Planner Parley Truth Collective

In today’s episode, we’re taking a long hard look at diversity in advertising and how translating the emotional response it evokes can bring advertising impact for good. In his new report, Feeling Seen, Jon Evans, chief marketing officer at System1 shared insights from a significant study on how people feel when they see themselves in advertising, and his findings just might surprise you. Listen in as he and John Roberts, chief strategy officer at Truth Collective, reveal the power of Feeling Seen.


Key Takeaways:


Diversity done right is celebrated by all

The power of telling one story and telling it well

Walking the fine line of stereotypes

How being overly inclusive ends up shutting us all out

The client brief is inarguably the most important document in marketing, as it begins our work and should measure our success. So why is it often so neglected? Today’s guests, Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler, had that same nagging question. So they co-founded BetterBriefs and ran the first significant global study in over 10 years to understand exactly what is at play, where the problems lie, and how marketers and agencies can close the gap to make briefs the workhorses they are intended to be. Join them and John Roberts, chief strategy officer at Truth Collective, to reveal how we can help the client create better briefs, and what it means for small agencies.


Key Takeaways:


The lack of quality briefs is crippling our success and our industry

Why marketers and agencies are on different planets

At the heart of a good brief is an honest, supportive relationship between marketer and agency

The Objectives section is the #1 thing to look at

Broken briefs has a massive, and now measured, financial cost

Why do you get up in the morning? Why do we exist? What do we promise people and how is that relevant to daily life? Believe it or not, we’re not talking about existentialism. We’re talking about purposeful brands and marketing. In today’s branding landscape, authenticity and connectivity to your audience are the name of the game, even for B2B. So how can brands make sure they’re living their purpose and sticking to their North Star? Find out as Maggie Lower, CMO at Hootsuite, and Preeti Philip, managing director and partner at Sterling-Rice Group, join John Roberts, chief strategy officer at Truth Collective, as they reveal the ways brands can mine their spiritual health to ensure their values and relevance are long-lasting, and what it means for small agencies.


Key Takeaways:


Finding your brand’s North Star and how to stick to it

Activating clients and the wiring inside

You can’t outsource your soul

Why everyone needs a listening strategy and a talking strategy

Your brand doesn’t need to be world-changing; it needs to be world-helping

In today’s episode, we’re getting ugly – and it’s a thing of beauty! With social channels driving audience engagement and client budgets, how do brands learn to let go of perfection without losing creative authenticity? Find out as Tim Leake, chief marketing & innovation officer at RPA, joins Jeremy Schwartz, chief creative officer at Truth Collective, and John Roberts, chief strategy officer at Truth Collective, to get into the whys and hows of selling ugly in 2021 and how being less precious can be the answer for small agencies.


Key Takeaways:


Ugly content is more relevant than its origin in 2019

Being less precious about how to create content can improve business

Ugly content can provide more creative opportunity, we just have to be OK with it

Content marketing: Think creators, NOT influencers

Redefining success for you and your clients

It’s Season 3 of Planner Parley and you know what that means: StratFest! Our team was there in full force to look at strategy from every angle, be it our humanity, our plurality, or our place in moving society forward. Join Steve Kozel, VP and director of strategy at OBP, Stefanie Zawack, senior strategic planner at Marcus Thomas, LLC, and John Roberts, chief strategy officer at Truth Collective as they recap what this year’s festival brought, taught, and challenged, and what it means for small agencies.


Key takeaways:


Data + creativity – how expansive we can be as strategists

Fostering cross-skill expectations – the act of asking “What If?”

The Great Resignation – branding the broken agency legacy models

The strategist’s overlooked role – how to bring your client along

Welcome to Planner Parley, a show where we come together under a flag of truce to talk about small agency planning. Planner Parley is brought to you by the 4A's (The American Association of Advertising Agencies).


Well, another season is in the books, and what a year it was! From StratFest 2020 to the view from the client’s side, from the relationship of tech and ideas to understanding Big-T strategists, from ingesting “Lemon. How the advertising brain turned sour” to unpacking content as strategy, and, of course, learning how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable when talking about agency diversity, all the while living The New Strange! Join Josh Coon, Truth Collective’s director of experience, and John Roberts, Truth Collective’s CSO, as they look back over a packed Season 2 and what strategy really means for small agencies.


Key Takeaways:


If you haven’t listened to Season 2 yet, you need to rethink your life choices!

2020 was a year we became forged in fire

2021 and the superpowers of the strategist

Generosity is fuel for inspiration