcoming. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns, shows, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Swehl Campaign in Times Square featuring Molly Baz Frida - The Motherload of Labor and Recovery Must Haves | |||
| 05 Sep 2024 | How to Add Magic To Your Next Campaign with Magician-Strategist Mike Jacobson from America’s Got Talent | 00:42:40 | |
A great magic trick, like a great creative briefing, begins long before everyone gathers in a room. To the general public, Mike Jacobson may be best known for his magic show performance on America’s Got Talent in 2023, but for the past decade in the business and advertising world, Mike has brought his unique methods to strategic briefings and creative campaigns for a wide range of clients, including Oreo, Subway, Comedy Central, Paramount, and other MTV Networks. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Mike include:
Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Mike’s performance on America’s Got Talent The Last Barf Bag - Dramamine | |||
| 19 Sep 2024 | Thinking Inside The Box More Creatively with Dan Cohen, Executive Creative Director at Saatchi New York | 00:45:34 | |
Dan Cohen loves a good challenge. Tell him he can’t say something in a campaign headline and he’ll find a creative way around it, to the delight of clients and customers alike. Over the past thirty years, Dan’s creative, collaborative approach has helped a wide variety of brands in commoditized categories, including Bounty (paper towels), Charmin (toilet paper), Pampers (diapers), Pepto-Bismol (digestion), and Puffs (facial tissue). He’s also worked on the other side of the advertising spectrum, re-energizing luxury brands like Rolex, DeBeers, and Bentley. No matter what he’s working on though, Dan always manages to find those aha moments hiding in plain sight - in data points, personal experiences, and in casual conversations with his creative teams. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Dan include:
Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Wingmen Gronk & Julian Edelman Spill the Sauce on Their Patriot Days Lions - Bounty Wingtracker Campaign | The Work Charmin Restroom Activation in Times Square Charmin Rollbot at the Consumer Electronics Show | |||
| 03 Oct 2024 | Why Context is Everything with Tim Malefyt, Business Anthropologist and Clinical Professor at Fordham Gabelli School of Business | 00:44:16 | |
Tim Malefyt has an amazing ability to make the familiar strange. He does this by doing deep, ethnographic research, helping brands uncover hidden consumer truths through a combination of carefully constructed activities and thoughtful conversation. As a business anthropologist, Tim’s research methodologies and key findings have helped re-energize a number of big name brands across multiple categories, including Campbell’s, Gillette, FedEx, HBO, Revlon, PepsiCo, Cadillac, Crayola, and New Balance. For Tim, context is everything. If you want to understand a person’s behavior, you have to talk to them in the right context. That means getting them out of the focus group room, putting away the interrogation pad of paper, and talking with people in the environment where the behavior in question naturally takes place. Because as Tim puts it, “It is in the doing, in the action, that the ‘knowledge of the body’ starts to come through.” Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Tim include:
Below are links to books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Tim’s favorite recent book: The Overstory by Richard Powers Another great book: Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson | |||
| 17 Oct 2024 | Looking for Anomalies & Opportunities in AI Focus Groups with Ed Cotton, Chief Strategist & Brand Consultant | 00:29:02 | |
Why should strategists do focus groups with real humans if AI-enabled synthetic focus groups can yield an equally powerful aha moment at a fraction of the cost? That’s one of several challenging questions I explore with Ed Cotton, brand consultant and former chief strategy officer from Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP). For the past 25 years, Ed has been at the helm of strategic planning in NYC, leading strategy for a wide variety of brands, including Amazon, Apple, BMW-MINI, Chipotle, EA, LG, Nestle, Nike-Converse, Unilever, and Wal-Mart. In today’s fast-moving marketing environments, where CMO tenures are shorter than ever, Ed sees a multitude of opportunities that AI can offer - speed, cost reduction, and more ways to connect the dots. But at the same time, he worries that the combined pressure of smaller budgets and tighter deadlines are creating situations where strategists are afraid to get out of the office or out of their comfort zone. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Ed include:
Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation.
