Any Insights Yet? with Chris Kocek

Chris Kocek
  • 5.0 (12)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Any Insights Yet? reveals the secrets, stories, and surprising discoveries that have led to fresh insights, resulting in the world’s most memorable campaigns and breakthrough business ideas.

  1. The Surprising Overlaps Between Toy Design and Brand Design with Assaf Eshet, Founder of Clixo Toys

    OCT 23

    The Surprising Overlaps Between Toy Design and Brand Design with Assaf Eshet, Founder of Clixo Toys

    What are the key characteristics of designing a great toy? It turns out, it’s many of the same characteristics that go into building a great brand. Playfulness. Imagination. A little bit of mischief. And joy. In this episode, I talk with Assaf Eshet, founder and award-winning toy designer at Clixo Toys. I met Assaf at the ISTE EdTech conference in San Antonio this summer and I was immediately drawn to the flexible, colorful shapes of Clixo and all the different things you could build with them - robots, animals, vehicles, wearables - you name it. And when Assaf started telling me about the philosophy behind Clixo - how they blend the best of origami with the best of magnetic building toys - I knew he needed to be a guest on the show. Because he definitely sees the world in a different way compared to most. I’m glad I met him when I did because since our chance encounter in San Antonio, Clixo has been getting attention just about everywhere. In the past few months Clixo launched nationally in Target, had a huge activation at the MoMA, and was just named one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2025. In this episode, Assaf and I talk about the principles of great toy design, and how his teaching philosophy helps students embrace failure and experimentation, which are prerequisites for coming up with even better ideas. We also explore the psychology of play and the secret to living as a joyful creature.  Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: One of Assaf’s favorite design assignments that he gives to his students each semesterWhy good toy design (like good branding) requires constant testing “in the wild”What his grandmother’s hand-sewn Barbie clothing collection taught him about resourcefulness and innovationHow Italian cinema and Roberto Benigni shaped his outlook on creativityThe importance of becoming a collector (for whatever you’re passionate about)  Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books: When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession by Irvin D. Yalom Products: Chomshop: A Kid-Safe Power Tool for Cutting Cardboard Speeches: Roberto Benigni Oscar Speech for Life is Beautiful

    43 min
  2. How Comedy and Cultural Sparks Drive Creativity with Tara Lawall at Rethink

    OCT 9

    How Comedy and Cultural Sparks Drive Creativity with Tara Lawall at Rethink

    Tara Lawall has worked at some of the biggest agencies in the world, earned a Cannes Titanium Lion, and her work has even landed a spot in MoMA’s permanent collection, but her sharpest insights might trace back to a comedy class she took at Miami Ad School. Today, Tara is Chief Creative Officer and Partner at Rethink’s New York office, and in this interview, Tara shares how her team uncovers powerful truths hidden in everyday behavior — something they call cultural sparks at Rethink — and how those truths have led to some of the industry’s most buzzworthy campaigns. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: The unique “trauma therapy” process Rethink uses to build client relationships that leads to more effective workSome aha moments around a spicy but not too spicy Doritos campaign with Walton GogginsThe creative challenges of finding the perfect soundtrack for different street corners in LA, London, and New York with Epidemic SoundThe brand love campaign Rethink developed for Mac n’ CheeseThe Philly slang term that works in literally any sentenceImportant life lessons Tara learned growing up in her dad’s delicatessen and pastry shop Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert A Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin Abundance by Ezra Klein Campaigns: Doritos: A Spicy but Not Too Spicy Plumber Epidemic Sound: A Sound for Every Feeling Heineken Pub Succession

    44 min
  3. Building Social-First Brands with Jason Mitchell, CEO of Movement

    SEP 25

    Building Social-First Brands with Jason Mitchell, CEO of Movement

    When Jason Mitchell realized his college professors were still teaching TV-first strategies while every student in the room was glued to Facebook, he saw an opportunity.  That opportunity was the beginning of Movement, a social-first agency that has done award-winning work for brands like the NBA, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more. In this episode, Jason shares the early bets and strategic philosophies that have helped Movement grow from a dorm-room idea into one of the most recognized social-first agencies in the industry.  We explore what it means to put social at the center of a campaign rather than treat it as an add-on, and why the best ideas often begin with strategic social listening. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: How Jason found his way into the journalism and advertising program at University of Colorado despite having terrible gradesHow social listening led to a viral campaign (and a real arrest) for Netflix’s Unsolved MysteriesWhy Klarna’s biggest brand barrier in the U.S. wasn’t competition, but disbelief over their core value propJason’s secrets for setting up a great social listening systemHow Jason would rebrand the movie-going experience to help people rekindle their love of cinema in an era of social mediaShow Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books: Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet  Campaigns & Videos: Klarna: What’s the Catch Campaign with Bretman Rock So Many Dicks Campaign Case Study - e.l.f. Beauty Unsolved Mysteries Shorty Awards Case Study

