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PODCAST

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

business marketing

All Episodes

58:39

Ace of Hearts and the Return of Creative Belief

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/04/08

Ace of Hearts is one of those rare new agencies that arrives with real heat around it. Not just because the founders come from serious places, but because it seems to answer a feeling a lot of people have right now: that creative companies have become too managed, too tired, too airless, and that something more alive is needed. Martin Beverly has come through AMV, Wieden+Kennedy and Adam & Eve, so he has seen three very different versions of creative excellence up close: the discipline of...

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60:24

Mike Doman- Hellions

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/04/07

Australia’s indie agency scene feels on fire right now, and Hellions feels like part of that new wave. With new work already out in the world for Figma and a fresh win with BISSELL, this is more than a start-up story. In this episode, Hellions co-founder Mike Donman shares his story, and in our conversation, five lessons emerged that could be valuable for anyone thinking of starting a new shop. Create value, don’t extract it Make the client better, not just busier.Lose the grand reveal ...

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62:59

Changing China and Western Brands - A Conversation...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/04/02

Nike's stock dropped 15% yesterday. Greater China is down for the sixth consecutive quarter. Their CEO told staff he's "so tired of talking about fixing this business." This isn't a tariff problem. It's an identity crisis. I sat down with Falk Fuhrmann, who has led strategy at TBWA, DDB, and Saatchi's for 25 years. Ran P&G's strategy across Asia and Greater China. Now runs Huí//Lüè, a brand consultancy in Shanghai with over a decade spent on the ground. His take: Western brands learned al...

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58:04

Bill Shea- Managing Director, Accenture Song

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/03/30

What happens inside a $20 billion creative technology operation when AI changes the speed of everything? When designers start coding? When two-week sprints compress to one? And what does that mean for the clients who are trying to navigate the same transformation? Bill Shea has spent decades building digital products inside Accenture Song, larger than any agency holding company in the world. In my conversation for the Inspiring Futures podcast, he talks openly about bo...

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59:20

Lucinda Bounsall- Sibling Studios

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/03/24

Lucinda is the founder and head of strategy at Sibling, a culture-led strategy studio. In this episode, we track Lucinda’s unconventional path into strategy. Originally an aspiring journalist, she spent her early career in the editorial departments of London fashion magazines—at one point completing six months of back-to-back internships while living on her sister’s floor. Her career progressed through brand-side roles at ASOS, Farfetch (during its startup phase), and Stella McCar...

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53:13

The Business of Different- Barry Labov

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/03/20

Barry LaBov started as a rock and roll musician, then accidentally fell into running a full-service ad agency when a client convinced him to buy their marketing department. That unlikely path led him to become one of the foremost experts on brand differentiation, what he calls "brand archaeology." On the Inspiring Futures podcast, he shared how he helps companies uncover the hidden genius they're already sitting on. Discovery LaBov's team doesn't create differentiation; they discover it...

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50:00

Tower28- Making it Easy to Go Global

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/03/18

This is an interview with Erin Emmerson, CEO, Founder, Kelsey Croos, President, Founder and David Young, Global Executive Creative Director of Tower28. This is how they describe themselves on their website. "Like the Santa Monica lifeguard tower we’re named after, we provide guardianship for our clients as they navigate the wondrous waters of localization. Founded by long-time international advertising executives, we set out to democratize the global agency network of creative industry ...

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67:08

Justin Herber- Scaling Brands and Hollywood

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/03/17

This week on Inspiring Futures, we sit down with Justin Herber. He's a chief brand officer, consultant, and former screenwriter whose career has moved between Hollywood and the brand world. Justin got his start working for Michael Bay, spent five years helping scale Tom's, won a writing assignment to adapt Mario Puzo's final novel for television, built Hot Wheels into the number one boys' toy brand on YouTube, and led Tractor Beverage Company from a proof of concept to a national challe...

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58:46

Gigi Grimes- Founder- Pai

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/03/09

Send a text Gigi spent seven years at Google before leaving to start a research company. Pai isn't any old research company; it specializes in the creation of "digital twins". These are digital replicas based on real consumers. Pai interviews these consumers and builds digital versions of them. The real respondents get paid every time their digital twin is used, and the real consumers are interviewed regularly so the digital twin can be constantly updated. Gigi imagines a world where ev...

