Hey friend β Rob here. A few months ago i kicked off a video interview series, starting with Chris Rawlinson, founder of 42courses. You can watch it here. It was genuinely one of those wide ranging conversations where you start on point A and finish on point 37.1. And if that structure makes no sense, it's by design. I love randomness in exchanges. Anyway, there's tons of wisdom that i got out of Chris's brain, and some good lessons to help us all grow with a greater sense of compassion,...
6 days agoΒ β’Β 6 min read
Hey friend β Rob here. At its peak, Crispin Porter + Bogusky lived and died by a thought: βDon't write the idea, write the news headline.β This is true for creatives, but should also be true for our briefs. Sure β back them up, add context, explain where weβre coming from. But never lose sight of the headline of what you're asking. Friedrich Nietzsche once said: "I want to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book." How often do you see briefs that are comprehensive, but not clear?...
6 days agoΒ β’Β 1 min read
Hey friend β Rob here. I recently interviewed Kevin Chesters (you can watch it here), and boy what a dream conversation it was. Kevin has a wonderful way of being both a very smart man, and a very generous one as well with his thoughts. And although we never worked together, i could see a level of thoughtfulness that frankly i wish more CSOs displayed. Rare stuff. Anyway, heaven forbid i discourage you from watching the full thing. But at the same time, sometimes we're short on time and...
13 days agoΒ β’Β 5 min read
Hey friend β Rob here. A few weeks ago, while at Frankly Speaking, i stumbled into a pretty neat way of attending a conference and taking notes. The answer? Don't take notes. Send texts. Specifically, find a buddy you can trust (in my case, the spectacularly smart Sheeza Anjum who is also part of the Salmon Crew) and swap your impressions as you go. It's pretty insane the level of insight you might get to by sharing the responsibilities of coming up with it. Maybe there's a broader lesson in...
13 days agoΒ β’Β 6 min read
So the first Salmon Theory panel (featuring Salmon Crew members) was a wild ride. And by wild ride, i mostly mean pretty successful, with tons of positive feedback along the way. Thanks again to Pollyanna, Alexi (subscribe to Idle Gaze!), Sheeza, Jaskaran (subscribe to The Social Juice!) and Berk for helping make this the epic vibe session it was. The aim of the session was simple: To look at five under-discussed brands (Wealthsimple, Curry's, Flex, Starface, immi) To reverse engineer the...
17 days agoΒ β’Β 5 min read
So, two quick things about our recent Contagious partnership: We now have a winner β Iona Ratcliffe, you're going to Most Contagious London! (Check your inbox.) I also secured a mega discount code for anyone else who wants to buy a ticket. (Keep reading for it.) Plus, some practical things i've learned over the past 15+ years on how to collaborate with creative teams. But first, the discount code. The Contagious crew are among the readers of this newsletter, so we agreed a neat little deal....
17 days agoΒ β’Β 4 min read
"Shit, i'm losing control again." This has always been my reaction whenever i get emotional in an argument. And i hate that feeling, thank you very much. Of course, i've been getting better at handling it, through a fun little process called emotional self-regulation. Part of it comes from reframing what an argument is really about. Old me: "arguments are two people who hate each other." New me: "arguments are two people shaping each other." Especially if said argument is about a problem, not...
26 days agoΒ β’Β 3 min read
I spotted this last week at Droga5's offices. And you know what, it's great advice. Especially for the over-thinkers out there (HI!). Those of us who show up with a rattlebag of: Intelligence Cultural references Peer reviewed studies Specialised words because why not (Latest for me is "category entry points".) And yet, there is a danger of being so good at thinking. We over-think things. And as a result overload others that work with us. Not a very good place to be.And the problem with this?...
30 days agoΒ β’Β 2 min read
Movember is upon us, and so is what many are considering "the masculinity election" in the US. Over the past few weeks, i've been reading, reflecting and riffing with others on modern masculinity. And because this is a platform about helping strategists grow, there's tons of growth we as men owe to ourselves. Not to mention to others. So, here are 30 personal mini-reflections on being a modern man. (And so it's 100% clear, i'm writing this as a cisgender man, there's tons more nuance for...
about 1 month agoΒ β’Β 2 min read