    54 min
  4. Making Boring Briefs Better with Ashley Rutstein, Copywriter, Influencer, and Creator of Stuff About Advertising

    SEP 11

    Making Boring Briefs Better with Ashley Rutstein, Copywriter, Influencer, and Creator of Stuff About Advertising

    How do you help strategists transform boring briefs into better briefs so that creatives can do what they do best? That’s just one of many questions I ask Ashley Rutstein during our interview. Ashley is a copywriter-creative director, an Adweek Creative 100, and the founder of Stuff About Advertising - a multiplatform channel with hundreds of thousands of followers, where Ashley covers a wide range of topics, including insights, effective brainstorming techniques, and brilliant movie marketing activations. I first discovered Ashley because of her Weekly Advertising Roundup videos, where she highlights and dissects advertising wins and fails from the week in advertising. She’s been doing these roundups every week (or almost every week) for the past four years, so I thought it would interesting to learn what patterns she’s discovered about great (and bad) advertising, and how it has helped her with her own creative work.  Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: The awkward middle school moment that led to Ashley’s fascination with blind spots The insight that led to a refreshingly honest addiction recovery campaignHow Ashley and her team helped Zespri yellow kiwis get more attention in the USThe Discover Card commercial that has made Ashley consider getting a tattooThe methods and questions behind her “unhinged concept” videos for brands like Crocs and PoppiAshley’s advice for brands who are trying to gain more traction on TikTok and YouTube Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson  Videos: Unhinged Concepts: Ideas for Poppi Dr. Barlow: Intro to African American Studies Sinners Trailer Campaigns: Face it Together (Addiction Recovery Center): Day One Dr. Barlow: Netflix Black History Month Discover Card: Frog Protection Surreal Cereal: Fake Celebrity

    51 min
  5. Seeking Confessions, Not Just Observations with Mark Pollard, Author of Strategy Is Your Words

    AUG 28

    Seeking Confessions, Not Just Observations with Mark Pollard, Author of Strategy Is Your Words

    What’s the difference between a good observation and a real insight? According to Mark Pollard, one of the most sought-after strategy consultants and trainers in the industry, it often comes down to whether someone’s willing to confess something they’ve never said out loud before. As an Australian strategist, Mark brings a different voice to the podcast - literally and figuratively.  You’ll notice from his very first line, he doesn’t mince words and he’s not afraid to call a spade a spade. Maybe it’s the Aussie accent that allows him to be so bold. Or maybe it’s because he’s been doing strategy for so long that he just knows how to cut through all the b******t and get to the heart of a situation.  Mark has been in the agency world since he was 19 and he’s worked with a wide variety of agencies, including Big Spaceship, Leo Burnett NY, Edelman NY, and Ogilvy, just to name a few. His client roster is equally as impressive, working with brands like Audi, Hilton, Netflix, The Economist, Facebook, Electronic Arts, and more. In this episode, Mark takes a break from his global strategy training tour to talk about the messy, awkward, and deeply human side of strategy. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: The difference between loud and quiet questions when interviewing peopleHow to highlight problems and challenge assumptions without pissing people offWhy studying a language might actually be better than therapyThe many marketing riddles that are built into US corporate cultureFiguring out which people in the organization are the most useful to talk toSome of Mark’s favorite comedians and what he’s learned from them Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books: The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen Campaigns: Steal Banksy: An Australian Hotel Chain Challenges Guests to Steal Art Comedians: Anthony Jeselnik Comedy Special - Caligula Jim Jeffries - The Jim Jeffries Show Sebastian Maniscalco - Aren’t You Embarrassed? Videos & Shows: Why The Loudest Caribbean City Is Also The Most Creative - Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 Weak Hero Trailer (Netflix) Friends & Neighbors Trailer (Apple TV)

    43 min
  6. Feral Intelligence in a Data-Driven World with Kate Rush Sheehy, Chief Strategy Officer at GSD&M

    AUG 14

    Feral Intelligence in a Data-Driven World with Kate Rush Sheehy, Chief Strategy Officer at GSD&M

