“Your brand isn’t what you tell people it is. It’s what people tell people it is.” – Mark DiMassimo
“I believe that people show up in your life at the right time, and it’s really up to you to recognize what their purpose is”
For the fourth installment of “The A-List” podcast, host and chief creative officer of DiMassimo Goldstein, Tom Christmann, sits down with David Angelo, the founder and chairman of David & Goliath. Before starting his own agency in 1999, Angelo worked at several different agencies, often working alongside some of the most legendary names in the industry including Phyllis Robinson, Eric Silver, Cliff Freeman, Lee Clow and former A-list guest Ty Montague.
During what was the program’s first ever in-person interview, the two discuss everything from working the graveyard shift as a teamster in San Francisco to chasing your mentors and conquering your fears. Angelo’s story is one of inspiration and bravery – you won’t want to miss it. Full episode and show notes below:
Show Notes
- [0:00 – 1:35] Intro
- [1:36 – 8:45] Cliff Freeman, the Willy Wonka of advertising
- [8:46 – 11:53] Angelo talks about growing up outside of Oakland
- [11:54 – 13:00] Working the graveyard shift as a teamster
- [13:01 – 17:00] The Eddie Lopez Story
- [17:01 –19:12] Moving to New York City and living in Roosevelt Island
- [19:13 – 26:05] DDB and working with the original Peggy Olsen (Phyllis Robinson)
- [26:06 – 30:29] The history behind the New York Lotto tagline “Hey, you never know”
- [30:30 – 32:10] Working on the Clinton/Gore campaign in 1992
- [32:12 – 34:57] Working at Chiat Day with Ty Montague
- [34:58 – 41:40] Chasing your mentors and living your truth
- [41:40 – 48:00] Starting his own agency, Kia’s challenger story
- [48:01 – 51:15] The brave mindset of David & Goliath
- [51:16 – 58:45] How meditation inspired his not-for-profit
- [58:46 – 59:33] Outro
“The A-List” is a podcast produced by DiMassimo Goldstein and sponsored by the Adhouse Advertising School, New York’s newest, smallest, and hippest ad school. You can subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or listen along on SoundCloud. For updates on upcoming episodes and guests, be sure to like the A-List Podcast on Facebook and follow host Tom Christmann on Twitter. If you want to be interviewed for an upcoming episode, contact us at AdhouseNYC.com.
“Before I knew anything about advertising I was trying to find books… business and self-help books to get lost in. I found one that looked pretty easy to read and it had one piece of advice in it… it was the simplest piece of advice you’ll ever get but super important and has led to my career path more than any one sentence in the world.”
In this episode of “The A-List” podcast, host and chief creative officer of DiMassimo Goldstein, Tom Christmann, chats with Greg Hahn, the chief creative officer of BBDO New York, where he helps brands like HBO and FedEx make award-winning work that works. For a little over 40 minutes, the two talk about what it’s like to be a musician, the magic of David Lubars, hacking technology, and the benefits of eavesdropping. Be sure to listen all the way to the end to hear one piece of magic advice that every young creative needs to hear. Check out full episode and show notes below!
Show Notes:
- [0:00 – 1:20] Into
- [1:21 – 7:04] Greg’s early life and aspirations
- [7:05 – 11:00] The two different paths in advertising
- [11:01 – 13:33] Being a musician
- [13:34 – 21:24] Attitude and curiosity
- [21:25 – 23:11] The magic of David Lubars
- [23:12 – 29:04] Working with Spike Jonze, the benefits of eavesdropping, and the endless creativity around New York City
- [29:05 – 32:35] How creativity has change, hacking technology
- [32:36 – 35: 13] Luke Sullivan’s “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This” and other must-reads for young creatives
- [35:14 – 36:25] Hahn’s alter ego, Maxcatt
- [36:26 – 38:40] BBDO the global boutique
- [38:41 – 40:55] The most important advice Hahn ever received
- [40:56– 41:37] Outro
“The A-List” is a podcast produced by DiMassimo Goldstein and sponsored by the Adhouse Advertising School, New York’s newest, smallest, and hippest ad school. You can subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or listen along on SoundCloud. For updates on upcoming episodes and guests, be sure to like the A-List Podcast on Facebook and follow host Tom Christmann on Twitter. If you want to be interviewed for an upcoming episode, contact us at AdhouseNYC.com.
