Advent: Recent Episodes
DDB Australia
What you love says a lot about you. But what really makes us tick is what we don't like. What we just know doesn’t work. What frustrates us. What we want to change.
So that's why we've started Advent, a podcast that gives some of the most interesting advertisers, marketers and communicators a proper chance to vent.
Each fortnight, we'll be joined by some of Australia (and the world's) best industry people to talk through what they love, hate, and wish would change. It'll be good, we promise. Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging
Matt Smith and Rocky Ranallo are the founders of Western Sydney Ad School - an idea they dreamed up over lunch to address that advertising isn’t easy or equal for everyone.
In this episode of Advent, we explore how advertising is a tricky place to get a start if you don’t have friends or family in the industry, and why Western Sydney Ad School is part of an important solution.
Rocky and Matt also explain how ad school can be a pathway to anything – becoming a Creative Director, opening your own business, or helping to create flying cars (true story).
Rocky and Matt touch on ageism too – is the industry’s issue a small snapshot of a national problem of not valuing experience enough? Is ageism detrimental to the quality of craft? Or with adland’s churn and burn nature, does ‘craft’ as we once knew it exist anymore? Is the magic gone?
Oh, and Rocky tells us why he’s never worked a weekend in his whole career.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Shane Vancuylenberg, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby and Emma Howard. Alex Watts hosts Advent.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kirsty Muddle spent over a decade at Cummins&Partners, the indie agency she co-founded, before she was named CEO of Dentsu’s creative arm late last year.
Kirsty chats through why the words “never before” were the catalyst for her jump to Dentsu, and delves into how it’s getting harder to make stuff that lasts (which is why we need a Razzies for advertising - a database of campaigns that just didn’t work).
She discusses how sticking around one business for a long time means you build the confidence to recover from a trough, and explains why she doesn't like the phrase 'trust your gut' - it devalues experience and expertise. And Kirsty celebrates the nature of agency competition changing: from pub brawls and realising, at nine months pregnant, she was the only person at the table spending time outside of work unpaid, to helping each other make great work and become a more diverse industry.
You might notice that Advent has a new look, to tie in with our new season. The brilliant redesign is all thanks to Tim Singleton, who you can find online at https://www.timsingleton.rocks/
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Shane Vancuylenberg, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In our last episode of Advent for 2021, Carat’s Head of Strategy Bethanie Blanchard delves in to why her vent is about venting - people sneering at the new “as though it means you’re not across the fundamentals of your craft”. In fact, brands should act like sponges for culture, she argues, soaking up even the flash-in-the-pan trends, because they reveal just as much about people and the world as the Next Big Thing.
She also talks about agency responsibility for who you work with and for, and the positive conversations happening in media agencies around how to reach diverse audiences. And she tackles some hard questions. Are we making too much stuff? Why are people embarrassed to work in advertising?
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Advertising Council Australia (ACA) has partnered with Kantar to launch Create Space, the industry’s first-ever diversity and inclusion census that will collect anonymous data on gender identity, social and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, mental health, family status, and experiences of inclusion at work.
Jasmin Bedir, CEO of Innocean; Simon Wassef, Chief Strategy Officer at whiteGREY; and Renata Yannoulis, Senior Strategist at TBWA Sydney, are each members of the ACA’s D&I committee.
In this special episode, they talk about the impact of changing your identity to fit in, why the answer to opening more doors is “we just fucking do it”, and whether we’ve strayed from our reputation as a collection of misfits. Or were we never really that to begin with?
Jasmin speaks of white privilege in adland, Renata explains why she wants senior leadership to pay attention to the census results, and Simon issues a challenge to award show jurors: Give away your place to someone from an underrepresented community.
You can complete the census until 15 December at createspacecensus.com
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Corey Kindberg wouldn’t want to do anything else than be in advertising. Other than becoming a rich, stay-at-home husband (which doesn't sound half bad, to be fair).
TBWA\Chiat\Day’s Associate Strategy Director, who’s based in Los Angeles, digs into whether advertising is as fun as it used to be, why it doesn’t help to get further away from the work the more senior you get, and why a lack of entry level roles “hits the creative work hard”. When there’s a high bar to entry, the industry doesn’t get “cool, weird fucking people” in the room.
He also talks about whether the US is that far ahead of Australia on DE&I, his recent move from New York to LA, and the surprising upsides to being fired from New York Magazine’s The Cut.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When MD Davy Rennie took over Tribal Australia, he went straight into a Volkswagen pitch. The client told him “I don’t think you’ll win.” Against all odds, they did. But it required a reset, and proving promises would be kept. Now, Tribal couldn’t be closer to the Volkswagen team.
Davy doesn’t just chat about Tribal though. He touches on the power of proper honesty in client relationships, the importance of asking for help when you need it, his own mental health journey and watching out for the mental health of his team, and why culture is the glue that holds everything together. It’s all connected, and speaks to the fact we should be more vulnerable and better to each other. Because “high fives and hugs make us who we are”.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Anna Dancey is a Gamilaroi woman living, working and thriving on the lands of the Eora Nation. She’s also the National Sales Manager at NITV, a part of SBS.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent 3.3% of the Australian population, but just 0.3% of advertising spend is dedicated to reaching these audiences. Anna talks about SBS and NITV’s initiative Beyond 3 Per Cent, which aims to change that. She also explains why people working in advertising can learn a lot from Indigenous culture about the importance of caring for your community. And she asks: Should our industry consider hiring previously incarcerated people in an attempt to reflect the cross-section of people our advertising reaches?
