Greg Vodicka

Make it make sense. What is driving voters to support progressive-leaning ballot measures (think protecting abortion rights and raising the minimum wage) while voting for conservative candidates? My colleague Meisha Thigpen brings a behavioral lens to it. And the answer is kind of simple. As Meisha says, "few of us really understand how to “fix” the economy. Or Gaza. Or racism. I’d bet that even fewer people truly understand what their preferred political candidates will do about these issues". Whereas local issues are easier to understand and, importantly, easier to connect how the consequences will impact you and your life.

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If you're interested in #attention and how to make the best use of it, check the this guide from WARC 👇🏾

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I deeply respect Mark Ritson but his recent article criticizing Starbucks’ brand positioning misses a crucial point: scale and complexity. His dismissal of Starbucks’ mission as “esoteric” and his criticism of internal input show nothing but a lack of understanding of what it takes to align a corporation of 400,000 employees worldwide behind a cohesive brand vision. Starbucks is not just a coffee company; it’s a global cultural icon. Managing a brand at this scale isn’t as simple as crafting a cool, customer-centric tagline. It requires a delicate balance of unifying internal culture, maintaining global consistency, and ensuring customer resonance. And to do that, their new CEO has to bring the company back to revenue and profit first. Dismissing these aspects as fluff fails to grasp the holistic nature of business challenges and modern brand positioning. A brand like Starbucks must connect with customers AND employees to remain true to its purpose. Yes, simplicity is critical in brand strategy, but to “cut the crap” is not an actionable advice for a brand at this scale. And If Mark were to step into the shoes of a leader responsible for guiding 400,000 employees and millions of customers, he might find that simplicity isn’t so simple after all…

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Morning Consult released their "Fastest Growing Brands of 2024" report earlier this month, which ranks the top 20 brands that have seen the biggest rise in purchase consideration over the year. Top of the list was WNBA, driven in part by the supposed "rivalry" between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, rookies in the league with big collegiate fanbases that they took with them. This, an increase in investment, and other factors led to record-breaking watch figures. Second on the list was Ben & Jerry's which recently ended up suing Unilever for what they say was an attempt to silence them re: their stance on Gaza (https://lnkd.in/gPnJD9SS). Ben & Jerry's is known widely for taking a stance on social issues, for example, their Pecan Resist/Change The Whirled flavours released to support the Black Lives Matter movement (a portion of proceeds went to various charities). Although "go woke, go broke" has been a clarion call for right-wing groups, especially in the US, the actual statistics show something quite different - https://lnkd.in/g74HpFce In a world where women's sports are over-scrutinised, and people like Joey Barton criticise commentators/players of women's football, it's great to see WNBA being recognised globally. And in the case of Ben & Jerry's, it goes to show that brands who have a stance on geopolitical issues (as many did re: Russia/Ukraine) will resonate with consumers.

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Learning how to write an outline is a hugely underrated skill and I'm glad that more people are talking about it. But it's worth even taking a bigger step back. Before the outline ask yourself what you're hoping the outcome you're hoping to achieve is and what the main points are. If it's a strategy, how would you simply summarize the challenge and direction?

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I didn’t set out to start a marketing agency—it began as an experiment in creative storytelling and audience engagement. Years ago, I launched a foodie blog called Chicago Foodie Guy to test and optimize content that resonated with a specific audience: food enthusiasts in Chicago. What started as a creative outlet soon evolved into a platform that attracted a loyal following and sponsorships. Every sponsored post, brand collaboration, and social media campaign taught me something about marketing. I realized it wasn’t just about promoting a product but creating a story that resonated. I loved helping businesses—big and small—connect with audiences in authentic and meaningful ways. That realization sparked the idea for my next chapter: starting a marketing agency. At Clark & Co, we channel that same creativity and passion for storytelling to help businesses grow. Whether crafting digital campaigns or building high-performing websites, our focus is on connection—just like I learned in my *ChicagoFoodieGuy* days. If there’s one thing my journey has taught me, it’s this: the most impactful brands are built on genuine stories and a deep understanding of their audience. And it all starts with a leap of faith—whether it’s launching a blog or starting a business. So, what’s the story you’re waiting to tell? Let’s write it together. #EntrepreneurJourney #StorytellingInMarketing #BusinessGrowth #ChicagoFoodie #ClarkAndCo

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Read this part twice, "in order to identify issues and THEN address them." Seek to understand and then to solve. Also...processes can be tested; communications can be tested. Not everything is/or requires a tech solution. #citizenexperience #equity #efficiency #bpr

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Pricing is a brand superpower, and media plays a crucial role in shaping price perceptions, driving profitability and brand strength. Read this article today in The Media Leader UK by our brilliant CSO Richard Helyar. https://lnkd.in/eUYVVwzv

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If only we had a good way to measure 'effectiveness'. Hmm. * $2.6B in estimated ad spend on the 2024 General Election * $10B spent across the full cycle. Anyone know how either political party is measuring ad impact? It can't just be ... well, who are folks voting for? Soft connection. I'm sure some of our #restech partners have employed a bit of #marketing #bsci and platform automation. Would love to see any results that have been tested thus far. Wantent Protobrand Greenbook DAIVID 🦩 Ian Forrester 🦩 WARC Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) Mike Stevens Insight Platforms eye square Smart Eye Adelaide Glimpse Neil Dixit System1 Simon Wyld https://lnkd.in/eKHXi-Tx

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Patrick Horbas and Eric Hansen provide some context for BBDO MW's new work for Hormel Foods' innovation, Planters Duos. I like the ads, and I love the product. See The Clios Muse article below. #snacking #foodmarketing #innovation #nuts #creative #advertising

