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"Make It Feel Human" - Magdalena Horejs on strategy, IRL brands and AI
104 Plays20 days ago
Magdalena Horejs is a Creative Strategist at Scholz & Friends Vienna, acting as the link between the client and the creative team. She moved to Germany in 2021 to study and stayed for four years – three of which she spent at Hamburg (main client: McDonald’s). She also was part of the GWA young board, the leading association for advertising and communications agencies in Germany. Since 2026 she is back in Vienna, and heads up the strategy department alongside Lara Hohenwarter for Scholz & Friends.
About the FRICTION RELOADED podcast and your host:
I’m Florian Schleicher, a marketing strategist. This podcast focusses on my FRICTION RELOADED marketing trend report and its four subchapters.
If you want more, check out my FutureStrategies newsletter – monthly inspiration on marketing, strategy and sustainability.
And if you are looking for some inspiration on your brands marketing strategy, let me know. That’s what I do with my marketing studio FUTURESTRATEGIES.
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Transcript
Seeking Purpose and Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Because everything just feels so draining. Everyone's drained. we are looking for purpose. We're looking for fun. We're looking for things that give us excitement in our lives.
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to Friction Reloaded, the podcast. I'm Florian Schleicher, a marketing strategist, and this is where we cut through the noise. Because everyone is talking about trends, but most of it is noise. In this podcast, I sit down with industry leaders, marketers, and strategists.
00:00:29
Speaker
And together, we don't just talk about what's coming. We uncover what it means and what you can do with it. It's all about real perspectives and actionable insights. No fluff.
00:00:40
Speaker
So let's dive in.
Magdalena Horreis: Background and Influence
00:00:42
Speaker
My guest today is Magdalena Horreis. She's a creative strategist at Shorts and Friends Vienna, acting as the link between the client and the creative team.
00:00:52
Speaker
She moved to Germany in 2021 to study and stayed for four years, three of which she is spent at Hamburg with her main client McDonald's. She also was part of the GWA Young Board, the leading association for advertising and communications agencies in Germany.
00:01:09
Speaker
Since 2026, she's now back in Vienna and heads up the strategy department alongside Lara Hohenwarter for Shorts and Friends. It's so good to have you here today, Magdalena. So happy to be here. Thank you.
00:01:23
Speaker
So credit where credit is due, it was you who challenged me to start another podcast series about trends after you also were at one of the presentations of my trend report, Friction Reloaded.
00:01:35
Speaker
So thank you for doing that, for challenging me. And as to return the favor, you're now one of the guests here. Yeah, little did I know that with this idea, I'll be in here, but I'm very thankful and I hope that this is going to be a really awesome
The Shift to Real-Life Experiences
00:01:50
Speaker
episode. So I would be curious, what is still stuck in your mind about that trend report and its shifts? and That's a good question.
00:01:59
Speaker
And obviously, I'm a little prepared. so my thoughts are clear on that. Maybe we can jump back to where I was sitting in that room. you were presenting your reports. And first of all, i think it's very impressive on how you went through 60 reports. Yeah.
00:02:19
Speaker
And you put all of those thoughts into one, which is very impressive. I'm sure it was very time consuming. i can really see how much thoughts you put into it. And um that's just a really, a really nice report. Thank you so much.
00:02:35
Speaker
In general. So first of all, thank you for doing that. And um while I was sitting in that room and you presented all your thoughts, I felt very, very inspired. I loved how You came from different angles and you showed case studies, but also you had facts that pointed out the importance of a few changes in industry. And I felt very inspired as a creative strategist. I always look for data, but also I need to make that step towards the client and our advertising campaigns. So with every trend you showed us immediately, i went, okay, where can I use this? In my head, I went through all the projects that I was working on at that moment and I was like, where can I use it?
00:03:23
Speaker
um So it was very inspiring. for me, and I can just recommend everyone to go through it in details. However, now going through it as a preparation for the podcast, um where I saw the most value as a creative strategist was the third chapter where you talked about in real life is the new gold.
