Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of Marketing and Advertising
Inspiring Futures pulls back the curtain on the minds reshaping advertising and marketing today. Host Ed Cotton, former Chief Strategy Officer at Butler Shine and Stern & Partners, engages industry visionaries in raw, unfiltered conversations about their career pivots, creative breakthroughs, and strategic innovations. No canned responses. No PR filters. Just honest insights about navigating the complex world of brands, creativity, and agency life. Each episode delivers actionable wisdom from those who've mastered the craft and aren't afraid to share their failures alongside their successes.
Episodes
154 episodes
Re-Imagining Havas Chicago- A Conversation with Chief Strategy Officer Chase Cornett and Chief Creative Officer Frank Dattalo
It's always interesting to see what a network agency in a local market is capable of, especially at a moment in advertising history when geography matters less than it ever has. A few weeks back, I got a chance to sit down with Hava...
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1:00:31
Nick Thompson - CEO of The Atlantic- Author-- "The Running Ground"
A few months ago, in the middle of summer, I got a chance to sit down with Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, to talk about his brand new book, "The Running Ground." We got to talk about the book—what inspired it, how he approached it, and how...
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48:43
Brandon Murphy- Chief Strategy Officer- Trade School- Atlanta
Brandon runs strategy at Trade School which is the creative agency which was born out of 22squared in 2020.The agency's clients include- Makita, Home Depot, Shark Ninja, Publix and Advent Health. Brandon's experience includ...
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59:22
Kelsey Hodgkin- CEO and Partner- Special US
5 Things I learned from talking to Kelsey Hodgkin- CEO-Special US In my conversation for the Inspiring Futures podcasts that spans London, Buenos Aires, and Los Angeles, Kelsey Hodgkin — CEO and Partner at Special U.S. — ...
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1:08:06
Nick Avaria- Inside The Unglamorous World of Agency Operations
While most of us are obsessed with the creative and strategy side of the business, the harsh reality is that agencies succeed or fail based on their operational competence. For this recent episode of Inspiring Futures, I spent time ...
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1:01:41
What's to Be Done About Misaligned Briefs And a Broken Creative Process?
The latest Inspiring Futures podcast on better briefs and creative development featured a different format - instead of a typical one-on-one conversation, I gathered together an expert panel to examine and explore the issue.Matt Davie...
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57:23
Mary Lou Bunn- CEO + Founder- Flower Shop
Mary Lou Bunn is the CEO and founder of the agency Flower Shop. This is how the agency describes itself on its website. "Ad Age’s Small Agency 2024 Newcomer of the Year. That’s right, we’re a creative agency. We may be b...
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56:47
Lucy Barbor - We Are Masterplan
From digital media planner to Chief Strategy Officer - and now she's on a mission to democratize strategy for everyone.This is a podcast interview I did with Lucy Barbor, a strategy consultant and educator who's flipping the scrip...
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1:07:32
David Aaker- The OG of Brand
David Aaker is widely regarded as the father of modern branding. Over a five-decade career, he transformed brand from a communications tool into a strategic asset. His groundbreaking concept of brand equity, introduced in Ma...
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48:05
Rachel Ramaswamy- Managing Partner - Work and Co
Rachel has spent over a decade at Work&Co. In the episode, we discuss the company's unique origin story and how it has evolved alongside the transformative changes in the world of technology. We talk about..1. The importa...
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55:34
The Talent Architect: Christine Olivas (No Single Individual) on Building Today's Agency Model
Christine Olivas began her career by hand-delivering 50 resumes to San Francisco startups, which resulted in one startup hiring her. Her entry into agency work came when an owner heard a webinar she produced and was impressed enough...
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1:06:33
Tara Lawall- Chief Creative Officer and Partner- Rethink NY
Tara is the Chief Creative Officer at Rethink NY.She has extensive creative experience from agencies including Y&R, BBH, Mother, and Droga (x2).In our conversation, we discussed her experience at Miami Ad School, where she was...
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58:59
Pip Bingemann- Co-Founder- Springboards.Ai
The latest Inspiring Futures podcast features an interview with Pip Bingemann- the co-founder of Springboards.aiAs strategy departments grapple with how to use AI, this podcast seems timely.Pip is an agency strategist who embraced...
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47:54
Michael Miller and Chris Noble- Consiglieri
The latest Inspiring Futures podcast features an interview with Michael Miller and Chris Nobile- two of the three founders of consulting group Consiglieri.Before the founding of the consultancy, Michael and Chris worked together and help...
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1:05:54
Ali Burton- Gate One and Catch
The latest Inspiring Futures podcast features an interview with Ali Burton. Ali is Head of Incubator at Gate One in London, which is a Havas-owned start-up incubator. He's also in the process of growing his own start-up ...
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53:58
Donna Dupont- Chief Strategist, Foresight and Design- Purple Compass
The latest Inspiring Futures episode is all about "Futures".My guest is Donna Dupont, Chief Strategist, Foresight and Design at Purple Compass.As the Founder and Chief Strategist in Foresight & Design for Purple Compass, Donna...
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1:00:34
Brent Vartan- Managing Partner- Bullish- Moving Strategy Upstream
The latest episode of Inspiring Futures features an excerpt from a webinar I hosted with Brent Vartan of Bullish. Brent began his career as a strategist at shops that included- BBDO and Deutsch. Bullish was founded in 2016...
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34:43
Mark Lester- Squint Consulting
Mark is the co-founder of Squint Consulting. Before Squint, Mark was an experienced Head of Strategy working with clients like Nike, Netflix, Samsung, and Diageo. His career spanned New York, London, and Amsterdam and he spent his ...
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59:02
The World of Pharma Marketing- Martin Stapff- Co-Founder, Chief Creative Officer, Michelle Rigot- Executive Creative Director/Strategy- Yama Group
YAMA Group was founded in 2009 and has steadily built a reputation as one of the leading small, independent pharma shops in the world. It has worked on brands including Botox, Humira, and Keytruda and works with Takeda, AbbVie, and...
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57:03
Dr. Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel.- Understanding Culture
My latest Inspiring Futures podcast episode features an interview with Dr. Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel.Anastasia is a cultural theorist, writer, social critic, and strategist specializing in inclusivity within marketing, media, and tech....
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54:13
Julianna Katrancha- Group Strategy Director - Johannes Leonardo
The latest episode of Inspiring Futures features an interview with Julianna Katrancha- Group Strategy Director at Johannes Leonardo. This is one of my favorite interviews because Julianna dives into the learnings from her journey from a media p...
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57:42
Allen Adamson- Metaforce
The latest Inspiring Futures episode features an interview with Allen Adamson of Metaforce. Allen is a seasoned executive with experience client side at Unilever and in the agency world with the likes of Landor, Y&R, and Ogilvy...
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50:49
The Future of Creative Services- Joe Nash and Patrick Kizny
The latest Inspiring Futures podcast is a discussion with Joe Nash and Patrick Kizny about the current and future state of creative services and creative studios. Joe was formerly the Director of Business Strategy at Buck and the co-founder of ...
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1:04:53
Lori Bartle- Cultivagency- From Account Management to Account Leadership
The latest episode of the Inspiring Futures podcast features an interview with Lori Bartle of Cultivagency. Lori has over two decades of experience in Account Management although she much prefers to call it Account Leadership.<...
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54:56