Mekanism CEO Jason Harris

When Jason Harris and cofounders started Mekanism 17 years ago, social media had just begun reshaping the advertising and creative landscape. Today, Mekanism is adapting to a different shift — the need to build brand awareness while also driving performance. 

Acquired in 2022 by Canada-based holding company Plus Company, Mekanism began shifting its offer around the premise of “soul and science” — prioritizing the importance of brand-building that extends creativity through the full funnel. Harris is candid that the shift wasn’t easy — but a year and a half later, the dust has settled and the year ahead is promising. 

In this episode, Harris also chats about how Mekanism is adopting generative AI and sheds light on the agency’s work with President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign — as well as, yes, that viral Peloton ad. 

Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts.

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At Convene: Creativity Converged, hosted by Campaign US on Tuesday, February 27 in New York City, leading and up-and-coming marketers, creatives and industry professionals gathered to listen to thought-provoking discussions on how the industry is adapting as technology collides with creativity. Attendees also got hands-on experience using generative AI tools to build a brand in a day and pitch it to a panel of experts.

This episode includes clips from the day, coupled with exclusive interviews with our speakers and expert analysis from the Campaign US editorial team.

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While The New York Times has arguably been one of the biggest success stories in the great pivot to subscription revenue, advertising still plays a significant role in its business. In fact, the two businesses fuel each other, as The Times is able to tap into its massive subscriber base to create better and more targeted advertising opportunities. 

Joy Robins joined The Times in spring 2023 to lead the storied publication’s advertising business. Since then, she’s led its push to launch ads on more of its properties, such as The Athletic and within Wordle, and has incorporated generative AI into The Times’ first-party targeting and brand suitability tools to add more nuance to parameters. 

In this episode, Robins also chats about how The Times balances the objectives of its subscription business with those of advertisers and shares her thoughts on the state of the media ecosystem.

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Jill Kramer has the unique challenge of marketing an organization as sprawling and complex as Accenture in ways that are simple to understand. 

Her combined role as chief marketing and communications officer gives her a unique purview to do so, leveraging the insight from Accenture’s more than 700,000 global employees to better tell the story of its brand. 

In addition to her day job, Kramer is the head of Accenture’s disability employee resource group. In the fall, she spearheaded Accenture’s partnership with Disability:IN and TD Bank to bring together other marketing and communications leaders across the business world to put accessibility at the forefront of everything they do.

In this episode, Kramer also chats about how Accenture’s marketing and comms teams are structured and how the organization works with Accenture Song and Droga5 to spread its message. 

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Super Bowl LVIII has come to a close, with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers in overtime. 

But at Campaign US, we were watching for the ads. 

In this episode, editor-in-chief Alison Weissbrot, creative editor Sabrina Sanchez and reporter Bailey Calfee break down the most viral moments of the game, from Cetaphil’s creator controversy to NYX’s last minute ad pull to Taylor Swift chugging a beer and Usher bringing his (peace up) A (town down) game. 

We also share our favorite and least favorite ads of the night and break down how USA Today’s Ad Meter results compared with those of our own panel of chief creative officers.

Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. 

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After a spurt of momentum in 2020, the industry is in a state of stasis when it comes to making progress on diversity, equity and inclusion. 

That’s why a group of industry leaders launched Blackweek last month, a new conference aimed to reframe the conversation about DE&I to push action and economic progress for historically underrepresented groups. 

Andre Grey, chief creative officer at Annex88, is one of the cofounders of Blackweek. He hopes the forum helps finally move historically underrepresented groups into the center of conversations and business decisions — where they belong.

In this episode, he chats about Blackweek’s vision as well as the current state of DE&I in advertising and why now is the time to double down.

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If you were on TikTok this summer, you likely saw videos of people acting out a violent death after drinking McDonald’s Grimace milkshake.

Marques Gartrell and Brandon Henderson are the creatives behind this campaign, which went viral and sets a playbook for how marketers can relinquish control and let their consumers take the reins on a creative idea in the age of social media.

The co-CCOs of Wieden + Kennedy New York stepped into the role in September as part of a restructuring that put a trio of leadership — two CCOs and a president — in charge of each office. 

In this episode, they chat about running creative at one of the world’s most famous agencies and tease the work they’re creating for brands such as Michelob Ultra and FanDuel for Super Bowl LVIII.

Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts.

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What is an idea? Something that either helps you experience the world better or understand it better. 

That’s according to Joe Staples, chief creative officer at independent agency Mother. As one of the founding members of Mother’s LA office, Staples came to the office with “mise en place” – a French cooking term for having all of your ingredients on the table — from Mother’s reputation and history for edgy and out-of-the-box thinking — and the opportunity to put it together in a fresh way.

Staples, who was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD as an adult, has a keen understanding of how to get the best out of neurodivergent talent, which are predominant in creative fields.

He also chats about his time at Wieden+Kennedy, his study of jiu-jitsu and his favorite piece of creative that he’s seen recently — a simple window display from Hermès. 

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Havas’ inaugural ‘Superhuman’ report, launched at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), navigates a redefined realm of health and wellness bridging the intersectional healthcare gap with AI-driven, hyper personalized concepts and services. New tools and grassroots data are democratizing treatment and care for the underrepresented and underserved, making health the defining lens through which every consumer vertical is being supercharged. Join Eric Weisberg, global chief creative officer of Havas Health & You, as he speaks with Campaign US about the growing symbiosis between technology and humans—bringing us all the power to create our own health ecosystem.

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In October, WPP shook the industry with news that it would merge VMLY&R with Wunderman Thompson, creating what it called the world’s largest creative agency, staffing roughly 30,000 people. 

Jon Cook is at the forefront of this new agency, leading it as global CEO alongside former Wunderman Thompson CEO Mel Edwards, who is now global president of VML. The vision is to have a connected offering across three buckets — brand experience, customer experience and commerce — that provides a scaled solution across the globe. 

But there’s much work to be done, such as integrating two cultures — which were both themselves the product of mergers in 2018 — as well as connecting back-office functions, processes and tools, all while continuing to service clients.

In this episode, Cook gives insight into his vision for VML, shares how the merger is going so far and offers a peek at what’s to come in 2024.

Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. 

Hear Jon Cook speak at Convene: Creativity Converged in New York City on February 27. 

Get your tickets! 

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