00:03:44
Speaker
And I think this is the part where i personally could learn most. Obviously, you were talking about people logging off of Instagram, escaping the algorithm, but also people looking for meaning in their life.
00:04:01
Speaker
I think everything in the report is connected, but it leads to what people are doing, their actions. And this is what I saw in the, in real life section.
00:04:13
Speaker
I think that's a great observation also. And I also just realized this when I had the structure of the four chapters, because in the first chapter, it's about this algorithmic escape where we're all tired of algorithmic or social media, which then leads to, okay, so where do we turn our attention towards? And then the second chapter is about this search for meaning, where we are looking for things that actually give us some grounding in our lives and and some purpose and the sense of meaning.
00:04:43
Speaker
And then the third chapter is this real life activities, which is then the the the logical conclusion of where we're actually going to. And I had a a presentation of the whole trend report at an advertising agency. I think it was three weeks ago. And afterwards, the respective teams of the agency worked on small ideas that they could pitch to all their clients.
00:05:12
Speaker
I think it was eight groups in total for eight different clients. And at the end, all the teams came back and each of them presented one idea for their client. And every team had an idea for real life activities, which I find so fascinating because they could have gone for anything else. But I also feel whenever I present it this is the moment where it clicks for most people, where they say, oh, that that's something that we could actually work on.
Balancing Brand Events and Sales Goals
00:05:39
Speaker
I think this makes a lot of sense. First of all, they're people themselves. So probably everything in the report is exactly what they're feeling as well. Like you said, basically, people are probably in general, and I'm not I'm not talking about consumers, obviously, but if we're looking at human, then I'm pretty sure these days are very rough for every everyone.
00:06:02
Speaker
The news cycle is insane. i hate to open social in the morning because it immediately puts me in a bad mood. Not saying I'm afraid to open it, but I know i just rather not.
00:06:16
Speaker
Because everything just feels so draining. Everyone's drained. We are looking for purpose. We're looking for fun. We're looking for things that give us excitement in our lives. And I'm pretty sure all those creative people, they thought that highest potential was in real life happenings because this is probably also where they found themselves.
00:06:37
Speaker
Probably they also seek for fun activities. They want to go outside. They want to meet their friends and be part of an experience. So to me, this makes a lot of sense. And also i think this is an area where most brands, probably just my thoughts,
00:06:57
Speaker
did not put as much thoughts into it because we always talk about the big posters. We always talk about the TV commercial, but the little event section, that's always the very last one.
00:07:12
Speaker
the the The brief is never about give people a true experience. It's about we want to sell our products. Yes. And this is where the focus is. So um ah I could imagine why a creative comes up with that idea because it's something fun, very relevant and probably something we don't get to work on these days much.
00:07:33
Speaker
I would be curious, you in your role, because obviously when you get a brief, you also need to deliver on that. Yeah. How do you balance that part of, okay, we actually need something that performs, but also you might now want to integrate some of these learnings about in real life activities. Mm-hmm.
00:07:53
Speaker
How do they connect? How would you pitch that to a client? I think the most important part of a project when it starts is the briefing call.
00:08:05
Speaker
Make sure we are all aligned on what the aim, what the goal of the whole activity is supposed to be. And obviously, if the client wants to have full focus on sales, I'm not going to come up with an in real life activity because the data shows, that's what you said, people that go to an event, they perceive the brand in a different way.
00:08:29
Speaker
So that's a different goal. So if the client is very sure about his business goal, and that is sales, I'm not going to be like, hey, go to museum's quartier and do a silly stunt.
00:08:44
Speaker
That's not going to solve the problem. That's not the behavior we want to change for our, um, like within consumers, obviously. However, this doesn't mean I cannot challenge it.
