Let's Make This More Interesting

What does it take to make iconic work with iconic founders – when nobody out there cares about you or your product? And why might having ADHD be a gift in helping you think about how to overcome that? In our Season 3 opener, Adam Morgan sits down with Andy Berndt, former agency leader and the founding force behind Google’s Creative Lab. Andy has worked alongside some of the most uncompromising figures in modern business — from Steve Jobs, Phil Knight and Michael Jordan to Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai — and has been at the heart of some of the most celebrated and impactful creative work coming out of America in the last 30 years. As account director, copywriter and client. A unique perspective. Andy reflects on: Why “nobody out there cares” can – and perhaps should – be the beginning of any great creative work. The particular talent that Steve Jobs and Phil Knight brought to assessing the work they were presented withHow humour in the room is often the doorway to the breakthrough ideaWhether clients get the creative work they deserve  And how Google’s Creative Lab grew from small stickers to Super Bowl spotsAlong the way, he explains how his ADHD became a creative advantage, why briefs are sometimes best answered with a poster instead of a presentation, and how “kids with crayons” built some of the most celebrated work of the digital era, including the now-famous “Parisian Love” film.__Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish: the strategic consultancy that helps ambitious Challengers to grow.Follow Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Thanks to our editor Ruth and our producer Rachael. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If work takes up so much of our lives, and so much of work’s output is down to discretionary effort, how do we make work more engaging - as leaders of teams, and as workers ourselves?  Bruce Daisley has become a world expert on it. Previously the MD of YouTube in the UK, Bruce was the European Head of Twitter when he started exploring the meaning and future of work in a podcast, Eat Sleep Work Repeat. His first book, The Joy of Work, was a Sunday Times number one business bestseller and an FT Book of the Month. He is also the host of the hugely successful podcast ‘Eat Sleep Work Repeat’.  In this episode Adam and Bruce first discuss how to get rid of the things that suck the joy out of work, and then how to create a positive buzz in our engagement, as an individual and as a team.  They talk about: What the really big disruption in work has been (and it’s not wfh) The essential foundations for making any impact whatsoever on engagement in a culture The two key indicators of real engagement at work Why idle time is so important  The real enemy of productivity in an organisation The power of Positive Affect The surprising importance of laughter  And why, when so much is known about how to drive up engagement at work, so little of that knowledge makes it into the leadership meetings of big organisations.  Listen to Eat Sleep Work Repeat:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/eat-sleep-work-repeat/id1190000968Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5KUW5Lu36O4nnfIFqIIUh4Bruce's books:The Joy of Work: 30 Ways to Fix Your Work Culture and Fall in Love with Your JobFortitude: The Myth of Resilience, and the Secrets of Inner Strength__Follow Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts. 

We’re at an inflection point in how we engage people about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Gail Gallie believes: we now need a completely new model – ‘The gloves are off’. Gail left a successful career in advertising and at the BBC to help set up Project Everyone with campaigner and film director Richard Curtis – their aim: to communicate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to everyone in the world in one week. 10 years later, she remains a relentless campaigner and innovator around communicating the SDGs, including the podcast she hosts with Loyiso Madinga, ‘An Idiot’s Guide to Saving The World’. In this week's episode, Gail and Adam discuss:How the combination of a big ambition and a fierce time constraint drove breakthrough solutions for Project EveryoneThe new context: how the whole world has changed, and we need to move on from the old model nowWhat this new model of impact campaigning should look like The role of surprise here, and how to get the most value from itWhy the creative campaigning community now has to go for brokeWhat it means to engage people in the conversation where they care when it comes to the SDGs, and in language they can relate to And, in Richard Curtis’ words ‘What is the sound of hope we can make against the noise of despair?’__Follow Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.

Is TikTok the most interesting platform in the world? What’s at the heart of its success – and what does it mean to be more interesting in a post TikTok world, when the audience on TikTok is “10x bigger every day than the Super Bowl”? In this week’s episode, Adam meets Nick Tran, former Global Head of Marketing at TikTok and advisor to a new generation of Challengers, including tech company Nothing. Nick brings his experience as a marketer, advisor and investor to discuss: How TikTok has changed the playing field for a new generation of brandsHow he led ‘Project Cheetah’ to reduce TikTok’s campaign development cycle from 10 weeks to a few days.The creativity that financial and time constraints force you to developWhy he always looks for win-win-win partnerships Learning how to create a ’must-see’ piece of creative workWhy he believes in moving creative in-house to speed up socialThe need for a balanced diet of marketing measurement beyond KPIs and ROI __Connect with Nick on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholastran/Follow Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.

