Any Insights Yet? with Chris Kocek

Most brands use surface level data to market to superficial stereotypes.

James Addlestone, on the other hand, uses data like a detective, reading between the lines of people’s survey responses and finding innovative ways to get to the truth behind their behaviors.

With a background in behavioral economics and a deep appreciation for detective fiction (we talk quite a bit about Agatha Christie), James brings an exciting approach to da...

Katie Dreke has always been a rough and tumble explorer, ever since she was a kid.

From early childhood days, she wanted to do all the things the boys in her neighborhood were doing - jumping bikes off of ramps, playing in treehouses, reading science fiction - but she quickly realized that the world was always trying to steer her in another direction. 

Those childhood experiences led to a lifelong fascination with social constructs a...

What do David Bowie lyrics, childhood memories of soda, and gut health all have in common? 

For Mark Lester, co-founder of the brand consultancy Squint, they’re part of a deeper exploration into how happiness shapes behavior and how brands can use that insight to grow.

Prior to starting squint, Mark spent 15 years in the advertising industry, sharing his talents with R/GA, McGarryBowen and Dentsu, working a wide variety of brands, in...

What are the key characteristics of designing a great toy? It turns out, it’s many of the same characteristics that go into building a great brand.

Playfulness. Imagination. A little bit of mischief. And joy.

In this episode, I talk with Assaf Eshet, founder and award-winning toy designer at Clixo Toys.

I met Assaf at the ISTE EdTech conference in San Antonio this summer and I was immediately drawn to the flexible, colorful shapes of ...

Tara Lawall has worked at some of the biggest agencies in the world, earned a Cannes Titanium Lion, and her work has even landed a spot in MoMA’s permanent collection, but her sharpest insights might trace back to a comedy class she took at Miami Ad School.

Today, Tara is Chief Creative Officer and Partner at Rethink’s New York office, and in this interview, Tara shares how her team uncovers powerful truths hidden in everyday behavi...

When Jason Mitchell realized his college professors were still teaching TV-first strategies while every student in the room was glued to Facebook, he saw an opportunity. 

That opportunity was the beginning of Movement, a social-first agency that has done award-winning work for brands like the NBA, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more.

In this episode, Jason shares the early bets and strategic philosophies that have helped Movement grow fr...

How do you help strategists transform boring briefs into better briefs so that creatives can do what they do best?

That’s just one of many questions I ask Ashley Rutstein during our interview.

Ashley is a copywriter-creative director, an Adweek Creative 100, and the founder of Stuff About Advertising - a multiplatform channel with hundreds of thousands of followers, where Ashley covers a wide range of topics, including insights, effe...

What’s the difference between a good observation and a real insight? According to Mark Pollard, one of the most sought-after strategy consultants and trainers in the industry, it often comes down to whether someone’s willing to confess something they’ve never said out loud before.

As an Australian strategist, Mark brings a different voice to the podcast - literally and figuratively.  You’ll notice from his very first line, he doesn’...

Where do the best insights come from? 

For Kate Rush Sheehy, Chief Strategy Officer at GSD&M, it’s not always based on what people say or even what they do. Sometimes, it’s about what they don’t say or what they don’t do in certain situations.

Sometimes, it’s about having a sixth sense or some feral intelligence.

In this episode, Kate shares her unique approach to uncovering brand-defining insights, from analyzing who shows up to ...

Dave Harland LOVES words. Big ones. Little ones. Silly ones. Serious ones.

He has a talent for taking the world’s most boring categories and breathing new life into them with a few flourishes of his pen and some rat-tat-tat-clickety-clacks at his keyboard.

During our conversation, we dig into all kinds of things, including the micro dignities of daily life that are threatened by automation and generative AI, as well as the unmistakab...

Zoe Scaman knows how to rebuild brands and fandoms from the ground up.

Her work with brands like Nike, Netflix, and the NBA has allowed her to dig deep into consumer behavior and organizational structures, resulting in numerous aha moments around community building and how to encourage a culture of co-creation with brand superfans.

Zoe builds a number of beautiful constellations during our conversation as she connects the dots betwee...

Joe Burn has done a LOT of award-winning strategy work, including but not limited to brand strategy, creative strategy, communications strategy, and design strategy.

And it’s these diverse experiences in strategy that have helped Joe connect the dots in the most interesting and unexpected ways for brands like KFC, Heineken, Samsung, Puma, Amnesty International, Benecol, Meta, and more.

But Joe doesn’t just have a passion for strategy...

For over two decades, Tracy Lovatt has helped brands build transformative insights by challenging assumptions and embracing the chaos of tectonic cultural shifts. 

After starting her career at BBDO, where she guided brands like HBO, GE, Bank of America, Hyatt Hotels, PepsiCo and many others, Tracy eventually stepped away from advertising to start Batten & Co, where she now helps brands connect the dots between insights, operatio...

Great research isn’t just about collecting answers. It’s about knowing which questions to ask and how to observe with all your senses to get to the truth of a situation.

Bob Morais, business anthropologist, ethnographer, and lecturer at Columbia University’s Business School, knows how to read between the lines of what people say and what they actually do, and in this conversation, Bob shares his techniques for consistently finding t...

In a world obsessed with big data, robust dashboards, and faster answers, what if the real insight about insights has to do with slowing down and making real connections?

That’s how Tim Wilson and Valerie Kroll approach each project, working with organizations to help them rethink their approach to data analytics and consumer insights. Over the years, their facts & feelings approach has made a huge impact on a wide variety of br...

Greg Hahn has built his career on reframing questions and seeing things just a little bit differently. 

Actually, that’s an understatement.

Before launching Mischief, Greg spent almost 20 years at some of the biggest and most celebrated agencies in the business, including Fallon and BBDO, where he led creative for brands like Timberland, Citibank, HBO, eBay, FedEx, and more. Along the way, he helped create some of the most awarded ca...

What do forensic science and marketing have in common? More than you might think. 

Both require an ability to analyze evidence, challenge assumptions, and uncover hidden truths that are often hiding in plain sight.

Alina Burroughs, a forensic expert and star of the hit show Crime Scene Confidential, has spent years piecing together clues to solve cases, and as it turns out, many of those same techniques can also be applied to marketi...

Despite the billions of dollars spent on advertising every year, most ads go completely unnoticed. In fact, 85% of them don’t even hit the minimum threshold for attention. So how do you make it into the 15% that actually break through?

John Gibson, Head of Strategy at The Martin Agency, has spent his career answering that question, helping brands fight invisibility by uncovering complex emotional truths.

For Papa John’s, that meant m...

The best work in advertising doesn’t just stand out—it challenges the status quo. 

And that’s exactly what Gordy Sang and Brian Siedband do with every client and every campaign at Quality Meats. Whether they’re working on a GoDaddy spot for the Big Game or a provocative box of chocolates for U by Kotex, Gordy and Brian (and their distributed team of strategists and creatives) always bring an unexpected twist to their creations, spar...