00:08:55
Speaker
My job is to ask the client in the briefing call, are you very sure about those goals? Is that a goal within one campaign or through the entire year? So maybe we can reach that goal by adding it another layer in front of it. Maybe first we want to have the in real life happening to change perception. And then it makes more sense to have like in a deeper funnel later on to sell it to people. So what I'm trying to say is I'm never going to change the client's wishes, but it is my job to challenge it a little bit.
00:09:31
Speaker
And I can add those thoughts within the creative process while going to the creative team and telling them within the creative brief, we all know this is what what what the client wants to achieve. We're going to give the client what he wants, but we're also going to point out, and I think this is our responsibility as an advertising agency to let them see ah things they don't see within their daily routine.
00:10:00
Speaker
So yeah, this would be my answer. Hope this made sense. Yeah, definitely. and And it reminds me actually of this concept of whether the objective is discovery or decision.
00:10:13
Speaker
And if it's about discovery, then we need activities that introduce our brand that people can actually have emotions towards. But when it's about just decision, which would be a sales-oriented campaign, then probably an event is not the best thing to do.
00:10:31
Speaker
But if you want to build those memories, if you want to build a real connection with your customers, then I think events are a great opportunity because especially after COVID, everybody's looking for these events and and something special that again makes their life more meaningful.
00:10:46
Speaker
And it is not just something that happens online. Yeah, I'm curious. um I would like to ask you a question too. I found that people are actually interested in brand events. It was the number like 70%.
00:11:00
Speaker
When you found this number, like what did you think of it? I think it it makes absolute sense. People are longing for real connections and brands are something rather intangible, but it always depends on which brand is doing it. If my toilet paper brand hosts an event, why should I go there? Like I don't have an emotional connection to those kinds of brands, but there are certain brands that people just have a deeper connection with and
00:11:31
Speaker
The other number that was in the report also was this number of people are curious to explore their online interests, also offline.
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah. So the challenge for us, marketing people, strategists, is to connect those two and to find out. so Because even the toilet brit paper brand could have some meaningful connection to people's lives. And if we are able to connect that, maybe there's a fun way to even build some brand awareness for that.
00:12:04
Speaker
As you said, the important thing is to go back to the brief. and to look at, are there any signs in there? And then connect those signs to what we as strategists perceive out there. Because our job, as I always see it, is to look at the world and to spot patterns and to then deduct, okay, what would that mean for client A, B, C, D? And for every client, it could be something different. Like I have clients where I think at the moment, it wouldn't make any sense to have a real life event, but it would make sense to build a newsletter strategy for B2B context, maybe. Yeah.
00:12:37
Speaker
And then that newsletter could in the future maybe be used for introducing them to an event. and So I think that the the options are really limitless. It always comes down to this deep understanding of what a target audience might actually want from a brand.
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah. What could they want?
Social Media's Role in Real-Life Events
00:12:58
Speaker
I totally agree. And I honestly, when I heard this number... 70% of people are interested in attending a brand event.
00:13:08
Speaker
I was honestly surprised because I thought I was the only nerd that would spend their free time at a corporate event. But it's actually 70% of people and also more, 72%.
00:13:23
Speaker
just as many people even more as seventy two percent are likely to buy from a brand for which they attended an event. And I think that's insane. So I think those are true proof points to show clients and be like, it's not just something we do for social to create content. It's something that will help you also to sell.
00:13:45
Speaker
It just needs to be smart within the whole campaign structure. We need to think Do we want to have it at the beginning of the campaign? Do we want to have it in the end? Or maybe it is the whole campaign. um But I think those numbers are very convincing and something that um we should definitely point out while presenting ideas that first of all could sound a little, ah obviously the creative agency, they want to do the fun things, but it's not just fun. It's actually like it will help you sell. So I thought that was very surprising.
00:14:19
Speaker
This last number that you mentioned that people are actually more inclined to buy from a company of which they have attended an event. I think that's just logical because if we meet someone, if that's a person or a brand in real life, we form a deeper connection.
00:14:39
Speaker
So for example, I always try to do whenever possible to do all my meetings in real life with my clients because the relationship just forms differently. Once the relationship is established, yes, it's fine to maybe do a call from time to time to just save this time.