For 10 years Sara Stark was part of the team helping the founders of Dishoom build their restaurant brand and business – a brand that is as rich, engaging and layered as so many other restaurants are superficial and glib.It’s a conversation about stories, and curiosity, and inventiveness, and layering, and pushing the idea. About a continual commitment to exploring and digging and experimenting and keeping things fresh. About thinking about what it means to be different, genuinely different and engaging, in a way that seems entirely unlike the rest of the business.If you are remotely interested in brand building, experience or culture the Dishoom story is an inspiration.Connect with Sara on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-stark-creative-marketing/Explore the layers of the Dishoom story at https://www.dishoom.com/__Follow Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.

Warren Berger began exploring how to ask better questions through a journalistic interest in innovation. He’s come to believe the importance of questions is much broader than that, and has come on to champion the development of better questioning skills in everything from education to our personal relationships.He has written widely on the topic, including ‘A More Beautiful Question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas’.In a discussion of some of his central findings and ideas we talk about:Why the question can be more important than the answerWhat makes a question dull or interestingHow a good question shifts thingsThe power of ‘Questionstorming’How a good question ‘attracts’ answersHis three part model to asking better questionsWhy businesses should think about having Mission Questions, rather than Mission StatementsAnd the power for all of us in having three big questions that guide our lives.Find out about Warren's books on his website: https://warrenberger.com/warren-bergers-books/__Connect with Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.

How do you engage an audience in something that really matters in just 90 seconds? Where do you start? How do you overcome the ‘curse’ of everything you know?  In this episode Adam talks with two former BBC reporters, Louisa Preston and Luisa Baldini, about how they become experts in being compelling in 90 seconds, in careers where they covered everything from the 7/7 bombings and the Amanda Knox trials to interviewing Richard Gere on the red carpet. They now have their own business, Composure Media, that helps executives become brilliantly succinct themselves.  They discuss:Their model for engaging in 90 seconds: ‘Hook, Line, and Sinker’Why you should always start with your strongest ‘picture’Overcoming the curse of expertiseThe importance of the story that only you knowHow to manage a confidence crisisWhat to do when your Hollywood star goes rogue on live TVAnd we close by discussing a big part of their work today: helping female executives develop a more confident elevator pitch and presence.Find out about Louisa and Luisa's work here: https://www.composure.media/___________Connect with Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.

This week Adam talks to renowned planners David Nottoli and Jeffre Jackson about their research into ‘interestingness’ in advertising.Drawing from their experience David and Jeffre share their definition of the five key components of interesting:How incongruity reinforces memoryWhy Don Draper might be wrong about emotionsThe significance of fish sticksWhy authenticity isn’t just a buzzwordWhy the details really matter, even if 99% of people don’t notice themWe also learn why we should avoid chasing empty spectacle in the battle for attention, why Nike’s legendary work with athletes can’t be replicated by just any sports brand, what the classic Cadbury’s Gorilla ad teaches us about mystery, and the risk of being sucked into the ‘boreplex’.Watch Jeffre’s 2006 video on Interestingness: how interesting ads work differently, and what value Interestingness delivers for marketers.Nike x Charles Barkley “I am not a role model”Nike x Tiger Woods "I Am Tiger Woods"___________Connect with Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/ Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.

Faris Yakob believes that attention is not merely the first step to engagement with something, but a fundamental shaper of who we are: if ‘we are what we eat’, then what we pay attention to comes to define us.  The author of ‘Paid Attention’ and co-founder of Genius Steals, he and his wife Rosie have spent the last ten years as modern nomads, consulting, speaking and writing. In this episode Adam and Faris discuss:How Faris’ diverse career and nomadic life has been ‘a quest for interesting’Why attention is part of the substance of our existenceWhy it is impossible to buy attention today ……And yet everyone is still competing for our attention all the timeStrategies for earning attention in a saturated media ageWhy the ‘most interestingness’ comes in the connection of domains that are not obviously connectedFollow Faris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farisyakob/Subscribe to Faris and Rosie's substack 'Strands of Genius': https://geniussteals.substack.com/Connect with Adam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-morgan-3a473a/  Let's Make This More Interesting is a podcast from eatbigfish. Thanks to our editor Ruth, our producer Travis, and to Tiny Podcasts.