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pia Chaudhuri is BMF’s Executive Creative Director. The path to that role has been windy, and 17 years long. As she puts it, it required working at an agency that was happy to appoint someone that doesn’t look like your typical ECD: A white guy wearing trendy glasses, jeans, and a T-Shirt.
Pia explains why we need to not just focus on diversity, but also analyse where diverse people sit in the business. How diverse is the leadership team, or the creative department? She talks about burn out - “every agency has a culture of burning people out” - the necessity for brave people to reveal themselves, and having the guts to be wrong sometimes. And we chat about OnlyOneInTheRoom, the platform designed to create a more diverse advertising community that Pia co-founded.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Advertising is a fast-paced game. Ben Shepherd has experienced two decades’ worth of that pace, across companies including Yahoo, Mindshare, Junkee, OMD, PwC, and CHE Proximity. Most recently, he was General Manager of Media at Thinkerbell, and wrote a book last year called Everything You Wanted to Know About Advertising and Media… But Were Too Afraid to Ask.
Ben explains why it’s hard to increase mental health progress without decreasing the pace, why media companies have tried to get him fired, and why more time should be spent training people with two to five years’ experience. He also teases a publishing experiment he’s hoping to roll out on Instagram.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Social media has been through a lot of growing pains, and few people know that better than Mandi Barton. Over many roles, including as the social lead at ZipCo and M&C Saatchi, Mandi has guided clients through how to ride the wave of social innovation while still doing effective work.
We also touch on the untapped power of authenticity and the critical need for specialists in a world of hybrids. And we discuss how too many industry leaders think that social is all about being friends with a brand, when they couldn't be more wrong.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chances are, if you’re a creative who’s wanted a job, or an agency that’s filled a job, you know Esther Clerehan. Esther has been a recruiter specialising in creative roles for more than 30 years.
In this episode, we cover a lot. Salary transparency. Managers who struggle because they’re too scared to ask for help. The impact of last year’s redundancies and pay cuts on this year’s talent market. The importance of pulling new people into advertising, versus hiring from the same pool of friends and family. And the industry’s focus on - and the ageism of - ‘who’s next?’.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're back, legends, and it couldn't feel better. Season 2 kicks off with Brent Smart, CMO at IAG, and a marketer who's transformed expectations of insurance advertising - and is generally challenges Aussie advertisers to be better.
We talk about the power of control in your creative career, the dangers of being too focused, and how incredibly fragile ideas really are. It's a banger.
Right now, we're recording and producing Advent from at home, on the lands of the Dharawal and Gadigal people. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Declan Clow Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Brittney Rigby. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Advertising used to be cool. Like, really cool. But in 2021, is that still the case? This week, we are joined by Global CEO of C14torce, about the danger of resting on your laurels, the importance of a more contemporary office and the need for agencies to take more risks.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode, we're joined by Ricky Chanana, Head of Sales at Twitch. In his 16 years working in advertising and media, Ricky has done his time both agency and publisher side, including heading up investment at Maxus, leading Unruly in AUNZ, and more recently, joining Twitch as Head of Sales.
We talk through the vital role of community in a successful network, gaming becoming pop culture, and how to speak to cord cutters in the inevitable shift away from TV. We also explore the role of live streaming in the media mix and being truly, inescably, authentic.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode, we're joined by Dan Ferguson, Chief Marketing Officer of Adore Beauty, Australia’s largest online beauty retailer. Dan has more than 15 years’ experience leading online growth for many companies and categories, including Vistaprint, Officeworks, GPG, Dell and DesignCrowd and is well known for his views on the role that data plays in modern marketing.
We talk about the true value of disruption in 2021, how you can transform from performance marketing to brand and back again, the role of social as a gateway in changing your brands, and most importantly, how dangerous it is to forget the customer.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Simon is the co-founder and CEO of Who Gives A Crap, a toilet paper company that dedicates half of its profits to build toilets in the developing world. Simon is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who has built three social enterprises focussed on revolutionising the way brands thinks about giving back.
We talk to Simon about how Who Gives A Crap built a distinctive brand using every touch point, the role brands can play in improving the world and if he’d ever consider spending $5m to run an ad in the Super Bowl.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Peter Kirk is an Australian director, screenwriter, producer and an incredible advocate for a more representative advertising industry. Over his career, Peter has worked with brands such as Lynx, Google and Greenpeace and has been recognised around the world for his work in advertising and beyond. In 2015, Peter Kirk founded Pluto Media, a content platform that brings together creative storytelling and artist discovery, helping agencies and brands in crafting strategies that underpin the value of working with indigenous creatives.