Ed’s favorite recent book: The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier Annihilation - Movie Trailer (Here's the book) Zone of Interest - Movie Trailer (Here's the book)
AirBnB Original Belong Anywhere Campaign Spot AirBnB 1/2 Billion Guest Arrival Campaign Spot
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| 31 Oct 2024 | Reframing Risk & Doing Scary Stuff with Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death | 00:36:01 | |
What is risk? For most people, a risky situation is one where you’re exposed to danger. Put another way, it’s the possibility of something bad happening. But for Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death, the definition of risk takes an interesting detour. For Andy, the real danger is not that something bad will happen, but that nothing will happen at all. No reaction. No learning. No breakthroughs. Just a boring piece of creative, dead on arrival, completely ignored. That’s why, over the course of his career, Andy has developed a habit of pushing himself into uncomfortable situations and doing “scary stuff” so that he can explore ideas that most people won’t even consider. But scary stuff isn’t the same as doing anything. There is always a Liquid Death Logic underneath every idea that helps the team connect the dots between dumb ideas and smart ideas in unexpected ways. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Andy include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Campaigns Mike Cessario getting a fan’s face tattooed on his body Limited edition corpse paint with e.l.f. beauty The “Freeze to Death” Cold Plunge Tank Limited edition Hot Fudge Sundae flavor with Van Leewan Ice Cream A partnership with Burton to create an unrideable snowboard called the Death Trap. A contest where you could win a free L-39 Aero jet called The Dehydrator. Cards Against Humanity Saves America Movies The Voyage Out by Barlow Jacobs (Coming Soon)
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall | |||
| 14 Nov 2024 | Transforming Challenger Brands into Category Leaders with Mark DiMassimo & Lesley Bielby at DiGo Brands | 00:56:45 | |
How do you take a challenger brand from number two and make it number one? And how do you do that with a relentless focus on positive behavior change? Those are the kinds of challenges that Mark DiMassimo and Lesley Bielby love to tackle at DiGo Brands, and over the past twenty years, they have elevated and re-energized numerous better-for-you brands, including Weight Watchers, Crunch Fitness, The Partnership to End Addiction, The Bronx Zoo, and Better Help, just to name a few. Whether they're making award-winning ads or redesigning a brand's identity from top to bottom, their work combines the latest findings from behavioral science with a unique blend of humanity, humility, and just the right amount of absurdist humor. Our conversation takes some wonderfully unexpected twists and turns as we try to decipher the motivating emotions surrounding embarrassment and the importance of teamwork when it comes to new business pitches. Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Mark and Lesley include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Campaigns Movies “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Trailer
Any Insights Yet? Episode 10: Andy Pearson at Liquid Death | |||
| 06 Mar 2025 | Going Cowboy and Being Bluntly Honest With Gordy Sang & Brian Siedband at Quality Meats Creative | 00:35:23 | |
The best work in advertising doesn’t just stand out—it challenges the status quo. And that’s exactly what Gordy Sang and Brian Siedband do with every client and every campaign at Quality Meats. Whether they’re working on a GoDaddy spot for the Big Game or a provocative box of chocolates for U by Kotex, Gordy and Brian (and their distributed team of strategists and creatives) always bring an unexpected twist to their creations, sparking conversations, and getting people to say, “I can’t believe they did that!” Their “going cowboy” approach is one of the many reasons they’ve been racking up awards, including Adweek’s 2024 Small Agency of the Year award and A-List Standout and AdAge’s Small Agency of the Year, and in this conversation, you get a peek inside their process. While they’re both quick to say they don’t have a ton of business acumen, they’re clearly doing something right, because a lot of businesses are lining up to do business with them, including Regal Cinemas, Doordash, Saxx Underwear, and Cava, just to name a few. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Campaigns Marquee Sports Network Just “Gets” Cubs Fans U by Kotex Period Sex Chocolates Phasy Chocolates & Functional Foods
Any Insights Yet: Dan Cohen at Saatchi New York (Season 1, Episode 7)