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I’ve been running my video company for over six years now—crazy to think about! Over those six years, video has changed a lot for marketing teams. You can no longer rely on just one or two high-budget videos; you need a lot of video content (without sacrificing quality) to hold your audience’s attention. This shift has created several challenges for marketing teams: 1. Per-project pricing gets expensive at scale. 2. Projects often change (even on the day of the shoot), leading to scope creep and surprise invoices. 3. Repurposing videos later requires a whole separate quoting process. 4. Bringing video production in-house can be just as expensive. That’s why I’m excited to announce a new rebrand for Capture and how we are moving to a flat-rate, unlimited offer. Our two new plans, ALL-IN and EDIT-ONLY, are designed specifically to solve these problems. Get all the videos and video editing you need for a simple flat rate. Check out the website for more details! Our goal is to make video easy for your marketing team, and this rebrand strengthens our mission even further. I’m excited to start promoting this over the coming months and can’t wait to see what the next six years bring for my business!

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"Lose all the indulgent cock about courage and possibilities and transparency. We aren’t saving the world. We are serving it coffee. Remember that brand positioning, whatever you call it, is what we want our customers to think when they think about us. Nothing more." Brands, know your place. #brandstrategy

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Hey LI, this episode is 🔥 But you know what is even more 🔥 ? The report that Elke Jones and I reference in the pod. It's called the Global Brand Experience Index. You can check it out at this link after checking out the episode. And yes #experiential #marketing and #eventpros, you'll be delighted to know that we think Jersey Mike's absolutely killed it this year with their experiences. https://lnkd.in/gDKK5GN8

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🔮 What’s Ahead for 2025? The future of the digital, marketing, and creative industries is taking shape. Cella's 2025 Predictions explores the trends, challenges and opportunities you need to know to stay ahead. This mini eBook guides you to navigating what’s next, from AI advancements to talent strategies and emerging technologies. Read on to learn more! bit.ly/4iSq7FJ #2025Predictions #MarketingTrends #Cella #RandstadDigital

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At NOVUS, we view everything through a lens of geography - from planning, to activation, to measurement. Here are a few ways this creates value for our clients: ▶️ It can help identify target markets with high concentrations of the desired demographic. ▶️ It tailors media content and delivery to regional preferences and cultural nuances. ▶️ It optimizes media spend by focusing on areas with higher performance metrics. #GeographicBasedMeasurementStrategies #PerformanceMeasurement #GeographicData

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Why do I continue to defend the #jaguar work? Good question. I continue to look for the "why" behind the rebrand. I'm considerably more circumspect than apparently everybody else about it. The people involved in this aren't stupid - they're some of the best in the #advertising world at this. So, if this was their call, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt and at least say, "ok, so what was the idea here?" The fact that everyone is so "up in arms" about it makes me think there's one of two possible outcomes: 1) This is "New Coke," a complete cluster. If it is, they could destroy their brand value, and everyone will get fired. I held this out as a possibility from the outset, not knowing their objectives. 2) This is "Nike," a complete paradigm shift to a new market. If it is - then they brilliantly executed a new idea, and the reality is all the old white men pissed that Jaguar isn't their cultural icon anymore of James Bond need to just get over it. James Bond ain't who he used to be either. If I understand the franchise, Lashana Lynch is going to be "Jane Bond." Can't wait to see how that one plays out. Change is inevitable. Great advertising is forged by understanding two things very well - what's the "shared truth" and what's the "trigger." Great agencies call these ideas different things, and we possibly have different ways to arrive at these conclusions, but in the end, we're interested in understanding what consumers believe to be important, and we're interested in what ultimately makes them say yes to one idea versus another. Once we understand those two concepts, we can construct a framework (a set of cues, which is what the advertising is ultimately about) to build the journey to "yes." If I take what I see right now from Jaguar Land Rover UK, what I imagine their research tells them is that there is a market for a luxury electric car for people who embrace iconoclastic vs. traditionalism and creativity vs. limited and structuralism. I mean, God knows the luxury market has enough cars with "buy this—get laid" or "buy this—pretend you're rich" marketing in it. I mean, how many ads do we need of a German or Japanese luxury car driving through the countryside with a beautiful woman or Matthew McConaughey staring out the goddamned window? So here comes Jaguar, with this utterly bonkers ad, attempting to cut through the noise. And boy, did they ever. It's "Think Small" on crack. My late friend, and ad legend, George Lois, said, "Good advertising is like poison gas; it should take your breath away and knock you on your ass." Well, this campaign sure did that for almost everyone. So how can we say it didn't do its job? So the question becomes whether or not this ad served its business end or just completely jumped the shark. We'll know when they finally release the cars. Until then, I'm going to hold my criticism. As I normally say, "I'd like to see the ideas that were rejected in favor of this one."

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For young creative leaders, or those that will be entering into creative leadership positions this year... Your ability to lead has nothing to do with your talent to create, and the two should not be conflated. However, that being said... I've found that there is a huge commonality between the two. It’s empathy. Have you heard of this trend called “human-centered” design. That’s just empathy rebranded. Good creative = starts with empathy (with the end user). Good leadership = starts with empathy (with the people on your team). Empathy… that's it. It's the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes, and ask "what do I need? And how do I feel?". Easy to say, harder to do, especially when shit hits the fan. If you've worked as a creative professional, you've already learned to connect with people, by actually listening to them, and creating value by being a platform for their success. You don't need to wow them with your dazzling Illustrator skills (although that might come in handy in a pinch). Your team needs your empathy more—and the action that goes with it. 

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