We talk to Peter about the radical changes advertising needs to make to welcome more indigenous Australians – beyond just instating a Reconciliation Action Plan, how engaging the original storytellers of this nation could see agencies reclaim former creative glory and which businesses are leading the way in terms of diversity.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Zoe Scaman is the founder of Bodacious, a business and brand strategy studio and one of the most interesting voices in brand strategy right now. Zoe describes herself as a swiss army knife specialising in planning, entertainment, strategy, innovation and more. Before setting up her own shop, she worked around the world in Sydney, London, New York and Ethiopia at the likes of Droga 5, Adidas and Naked Communications.
We talk to Zoe about divorcing strategy from the world of advertising and applying it to the creator economy, the flailing business models of the ad world and her time at Naked Communications in the 2000s and what the agency’s downfall says about the future of holding companies.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Leisa Bacon is the Director of Audiences at the ABC with more than 20 years’ experience working across marketing, communications, digital and strategy roles. She’s a self-confessed content junkie and was recently recognised in the CMO 50 as the top marketer in Australia landing in the coveted #1 space.
We talk to Leisa about how the many crises in 2020 forced the ABC to evolve as more Australians turned to the public broadcaster, the ongoing streaming wars for share of mind and why the ABC will continue to invest more in brand building.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For this special end of year episode, we are joined by Optus Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Hopkins, Mi3 Senior Journalist Josh McDonnell and DDB Sydney Chief Strategy Officer Fran Clayton to discuss what mattered most in 2020, and what we need to leave behind.
From the creeping conservatism plaguing Australian marketing, to the David versus Goliath narrative building between holding companies and independents and the hideousness of Christmas pitching, we’re saying goodbye to 2020 with a little spice.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tim Duggan is a new media entrepreneur and has been described as the “oldest millennial in the world”, cofounding several digital media ventures in his 20-year career, most notably Junkee Media, Australia’s leading millennial digital publisher. He recently stood back from Junkee Media to focus on writing and launching his first book, Cult Status.
We talk to Tim about his journey from mailroom to media leader and his encounters with every facet of the industry along the way, the sometimes-b**t of brand purpose and what it takes to build a brand that people adore.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Siobhan Fitzgerald is an advertising creative whose worked at The Monkeys, M&C and Ogilvy in her career, and a writer. She is also the founder of Gabberish, creative therapy for creative minds, and co-founder of The Good Bits, a good sex story platform for Women+.
As a two time start-up founder and often the only woman in the creative department throughout her career, she shares how she’s dealt with rejection, going from a prude to rebranding erotic fiction and dealing with anxiety in an industry where mental health isn't always given space. It's a pleasure of a listen.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After 15 years of hosting some of the biggest TV and radio shows in Australia, Jules took the audacious step of founding his own tech company, TRIBE. Launched in Nov 2014, TRIBE is a digital marketplace that connects social media influencers with leading brands. Jules has been described as the industry’s ‘golden child’, ‘the best presenter since Steve Jobs’ and has a bunch of insights into what’s holding back influencer marketing from being widely adapted within agencies.
We talk to Jules about breaking down the barriers between brands and content creators, the overreliance on traditional creative solutions holding back brands and he questions why marketers are still treating consumers like halfwits.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Lisa Ronson is one of the most high-profile marketers in Australia with an impressive resume of blue-chip brands, including Westpac, David Jones, Tourism Australia and, most recently, Coles. She stepped into the Chief Marketing Officer role at Coles about 18 months ago and has led the organisation through a customer-focused transformation – and a run on toilet paper.
We talk to Lisa about creating a common language in advertising, the lack of commercial thinking in agencies and the importance of picking and sticking to your brand.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Karen Ferry has been a creative at some of Australia’s most famous agencies for the last decade. She’s seen the good, the bad and the disturbing throughout her career – of which she shared with us on this latest episode of Advent.
We talk to Karen about adland’s diversity crisis and what we can do to solve it, soul-crushing company politics and how she would revolutionise the agency billing structure.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Brett Armstrong is the General Manager of TikTok Australia, and has led the business through a wild first few months, including massive audience growth, global scrutiny, and a global pandemic. So he's in a pretty good position to have a little bit of a vent about the good and the bad of the industry.
We talk to Brett about how moving from tax and legal to the digital frontier, the mistakes marketers make understanding demographics, and how the industry's obsession with measurement is killing effective work. Plus a few other things on the way.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing Advent, a podcast about the things we love and hate about advertising and marketing. You'll love it, we reckon.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Peter Sloterdyk has led marketing and communications for some of the world's most interesting brands including Grindr and Netflix. Peter recently joined Koala as their Global Chief Marketing & Technology Officer amidst a global pandemic that saw the direct-to-consumer brand navigate through its biggest sales period since 2015.
So what does he think needs to change in advertising and marketing? In the first episode of Advent, we talk to Peter about the importance of trust, our obsession with measurement, and how to build human brands.
Advent is produced and recorded in the studios of DDB Sydney, on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
Editing and mixing for Advent is done by Andy Stewart, with production support from Emily Wood. Editorial guidance and research comes from Lindsay Bennett. Alex Watts hosts Advent, and wrote this in third person.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.