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58:27

Elle McCarthy- VP- brand, creative and product...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/02/23

Send a text Elle is the perfect person to talk to if you want an understanding of strategy inside organizations. She started her work life selling punk fashions in London's Camden Market, but found her way into adland, landing strategy roles at Karmarama and BBH in London. Elle then moved over to the US with BBH, then onto BBDO- where she led the agency's pitch for the global Ford account. Her client experience includes time at EA, PayPal, Ford, and she's currently at McCaff...

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54:26

The Hidden Architecture of Japanese Running- an...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/02/18

Send a text Japan has one of the world’s deepest running cultures and at the center of it sits Ekiden: the long-distance relay that becomes a national obsession every winter. In this episode, I’m joined by Jeremy Kuhles, a translator, writer, and runner who’s made it his mission to share Japanese running culture with the world through creative storytelling. Jeremy has lived in Japan for two decades and is immersing himself from the inside, training alongside the Tamagawa University wome...

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56:08

John Long- ECD and Author of Zombie Brands

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/01/22

Send us a text John is an ECD at Digitas and the author of a new book, "Zombie Brands." In our conversation, we talked about his book and the why, what, and how behind the rise of the Zombie Brand. Some of John's quotes from our chat. On the state of advertising: "No one went to, no one got into advertising to make a banner ad. No one got into advertising to make a Facebook ad." On the shift from craft to quantity: "The bragging rights have been we're working with Ridley Scott on this 60-sec...

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55:40

Tom Garland- Founder-Edition Partners

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/01/08

Send us a text Tom Garland founded Edition Partners, a London-based creative growth studio, in January 2023. His career spans record labels (Sony, Warner, Universal), Red Bull's experiential marketing peak, and seven years at Highsnobiety where he became Senior Director and Head of Strategy, working with over 100 brands before the Zalando acquisition. Edition emerged from research with 52 brand founders struggling with growth strategy. The studio has worked with Lacoste, Mar...

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55:49

Justin Rashidi- Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2026/01/05

Send us a text Introduction Justin Rashidi is co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at SeedX, a data-driven marketing and business consultancy approaching its tenth year. In this episode of Inspiring Futures, he talks about his unlikely path from biochemistry student to entrepreneur, the tutoring company that taught him everything, and how SeedX grew from freelancing for a dairy farm to working with Fortune 500 clients. Key Themes 1. The Tutoring Company: An Accidental MBA Waitlisted for med...

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52:57

Neil Perkin- Only Dead Fish

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2025/12/17

Send us a text Neil Perkin is a consultant, author, and self-described polymath working at the intersection of strategy, digital transformation, emerging technology, and leadership. With roots in media transformation at Time Inc during the dot-com boom, Neil has spent the last 16 years helping organizations navigate change. He's authored three books on agility and transformation, and now writes extensively about how AI is reshaping the practice of strategy. In this conversation, N...

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60:31

Re-Imagining Havas Chicago- A Conversation with Chief...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2025/11/11

Send us a text 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 Havas Chicago's Chief Strategy Officer, Chase Cornett, and Chief Creative Officer Frank Dattalo to talk about the change they're implementing as a leadership team that includes President Kat Ott. Our conversation was wide-ranging and covered ...

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48:43

Nick Thompson - CEO of The Atlantic- Author-- "The...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2025/10/29

Send us a text 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 he managed to create a compelling narrative. So this is a podcast episode about running, but it's also about writing and about the challenges of telling a good story. Nick's journalism career started at the Washington Monthly when he was...

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59:22

Brandon Murphy- Chief Strategy Officer- Trade School-...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2025/10/29

Send us a text 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 includes time at Campbell-Ewald/Detroit after which he joined West Wayne in Atlanta, which became 22 Squared. In our conversation, we talked about the evolving role of marketing, the importance of brands and brand meaning, and how AI is shifting and...

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68:06

Kelsey Hodgkin- CEO and Partner- Special US

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2025/10/22

Send us a text 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. — maps out how a strategist becomes a leader without losing her strategic soul. Founded in 2007 in Auckland, New Zealand, Special Group began in an old cinema and is now an independent global network with offices in Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melb...

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61:41

Nick Avaria- Inside The Unglamorous World of Agency...

Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of... ·

2025/10/21

Send us a text 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 talking to Nick Avaria. Nick has owned his own agency, and he also buys agencies and consults with them to help them improve operations. Here are some of the highlights of our conversation. The agency landscape has transformed...

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171 results

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