00:14:56
Speaker
But I think that's what we all learn from COVID is something in ourselves suffers that is not easy to explain. And that's also why we have this current backlash or the pendulum swings more into this in real life activities.
00:15:12
Speaker
Because, yeah, we are social animals and we enjoy being around other people. definitely what I think um would be smart to like when you're a brand and you're trying design an event I think like I don't want that when people listen to this they're like yeah just let's have an event then they're gonna have great connection and then the product is gonna sell on its own i don't think that's the case I think there's a few thoughts that we do have to put in an event as well. And while I was thinking about it, I thought that maybe one of the questions that we need to ask ourselves is where are we creating moments that cannot be replaced or replicated by any other brands?
00:16:01
Speaker
So obviously making sure it sticks to the brands, it's authentic, and it makes sense that this type of brand hosts this type of event, but really give people an experience and let them have great moments.
00:16:16
Speaker
What other questions would you ask yourself when you think of a branded event? I would think about what is one thing that people should actually think and feel after leaving the event. Mm-hmm.
00:16:35
Speaker
That's one of my all-time favorite questions. Whenever I build a marketing strategy is always to bring it back to one thought and one feeling. And that's the big challenge because usually we tend to say, okay, there are so many feelings we want people to feel and so many thoughts. And thoughts tend to be, if most people formulate them, very complex things. Like people should think that we have a great ah value for money offering and that we are kind people and that we are blah, blah, blah. so many things, but that's not how people think.
00:17:07
Speaker
If we think about things, we think maybe, oh, that was cool or I had fun. And same for feelings to really bring it down to one emotion and then create that whole experience, that whole event around the thought and the feeling. So that's where I would start. And and and then if we have that,
00:17:28
Speaker
really think about, okay, who are the people that we want to have there? And what do we need to do in order to create those thoughts and those feelings? Yeah, that makes sense. I would be curious because we we talked at the very beginning about this algorithmic escape part also.
00:17:45
Speaker
And maybe on a more personal note, I am currently trying to reduce my social media time for me. That is mainly Instagram on TikTok. I am no longer. i managed to actually um move away from that a year ago or so.
00:18:01
Speaker
yeah But on Instagram, I still am because I have my friends there and because I also use it as an outreach channel for my business. And I'm currently really struggling with getting off my addiction there because when do I open Instagram? Usually when I have like five or 10 minute breaks.
00:18:20
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So I'm cooking something in the kitchen and then I know, okay, I have to let it simmer for a couple of minutes. So what do you do with a couple of minutes? I go on Instagram and I scroll through the reels and I never feel better afterwards. Maybe there is one or two fun things in there that I can send to someone, but do I feel fulfilled? No, I still crave some meaning. And what I now try to do is,
00:18:44
Speaker
to use these five or 10 minute chunks of time to read newsletters because I have subscribed to many amazing newsletters and to really use my time in a more meaningful way. I tried that yesterday, for example, while I was cooking dinner and I i really read two newsletters.
00:19:04
Speaker
I didn't just skim them like I usually do where I'm like, oh, okay, is there an interesting snippet in there? Is there something that I can use for my work or copy? And this was so much more relaxing first because I really dedicated some time to something that I enjoy, which is reading new stuff, but also to have finished something because when when we are on social media, we never finish anything.
00:19:29
Speaker
It's just an endless stream. And if I finish reading a newsletter, I read that newsletter. And I would be curious now, how you deal with that addiction and that overload of content that just comes at you because you also need to have a clear head for your work as a strategist. I think it's crazy how you said addiction. And then i was like, no, no, no, no. no ah I'm not an addict. um I love how you said you are an addict yourself. And then I was like, do I want to, I'm not an addict. That's what I think I'm not, but yes, you're right. I am.
