I'm in Riyadh this week. It's my first time. I'm here for a new creator conference called Impaq Makers. It's run by the Ministry of Media.

I spent a few days exploring the city and speaking to people. But a strategist friend Faisal Alshareef told me about a big YouTube channel here called Thmanyah. I asked if I could meet them and interview them. Faisal made it happen.

Thmanyah have a Guinness World Record for the most-viewed YouTube video but, if you're like me, I bet you've never seen it.

One of Thmanyah's public faces is Omar Almoran. He hosts a weekly news podcast called the Alfajr Podcast.

In this episode, recorded in the Thmanyah office, I try to understand the kinds of change happening in Saudi Arabia as well as their scale and pace.

You can find Omar here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-alomran-kfupm/

Follow me here:

http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Strategy classes are here:

http://www.sweathead.com

Felipe Tomaz is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Saïd Business School at University of Oxford.

He's about to publish a paper in the Journal of Marketing after analyzing 1,000 campaigns and a million customer journeys via Kantar and Wavemaker.

With this paper, he'll be showing that "not all reach is created equal" as well as how few campaigns are actually effective.

I invited Tom Roach to join me for this chat.

Links

Felipe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drfelipethomaz

Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-roach-5b468026/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

For strategy training, check out http://www.sweathead.com

Ipsita Das often reaches millions of people every month. While she was studying media and psychology at he New School, her Instagram account started to pop.

Now, she works with tens of people every week. She tries to help them with the thoughts in their minds that are holding them back.

In this episode, we discuss the five issues Ipsita hears about more.

Ipsita will be teaching at our 2024 Sweathead Do-Together. Find tickets at http://www.sweathead.com.

Links:

Ipsita: https://www.instagram.com/helloipsita/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Steve Walls has had big strategy jobs at TBWA, Ogilvy, Publicis Groupe, and more. But, now, he lives in Zurich, works with Moon Rabbit, and sees agency pitches from the other side - as someone helping marketers get more out of their agencies.

In this episode, we discuss what Steve sees agencies get right and wrong in the pitch process.

Steve will be teaching at our 2024 Sweathead Do-Together. Find tickets at http://www.sweathead.com.

Links:

Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-walls-bb533638

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Mike Jacobson has worked in strategy for years. But he's been a magician for decades.

Not long ago, he appeared on America's Got Talent. That's how good he is.

In this episode, Mike breaks down the business of magic as well as how what he's learned from being a magician and strategist has helped both of his crafts, something he'll be teaching at our upcoming strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together.

Links:

Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsonmike/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

The Sweathead Do-Together: https://sweathead.com/the-sweathead-do-together-2024/

I recently spoke with Joe about strategy frameworks and whether they're dumb.

In this episode, we discuss strategic territories, which is one of those tools that is either useful or offensive, depending on how people use it.

Joe will teach us how to use territories at our upcoming strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together.

Links:

Joe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-burns-bb73a31b/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

The Sweathead Do-Together: https://sweathead.com/the-sweathead-do-together-2024/

Lucien Etori is the Chief Strategy Officer of McCann New York. He grew up moving around a lot as well as a fan of several music subcultures. This has led him to question the way a lot of advertising people use the word "culture".

What do people mean by "culture" and "the culture" and "be part of the culture" and "to do work at the speed of culture"?

And this is what we get into.

Links:
Lucien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucien-etori

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

The Sweathead Do-Together: https://sweathead.com/the-sweathead-do-together-2024/

The last time I spoke with Jenny Chang was four years ago. Since then, she's worked in agencies and for Lego and has now launched her own company, Constellation Theory.

In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss this journey as well as what it's like to build a business around yourself.

Jenny is hosting our upcoming strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together.

Links:

Jenny aka jennifer m chang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayemsey

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

The Sweathead Do-Together: https://sweathead.com/the-sweathead-do-together-2024/

Kevin Chesters has CSO’d it all - Ogilvy, Wieden + Kennedy, Dentsu and more. He’s started a business. He’s sold a business. 

He’s also started writing a book and finished writing a book, which is the hardest part of starting to write a book. It’s called The Creative Nudge.

Kevin is speaking at our fourth Sweathead Do-Together about how to say your ideas in a few words.

In this chat, we touch on this topic but we spend a lot more time on being diagnosed with being on the autism spectrum as an adult. 

Links:

Kevin: http://www.kevinchesters.com

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

The Sweathead Do-Together: http://www.sweathead.com

James Hurman was once the number one planner in the world. Now, he runs an innovation studio called Previously Unavailable, he teaches a Master of Advertising Effectiveness with the crew at WARC and Cannes Lions, and he directs brand-tracking company Tracksuit.

In this episode, we discuss James’s 18 months in the creative department and what he learned that can help strategists. 

We also get into the 101 of brand tracking.

Here, you can find… 

James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshurman/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Sweathead: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead

Strategy classes and books: http://www.sweathead.com

How often does your advertising career feel stuck? 

How often do you compare your career to other people’s careers?

What do you do to get your career un-stuck?

Iuren Ramiro is a Strategy Director at Agência WE in São Paulo. He’s also on the ANA and Lions CMO Growth Councils.

In this episode, we discuss Iuren’s own journey through the darkness as well as a recent survey we ran to see how other strategists feel about these topics.

Find our deck on feeling stuck in nan advertising career here:

https//sweathead.com/feeling-stuck-in-advertising-deck/

Here, you can find… 

Iuren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iuren/

Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Sweathead: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead

Strategy classes and books: http://www.sweathead.com