Strands of Genius: Polyphonic, Audm, The Art of Persuasion with Dave Trott

Guest curated by Rob Schwartz

Oct 01, 2020

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, ROB SCHWARTZ ::

LOCATION: NYC
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: TBWA\Chiat\Day NY

Hi. My name is Rob Schwartz. I'm grateful to know Rosie and Faris. I followed them on social and had the pleasure of meeting them in the real world when they appeared as guests on our podcast, The Disruptor Series. I am currently the CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day NY. I spent decades as a creative and then made the leap to CEO. What I can tell you about this transition is that being a CCO is like enjoying one slice of pizza. Being a CEO -- you get the whole pie. Ok, enough about that. Let me share some strands to inspire you. And thank you for being here and spending time with my stuff.

Editor’s Note: Schwartzie leapt on our screens years and years ago by being one of the very few CCO’s of big name advertising agencies who was active on Twitter back in the day - and not just thanks to a PR person streaming out approved messaging ;) He conversed! He even had a Tumblr called Metal Potential that incisively highlighted ideas from all over that would inevitably go on to win advertising awards. He was usually right. It was pleasing that he seemed nice and smart and passionate on Twitter and the same IRL when we met for Disrupters - one of the few podcasts we’ve done in a studio. His career from creative to creative leader to business leader is inspiring, especially because of the success he has had leading TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, in terms of outputs, wins and what people say that work there now. He’s approached us a couple of times and is polite and charming and unfailingly responds to emails when we bug him. Thanks for a bumper edition! It’s a hoard of buried treasure from a pirate captain marked with a #strandsofgenius.

:: THE LINKS ::

THIS IS POLYPHONIC

I love and am very influenced by music. This is a wonderful series of mini-documentaries (each one roughly 7-12 minutes long). These films are beautifully produced and provide wonderful analysis and stories of artists, songs and movements. I've linked you to a cool one on the White Stripes and their use of color. The channel covers everything from Jazz to Rock to Hip-Hop. And apart from pure music joy, I see the seeds of how branded content could one day be done. (YouTube)

THIS IS AN APP CALLED ‘AUDM’

It allows you to listen to magazine articles. I love magazines and lament their demise. Also, the world is so utterly chaotic today. And journalism coming from places like the Atlantic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker and Wired, to name but a few, is extraordinary. So, rather than read, listen. (Audm)

THE ART OF PERSUASION WITH DAVE TROTT

Dave Trott is simply the most clear thinker on advertising communication today. I particularly love this series he did for the APG. And I also take no offense that he thoroughly bashes a breakthrough, famous campaign I worked on called, "The Pepsi Refresh Project." (YouTube)

Looking for more from Rob Schwartz? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from him in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Backgammon

:: City :: New York City

:: Book :: The Short Stories of John Cheever

:: Podcast :: Freakonomics Radio

:: Album :: Please...I can't.

:: A CREATIVE ACT ::

Ok, thanks for checking out my "strands." Here are a few more.

1\RICK BEATO MUSICAL GENIUS. I love this guy. He does programs like "What Makes This Song Great" and breaks it down into its component parts. Here's a link to "20 Great Acoustic Guitar Intros."

2\GREAT MOMENTS FROM THE OFFICE UK. I love the OfficeUK and Ricky Gervais. Have a look at this.

3\AN INSPIRING LEE CLOW INTERVIEW. I am quite fortunate. I worked side-by-side with advertising legend Lee Clow. If you don't know Lee, this lovely interview produced by Rick Boyko (a legend in his own right) and the ANDY Awards is a great place to start to get to know hi. And you need to know him.

4\THE 7 STORIES. One plug of my own. I hit upon an interesting theory that the best brands are driven by one of 7 timeless stories. An Oxford Professor, Christopher Booker wrote a wonderful and comprehensive book on these stories. I "stole" them for advertising purposes. Here's a preso I gave to on the subject to some folks at Yale.

5\THE CAMPAIGN THAT INSPIRED ME TO GO INTO ADVERTISING AND WORK AT CHIAT/DAY. I was floundering around NYC after college. As I was walking to my super-mediocre job in publishing one day, I saw a poster of a giant steer -- a bull, sleeping -- on the side of a bus. I saw this bull for two weeks with no explanation. Then, one day, a revelation. "Bulldozing." It was an ad for the Yellow Pages phone book demonstrating one of the services you'd find in it. The tagline was, "If it's out there, it's in here." It was part of a wonderful campaign. Please check it out. Here's one of the TV spots.

Th-th-th-that's all, folks.

Rob Schwartz

rob.schwartz@tbwa.com
twitter | linkedin

Strands of Genius is currently read by 12,000 subscribers. Support us by sponsoring an issue, becoming a member of The School of Stolen Genius or encouraging friends or colleagues to subscribe.

It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

Strands of Genius