00:20:01
Speaker
And it's hard to like that thought in my head, I was like, oh am I, but yeah, I guess I am. So what is your drug of choice? Is it Instagram or TikTok? I think it's Instagram.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's Instagram. I do. I like TikTok, but I'm consuming Instagram, not only to be entertained, but also to be educated and the content there, like on Instagram gives you, gives me more.
00:20:30
Speaker
ah information, just like you said, you're going through newsletters. i follow a lot of business accounts on Instagram as well. So this is why it's not just plain entertainment. And I love that I can really control it. I open my Instagram feeds and within the feeds and the stories, I have this information that I need. And then when I go to the reels, this is pure entertainment.
00:20:54
Speaker
And I love how I can see, ah um, what my friends liked. And this gives me the, the social, the very strong social character to it. To answer your question now, um,
00:21:05
Speaker
Yeah, probably I am ah an addict, but I don't really want to get away from it. it's What I noticed is that it's not doing well for me in the morning, but it's not an issue for me right now.
00:21:18
Speaker
I rather see social media as a place where I am entertained, where I can learn things. And also it's important for me and my work. Many times I'm in a meeting, sometimes i use trends, social media trends as an icebreaker.
00:21:36
Speaker
for example, yesterday we were at a pitch and we were setting up the entire system, IT t connected the presentation. to the chart and the client was already sitting in the room.
00:21:49
Speaker
And then we had to choke with the clients and it's a little hard cause you're extremely nervous. And then I always tried to be not the clown, but to give, you know, a few jokes and lightness into the room. Cause everyone's just like, Oh,
00:22:03
Speaker
And then we were talking about how you're supposed to look busy at the office. And i just brought in, I was like, do you know this trend where um people discuss how you can, even if you're bored at the office, you can still let people think you're very busy. You just walk very fast or you take your computer. And you just walk around the agency with that computer and everyone thinks you're busy.
00:22:27
Speaker
And I named a trend and the client, she was like, yeah, I know this trend. I thought it was so funny. And so to me, consuming social media helps me see trends and also in the real life connect with people, even though maybe this is not something that is maybe a good way if you look it in a psychological way, but it works for me. And at the end of the day, if it works for me, that's fine and I understand why people want to get off their phones but to me personally i love social media and I still maybe I'm just saying this to myself and it's not the case in real life but I do think that I still have everything under control and so actually yeah i love social media
00:23:13
Speaker
yeah i can I can relate to that um but I think I have more of a love-hate relationship now with it Yeah, I get it. I get it. And like I said in the beginning, because I follow a lot of pages and I don't even have to follow pages anymore. The algorithm it decides what you see. It's a lot of bad news as well. So obviously sometimes it's it is very draining for me as well.
00:23:37
Speaker
However, if I look at from outside and the full picture, it still gives me more than it takes away from me. So I do understand your point totally.
00:23:49
Speaker
But I think especially when you're working on campaigns and you have to know trends and you have to understand trends, maybe have even participated in trends to truly understand the trends or shifts that are happening on social media,
00:24:05
Speaker
I believe that you have to be using the platform as well. So if I hire an intern, for example, i always ask them, um yeah, what's your favorite platform and name a few trends.
00:24:18
Speaker
And I'm not sure if it's a good thing, but if, and it happens a lot, a lot of interns, they say, yeah, I'm trying to get off social. And my first reaction is that's not a good thing because we have to know the trends. We have to know what's, happening out there. And obviously there's more than social, but I still believe on social media, we see a lot of shifts that are happening. You can see so many insights, reels. What are reels? Those are insights. So it's so valuable when you try when you're trying to jump deeper into a community, you have to understand
AI's Impact on Human Creativity in Strategy
00:24:56
Speaker
it. If you are collaborating with a brand from a different cultural territory, you have to understand that territory.
00:25:04
Speaker
So to me, honestly, there's no way i can ever run away from social. It's such an important tool for me and my daily work. Yeah. And I think that's that's the tricky part. So we need to be part of that culture.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And also most of these in real life events, also the examples that I have in in the report, like the man who asked New Yorkers to smoke a cigarette with him or the comedian who said, I can fold a fitted sheet.