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| 20 Mar 2025 | Fighting Invisibility & Finding Emotional Truths with John Gibson, Head of Strategy at The Martin Agency | 00:37:48 | |
Despite the billions of dollars spent on advertising every year, most ads go completely unnoticed. In fact, 85% of them don’t even hit the minimum threshold for attention. So how do you make it into the 15% that actually break through? John Gibson, Head of Strategy at The Martin Agency, has spent his career answering that question, helping brands fight invisibility by uncovering complex emotional truths. For Papa John’s, that meant moving beyond “better ingredients” to tap into something far more powerful—people’s deep, almost cult-like devotion to pizza. For OREO, it meant elevating a product ritual in something more emotive and universal. And for Mountain Dew? It meant going deep into the world of sleep to see if creativity could be sparked in the subconscious mind. Throughout our conversation, John shares stories about the strategic decisions that led to these aha moments, and how The Martin Agency’s culture of curiosity consistently fuels big ideas. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns that came up during our conversation. Campaigns: Oreo Wonderfulled Chinese New Year Campaign Oreo + Coca-Cola Besties Campaign Papa John’s Better Get You Some Unisom Eagles Saquon Barkley Trolls Giants Owner John Mara | |||
| 03 Apr 2025 | Connecting the Dots Between Marketing and Murder with Alina Burroughs, Forensic Expert from Crime Scene Confidential | 00:53:23 | |
What do forensic science and marketing have in common? More than you might think. Both require an ability to analyze evidence, challenge assumptions, and uncover hidden truths that are often hiding in plain sight. Alina Burroughs, a forensic expert and star of the hit show Crime Scene Confidential, has spent years piecing together clues to solve cases, and as it turns out, many of those same techniques can also be applied to marketing. In this episode, Alina reveals how marketers and CSIs are both after the same thing - understanding motivations and finding the right guy (or gal). She also points out how forensic tools like “presumptive tests” can be used to help marketers make smarter decisions before going all in on an idea. Throughout our conversation, Alina shares real-world crime scene stories that demonstrate the power of looking beyond the obvious and why it’s critical to challenge our own beliefs if we want to get to those breakthrough moments. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Shows Crime Scene Confidential Trailer Brands Liquid Death - Andy Pearson on Any Insights Yet? Books | |||
| 17 Apr 2025 | Bending Reality with Greg Hahn at Mischief @ No Fixed Address | 00:44:03 | |
Greg Hahn has built his career on reframing questions and seeing things just a little bit differently. Actually, that’s an understatement. Before launching Mischief, Greg spent almost 20 years at some of the biggest and most celebrated agencies in the business, including Fallon and BBDO, where he led creative for brands like Timberland, Citibank, HBO, eBay, FedEx, and more. Along the way, he helped create some of the most awarded campaigns in modern advertising—work that not only racked up Cannes Lions and One Show pencils, but also embedded itself into culture in a way that made those brands unignorable. When Greg was unexpectedly let go from BBDO New York in 2020 due to budget cuts, it didn’t take long for him to start Mischief @ No Fixed Address. In two months, he created a new shop “where people - both employees and clients - could come and do the best work of their lives, with less layers, pretense and other unnecessary complications.” Since then, Greg and his team have helped businesses across multiple categories. When Tinder came to Mischief hoping to shed its reputation as a hookup app, Greg and his team challenged them with a provocative reframing. When Pizza Hut wanted to appeal to job-seeking Gen Zers, Mischief turned the pizza box into a résumé delivery system. And when Goldfish crackers wanted to appeal to adults, Greg and his team landed on a simple, but effective fix. Ask Greg a question about Capri Sun and you might end up talking about Banksy, Andy Warhol, or Duchamp. Or you might discover his passion for crime shows, data, and the interesting differences between Saxon words and Romance words. That said, no matter where you start with Greg, you’ll always find your way back to a clear-eyed understanding of a brand’s core business problem and a clever, creative path that’s going to get you where you need to go. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
Show Notes: Below are links to campaigns and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom Perseverance and The Art of Living | |||