“I will bet on passion over genius every time.”
In this very special episode of “The A-List”, host Tom Christmann chats with Ty Montague, the founder of co:collective, a growth and innovation accelerator that helps clients develop their business strategy and execute their brand story using the principles of Storydoing™. Over the course of 45 minutes, Tom and Ty relive their experience together at J. Walter Thompson, obsess over creative troublemakers, and ask the questions that really matter in life, like whether or not we are living in a computer simulation. Full episode and show notes below!
Show Notes
- [0:00 – 1:28] Intro
- [1:29 – 7:43] Ty’s background and the unique story of how he got into the industry
- [7:44 – 9:40] The importance of networking, passion, and motivation
- [9:41 – 13:50] Tom and Ty talk big agencies and their experience at JWT
- [13:51 – 17:22] Turning ideas into something real and working with others
- [17:23 – 21:30] Creative troublemakers and breaking barriers
- [21:31 – 26:30] How co:collective is different than an advertising agency
- [26:31 – 29:45] Millennials, creative opportunities, and making an impact in the world
- [29:46 – 32:30] The traditional agency model vs. internal creative teams
- [32:31 – 36:09] Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and innovation
- [36:23 – 42:50] The life and work of Howard Gossage and other recommended books for students
- [42:53 – 44:15] Are we living in a computer simulation?
- [44:30 – 45:10] Outro
To follow Ty Montague on Twitter, click here.
“The A-List” is brought to you by the Adhouse Advertising School, New York’s newest, smallest, and hippest ad school. You can subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or listen along on Soundcloud. For updates on upcoming episodes and guests, be sure to like the A-List Podcast on Facebook and follow host Tom Christmann on Twitter. If you want to be interviewed for an upcoming episode, contact us at AdhouseNYC.com.
“My advice to young people is to be the Richard Branson of advertising”
In the premier episode of “The A-List”, host Tom Christmann interviews Rob Reilly, the Global Creative Chairman of Mcann Wolrdgroup. Reilly is one of the most well-respected creatives in the industry and has been recognized at Cannes with multiple Titanium and Grand Prix Lions awards. His 20+ years of advertising experience have made this interview a must-listen for anyone in, or looking to get into the advertising industry. You can listen to the full episode and view the shownotes below:
Shownotes:
- (0:00 – 1:36) Intro
- (1:37 – 5:49) Rob Reilly’s Background
- (5:50 – 12:42) Presenting, selling, and being a charming provocateur.
- (12:43 – 15:59) The story behind Lockheed Martin’s “Field Trip to Mars”
- (16:00 – 18:12) Millennials and the culture of instant gratification
- (18:13 – 32:00) Reilly’s career journey
- (32:20 – 39:35) An evolving industry, purpose-led marketing, and the future of advertising
- (39:36 – 47:00) Advertising portfolios and landing a job
- (47:01 – 47:58) Outro
The A-List is brought to you by the Adhouse Advertising School, New York’s newest, smallest and hippest ad school. You can subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or listen along on Soundcloud. For updates on upcoming episodes and guests, be sure to like the A-List Podcast on Facebook and follow host Tom Christmann on twitter. If you want to be interviewed for an upcoming episode, contact us at AdhouseNYC.com.
Our clients are responsible for building brands and businesses simultaneously.
This often means urgently lowering the cost of acquiring customers and revenue while launching, relaunching or refreshing the brand.
Brand + Business Building.
Often, before we started working together, these leaders felt they alone bore that responsibility and perspective. Lots of people had solutions to sell them, but fitting those solutions together into a whole wasn’t anybody’s problem but theirs.
When we started working together, for the first time they had accountable partners responsible for growing the business and brand, and able to speak in the language of the CEO and the board too – the language of results.
Not all of our clients are public companies, but recently some of our public clients have released results that I’d like to share.