00:25:31
Speaker
And then a thousand people showed up. How did those events actually spread? They spread through social media. So we still need it as a channel, but the real thing should then happen offline.
00:25:44
Speaker
Yes, I totally agree. There is one last topic that I want to touch upon with you, which is AI.
00:25:54
Speaker
I had a breakfast this week with a fellow strategist and we were also talking about, so what part of our jobs as strategists will AI take away? And we did not have an answer, but some of the things that we talked about is, one, it is a skill how to use AI,
00:26:16
Speaker
for strategies, because if you just ask Claude, Chad, GPT, hey, write me a strategy for my company, it won't be any good because you need that skill to dissect, okay, what is actually good, what is a real insight and so on.
00:26:30
Speaker
So it's the way of prompting, but that will also probably get better. And then what we also said was this challenge of if you are a senior strategist now,
00:26:42
Speaker
then you have those skills. But if you're a junior strategist, just at the beginning of your career, the things that I did when I had my first job as a strategist, Chad GPT and Claude can do way better now.
00:26:55
Speaker
The only reason why I got to the stage where I am is because there was no AI and I was able to learn it from just experience. So I would be curious, as what are your thoughts on how much of our job is AI going to take away or what is the skill that we as strategists really bring to the table that is really hard to automatize? First of all, I understand why the topic is so relevant.
00:27:21
Speaker
I do not understand why everyone is so scared of it. Even though I'm also just at the beginning of my career, I don't see this as something you definitely it will change my career, but it is not going to take away my job, I'm sure. And even if, okay, let's go take my job. I'll do something else. So this is just the way I perceive it. I'm like, AI is great. And I love using ai and everyone in our agency uses AI. And there's not a single day where we do not talk about AI. So obviously it's very important.
00:27:57
Speaker
And I wouldn't consider myself an AI expert. I think in order to be an AI expert, you have to know everything and every day you do deep research on what's new and it's very hard to truly get behind what things are changing.
00:28:12
Speaker
I agree with you and what you said with, um it's never going to replace a person. And that's also something I saw in your report. and It was, I cannot quote it perfectly, but it was talking about um how important it is that everything feels real. And um no matter how much AI I use within my strategy, creative brief, or when I present a campaign, it always has to feel like it's made by humans.
00:28:42
Speaker
And if it feels like a human made it at the end of the day, I'm happy I'm very happy. if I feel like the sentence makes no sense, then I'm like, okay, maybe I didn't do a good job. Maybe I didn't do a good job prompting it.
00:28:57
Speaker
Your question was, what is what are what is AI going to replace? Probably a lot, probably really a lot. But also, like you said, it's I don't think it's really replacing different levels of strategies.
00:29:14
Speaker
I think when you begin begin to work in this field, you have to talk a lot with other strategists and learn from them.
00:29:26
Speaker
So for example, if you let someone in your team go do research, then you need to ask them, so what? So what does this mean now for the brands? And those are certain ways we think that I truly believe need learned by people.
00:29:44
Speaker
Probably AI will be able to do that at some point, but I don't think it can really be a good teacher already. But maybe that's just because I i don't know every every everything what's out there.
00:29:58
Speaker
yeah um i love that optimism. And I share that. When I had my first ah podcast on on on this series with Stefan Sagmeister, he said he was more pessimistic, which was fun because his old brand is about optimism. But he was okay, maybe it's going to replace everyone in marketing.
00:30:17
Speaker
But I also feel like when Photoshop, for example, first was launched into the market, everyone said, okay, now designers are going to be obsolete. Well, we still have designers. Just move to a different level and it's about those people using it the right way.
00:30:34
Speaker
So I think it's a tool. And even if it's going to replace people like you and me, which we also have to consider as an option, I also agree with you that If you're a smart person, you'll find a new role.