    Where do the best insights come from?  For Kate Rush Sheehy, Chief Strategy Officer at GSD&M, it’s not always based on what people say or even what they do. Sometimes, it’s about what they don’t say or what they don’t do in certain situations. Sometimes, it’s about having a sixth sense or some feral intelligence. In this episode, Kate shares her unique approach to uncovering brand-defining insights, from analyzing who shows up to a focus group (and who doesn’t), to asking clients the kinds of questions most agencies shy away from. We explore the social-first strategy that helped Crocs become a Gen Z phenomenon and the cultural nuance behind Corona’s “La Playa Awaits.” Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: How Kate builds bridges between performance and brand marketingThe social-first shift that helped Crocs go from cringe to cultural iconThe difference between Jibbitz, Fibbitz, and “ugly shoe” theoryHow a deep dive into Mexican X (aka Twitter) led to Corona’s new creative directionThe AI technique Kate’s team uses to pressure-test strategic ideas before they present strategic and creative workSome valuable lessons Kate learned about human nature by working in restaurants and retail Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Books: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros  Who Knew? by Barry Diller Campaigns & Videos: Dept. of Veterans Affairs (work in partnership with the Ad Council: The Question) Southwest Airlines: That’s a Big Flex Corona: La Playa Awaits

    47 min
  7. Taking the Piss and Turning LOLers into Dollars with Dave Harland, Chief Copywriter at Copy or Die

    JUL 10

    Taking the Piss and Turning LOLers into Dollars with Dave Harland, Chief Copywriter at Copy or Die

    Dave Harland LOVES words. Big ones. Little ones. Silly ones. Serious ones. He has a talent for taking the world’s most boring categories and breathing new life into them with a few flourishes of his pen and some rat-tat-tat-clickety-clacks at his keyboard. During our conversation, we dig into all kinds of things, including the micro dignities of daily life that are threatened by automation and generative AI, as well as the unmistakable human quirks that make insight building and copywriting an act of creative joy.   We also connect the dots between The Knowledge of London (the rigorous exam that London Cabbies must pass to show they know their way around the city without a map) and the cultural tension between British formality and British humor (e.g. taking the piss). Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: The scrappy, homemade billboard that taught Dave his first big lesson in strategic copywritingDave’s issues with AI shatbots and the limits of AI in copywriting How a lackluster acronym led to one of Dave’s favorite brand taglinesThe real-world insights that led to surprisingly punchy (and funny) B2B headlines for a speakerphone brandAn American phrase that has inexplicably made its way into British business discussions  Show Notes: Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Dave’s Online Copywriting Course Write the Funny Books: Copywriting Is…:30-or-so thoughts on thinking like a copywriter by Andrew Boulton Videos: Bob Mortimor Top Moments | Would I Lie to You? Monty Python: Ministry of Silly Walks Life of Brian: Colosseum Scene

    48 min
  8. Building Flywheels and Fandoms with Zoe Scaman at Bodacious

    JUN 26

    Building Flywheels and Fandoms with Zoe Scaman at Bodacious

    Zoe Scaman knows how to rebuild brands and fandoms from the ground up. Her work with brands like Nike, Netflix, and the NBA has allowed her to dig deep into consumer behavior and organizational structures, resulting in numerous aha moments around community building and how to encourage a culture of co-creation with brand superfans. Zoe builds a number of beautiful constellations during our conversation as she connects the dots between furries, sports fans, and political communities. We also talk about Lego’s incredibly expanding brand universe and how brands can leverage the flywheel effect to create exponential growth. Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: The provocative question Zoe asked in middle school when she was asked to re-read Lord of the Flies The ways Zoe uses AI to help her gut check her own workHow brands can learn from furries to create a sense of belonging The biggest (often invisible) enemy of progress in any organizationZoe’s favorite word and why she thinks more people need to use it more often Show Notes: Below are links to books, shows, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation. Musings of a Wandering Mind: Zoe Scaman’s Substack Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Color Purple by Alice Walker His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman Marilyn Monroe Obituary Shows & Movies Mob Land TV Series Trailer Brands & Campaigns The Lego Botanical Collection Adult Fans of Lego (AFOL) - Reddit Lego Fan Engagement and Programs

    49 min
See All (28)

Trailer

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Any Insights Yet? reveals the secrets, stories, and surprising discoveries that have led to fresh insights, resulting in the world’s most memorable campaigns and breakthrough business ideas.

Information

You Might Also Like