Weight Watchers has just posted their fifth straight quarter of membership recruitment growth, and marketing is credited to helping drive the growth, of which DiGo played an integral creative role.
Weight Watchers’ Member Rolls Rise for First Time Since 2012
After last year’s tax season, Jackson Hewitt moved their account to DiMassimo Goldstein, and the company has just reported our first results together. The short of it is that we preempted the rest of the industry and, with our smaller budget, outperformed everyone, including H&R Block.
Jackson Hewitt Announces Strong “First Season” Results
These are public companies turning a corner. Their management teams are tight and urgently focused on results. They can’t sacrifice brand for revenue or revenue for brand – they need both urgently.
In this, they have a lot in common with our growth-stage clients who are changing industries and bringing the new world of Direct 3.0. The marketplace is changing quickly around industries, and while we help our clients seize the opportunities in Direct 2.0 platforms and technologies, we help them transform marketing for the marketplace beyond with powerful direct brand experiences – Direct 3.0. (Here’s a video on Direct 2.0 to whet your appetite for learning more about Direct 3.0.)
If you are at a giant company with a strategic sourcing department and a matrix management structure, you probably can’t hire us because you probably aren’t on a team with a leader who really is responsible for building both the brand and the business, and because you probably can’t really use a truly integrated, accountable partner of our size.
But if you are at the moment of extreme focus in your business where both marketing results and brand value are urgently essential to building the value of the enterprise, then finding true partners may just be a possibility worth considering.
If the results referenced above prove anything, it’s that when your brand inspires action and those actions build your brand, some wonderful things can happen.
If that’s what you’re working on, know that we are with you!
Two weeks ago, we interviewed Media Director and SXSW veteran Rebecca Weiser on what she expected out of this year’s conference down in Austin.
We asked her to take over the DiMassimo Goldstein twitter account – which you can check out here – and share her experience with all of our followers. This year, like all of the others before it, was full of inspiring brand surprises and creative guest speakers. Having been to SXSW six years in a row, she also provided a few pointers and tips for first-time attendees. If you happened to miss her real-time coverage, don’t panic: we’ve got you covered here. Check out a brief recap of her incredible week below:
The Facebook house and the Chips Movie donut shop both had some truly inspiring actions.
As many expected, virtual reality played a major role at this year’s SXSW. Here’s a sneak-peak into some of Rebecca’s favorite VR experiences of the weekend.
Storytelling was a prominent feature in many of this year’s events.
We’re already counting down the days to next years’ event, and as always, we’ll be there!
This past January, our Chief Creative Officer Tom Christmann was invited down to Miami to be a guest speaker at the world-renowned Miami Ad School.
The campus, which is nestled among the mural-covered warehouses of Miami’s design district, is a creative utopia. The sun ricochets off the building’s vibrant pink exterior. The courtyard is full of abstract sculptures, all of which are equal parts wacky and genius. The inside is just as inventive, with denim-lined walls and a towering gorilla constructed of duct tape.
This is much more than just a school. This is a museum of ideas. A place of inspiration.
Tom approached the podium and addressed the student body as “the leading creatives of 2020.” In a way only he can, he inspired and challenged the room full of young writers, designers, planners, and thinkers to use their creative power for good.
Over the course of the next half-hour, Tom shared his unique perspective on advertising with the audience. He talked about the future of brands, the power of actions over ads, and the qualities needed to hone your creativity and direct it toward making a positive impact on the world around you. It was an empowering presentation. To view an excerpt from the speech, check out the video below.
Tom Christmann at Miami Ad School from DiMassimo Goldstein on Vimeo.
Throughout the remainder of the week, Tom led two classes in an agency-simulation exercise. In a very real-world scenario, the students were assigned a client, handed briefs, and tasked with presenting campaigns in just two days. Watching the students, many of whom were from foreign countries and different cultures, come together as a team to collaborate on ideas left us feeling inspired. Creativity is the language of the world.
We’d like to thank all the staff and students of Miami Ad School for welcoming Tom as one of their Industry Heroes. We hope to be back again in the future!
To hear more from Tom Christmann, look out for his upcoming podcast titled “The A List,” in which Tom interviews a who’s who in the creative world.