00:30:50
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Then we might just do something completely different. Exactly. And I think that is the point. I think I'm forever going to be a st strategist, but probably the things I'm doing right now are going to be different.
00:31:05
Speaker
I would be very happy if AI replaces my work because some of the work I don't like to do. But as long as the client is a person, my role will forever be important because sometimes you're stuck in meetings.
00:31:20
Speaker
Everyone's drained after working seven hours on this day. And then there's a meeting, you present a campaign. And the client is, okay, we just had this presentation. um i'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm a little tired. i have to have all these KPIs in mind. Tomorrow I need to show the CMO the decision I made.
00:31:42
Speaker
And then there has to be a person on the other side helping to make a decision. So I don't think this is ever going to be replaced. Someone needs to be in a meeting that uses, i always say this, just use your brain. Use your brain and use your heart while you're in a meeting. And I'm not saying don't be the, you obviously you want to be the smartest person in the room, that's for sure. But you are not smart by saying,
00:32:10
Speaker
naming marketing buzzwords, you are the smartest person in the room. If you are able to sense what's going on to help everyone, everyone in a meeting should be there for a reason. So not always the case, but that should be the case.
00:32:26
Speaker
So everyone has credibility while to be there, then you should be the person that senses what are the needs. Did the client actually understand the presentation, not saying the client is dumb. I'm saying the client is a human.
00:32:40
Speaker
And as long as there is a human on the other side, I truly believe my job is going to be valid. If it's going to be taken away, okay, take it. I'll do something else. I'll be having fun doing other things, but I'm pretty sure I will always have to use the skills I learned in this industry. And that
Conclusion and Gratitude
00:32:58
Speaker
is to always be empathetic.
00:33:01
Speaker
Think of people, ask the question, what are their needs? How can I help them to solve a problem? How can I help them to feel better? And I'm forever going to be doing that, I'm sure.
00:33:12
Speaker
Yeah. And when you said that we all want to be the smartest person, that actually reminds me of a quote from Simon Sinek when he said he tries to be the dumbest person in the room. okay Because it's about asking, not being afraid to ask stupid questions.
00:33:29
Speaker
And I try to remind myself of that when I'm in a meeting with some board members of a big corporate client. And I... really challenged myself to ask, okay, I don't understand why we're doing this.
00:33:44
Speaker
m Because if I don't understand it, maybe someone else also doesn't understand it. And it's just too afraid to actually voice those concerns. So I think, yes, being smart is good.
00:33:56
Speaker
But also yeah when you reach a certain point in your career to just say, hey, I don't understand it. So maybe not everybody else understands it. Because also when we create campaigns or strategies, we're not creating it for people who are as focused on a brand experience as we are.
00:34:14
Speaker
People don't think about brands. One of my best friends, he's the head of brand and creative at Too Good To Go. I just had a call with him yesterday. And one of the favorite quotes from him that I use again and again in my presentations is he said,
00:34:27
Speaker
Nobody wakes up at 7 a.m. m thinking today is a good day to use to good to go. And I love it because it comes from a person whose job it is to make people think about the brand. But also he realizes that's not the reality. People don't think about brands as much as we do. And so it's always important to ask those stupid questions from time to time to really say, does that really matter? Is that really the thing that we should be looking into? I couldn't agree more. i would love to add more words, but I couldn't even say it better. So, yeah.
00:35:01
Speaker
So then then we have a great ending for this conversation. i guess so. That was fun. Thank you so much for coming on the show. i really appreciate it. Thank you again for pushing me to start this podcast.
00:35:13
Speaker
Now with being the second guest on it. And i can't wait to see where this all goes. and And also to then see all the ideas that you created out of the report. So thank you so much. elena Thank you so much for having me.
00:35:27
Speaker
see you soon. And that's it for today. If something here made you think, send it to someone who could use it. You can find me on LinkedIn or through my newsletter called Future Strategies on Substack for More.
00:35:40
Speaker
And if you're ready to move your marketing from insight to action, reach out. That's what I do. Until next time.