Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn't work in marketing? I feel like Tom Hanks in Big sometimes. This is the job I imagined advertising would be like when I was a kid. I get to think of incredibly fun and unusual ideas for major clients like McDonald’s, Mars, Valvoline, Pepsi, and Subway, present those concepts in meetings, and if all goes well, produce those thought-starters as fully developed commercials or video content that’s viewed by millions of people across the country.
Favorite project you’ve worked on? Probably the campaign we created for Dentsu Creative and Subway amplifying their Footlong Sidekicks menu right before last year’s Super Bowl. My team was involved from pre- to post- and worked very swiftly on a tight timeline to deliver an integrated content campaign starring IG star Tank Sinatra, host of Tank’s Good News on GSTV, to complement the advertising creative, which featured Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes. In the final weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, GSTV came up with a splashy on-screen activation to promote the new Footlong Sidekicks, drive restaurant visitation, and complement the new brand spots with Mahomes and Kelce. Taking cues from the brief’s key insight that “Sidekicks are the unapologetic escape that you need in your day,” the GSTV team enlisted the services of Tank Sinatra for a branded content segment that identified 18,799 GSTV locations within one mile of a Subway restaurant and alerted the viewer that they were less than 5,280 footlong churros, cookies, or pretzels from their nearest Subway location.
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What’s your favorite ad campaign? Of all time? Easy. “Halftime in America” out of Wieden+Kennedy for Chrysler. I remember being in a loud room full of friends at my old apartment during the Super Bowl, and that grizzled voice of Clint Eastwood cut through the clutter like a hot knife through butter. The copy, the edit, the placement—all of it was brilliant.
One thing we can't guess from your LinkedIn profile: I’m a dad. I don’t speak much about my family or my personal life online, but it’s the most rewarding job I’ve ever had (present company excluded!)
What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? I’m most optimistic about the democratization of content. Everyone and anyone can make content and it opens up a great deal of opportunities for collaboration.
What makes me sad? AI voice-overs. As someone who spent years producing spots in Studio West at HRS Recording (shout-out Roy Latham and Howie), it hurts my heart and my hearing when a homogenous voice devoid of emotion is speaking over great video content.
What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? I think @moviesethumor hits the nail on the head for anyone in this biz who has spent time on set and with clients. It’s always good for a laugh, and an occasional cry—kidding!