What is risk?

For most people, a risky situation is one where you’re exposed to danger.

Put another way, it’s the possibility of something bad happening.

But for Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death, the definition of risk takes an interesting detour. For Andy, the real danger is not that something bad will happen, but that nothing will happen at all.

No reaction. No learning. No breakthroughs.

Just a boring piece of creative, dead on arrival, completely ignored.

That’s why, over the course of his career, Andy has developed a habit of pushing himself into uncomfortable situations and doing “scary stuff” so that he can explore ideas that most people won’t even consider.

But scary stuff isn’t the same as doing anything.

There is always a Liquid Death Logic underneath every idea that helps the team connect the dots between dumb ideas and smart ideas in unexpected ways.

Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Andy include:

• Andy’s favorite activations at Liquid Death and why he loves them
• One of the scariest things Andy did early on in his career before Liquid Death that has shaped his outlook on risks and creativity
• The questions Andy likes to ask in brainstorms to push ideas even further
• How Liquid Death manages controversy and consistently transforms hate into something great
• The intriguing parallels between one of Andy’s hobbies (ultramarathons) and building a brand

Show Notes:

Below are links to campaigns and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation.

Campaigns

Mike Cessario getting a fan’s face tattooed on his body

Limited edition corpse paint with e.l.f. beauty

The Yeti Casket Cooler

The “Freeze to Death” Cold Plunge Tank

Limited edition Hot Fudge Sundae flavor with Van Leewan Ice Cream

A partnership with Burton to create an unrideable snowboard called the Death Trap.

A contest where you could win a free L-39 Aero jet called The Dehydrator.

Cards Against Humanity Saves America

Movies

The Voyage Out by Barlow Jacobs (Coming Soon)

Books

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Why should strategists do focus groups with real humans if AI-enabled synthetic focus groups can yield an equally powerful aha moment at a fraction of the cost?

That’s one of several challenging questions I explore with Ed Cotton, brand consultant and former chief strategy officer from Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP).

For the past 25 years, Ed has been at the helm of strategic planning in NYC, leading strategy for a wide variety of brands, including Amazon, Apple, BMW-MINI, Chipotle, EA, LG, Nestle, Nike-Converse, Unilever, and Wal-Mart.

In today’s fast-moving marketing environments, where CMO tenures are shorter than ever, Ed sees a multitude of opportunities that AI can offer - speed, cost reduction, and more ways to connect the dots.

But at the same time, he worries that the combined pressure of smaller budgets and tighter deadlines are creating situations where strategists are afraid to get out of the office or out of their comfort zone.

Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Ed include:

• How to overcome insecurity as a junior strategist
• Why big data can sometimes be misleading and doesn’t necessarily lead to more insights
• Which categories are most toxic for focus groups and what to do if you’re doing research in one of those categories
• How one of Ed's favorite hobbies helps him see the world with fresh eyes
• A valuable life lesson that Ed learned from a creative director when he was just starting out as a strategist

Show Notes:

Below are links to inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation.

Films (and books):

Ed’s favorite recent book: The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier

Annihilation - Movie Trailer (Here's the book)

Zone of Interest - Movie Trailer (Here's the book)

Campaigns

AirBnB Original Belong Anywhere Campaign Spot

AirBnB 1/2 Billion Guest Arrival Campaign Spot

Other Miscellaneous Musings

Ed’s Substack - Provoke

Ed's Podcast - Inspiring Futures

Tim Malefyt has an amazing ability to make the familiar strange.

He does this by doing deep, ethnographic research, helping brands uncover hidden consumer truths through a combination of carefully constructed activities and thoughtful conversation.

As a business anthropologist, Tim’s research methodologies and key findings have helped re-energize a number of big name brands across multiple categories, including Campbell’s, Gillette, FedEx, HBO, Revlon, PepsiCo, Cadillac, Crayola, and New Balance.

For Tim, context is everything.

If you want to understand a person’s behavior, you have to talk to them in the right context. That means getting them out of the focus group room, putting away the interrogation pad of paper, and talking with people in the environment where the behavior in question naturally takes place.

Because as Tim puts it, “It is in the doing, in the action, that the ‘knowledge of the body’ starts to come through.”

Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Tim include:

• Reframing Campbell’s “dinner dilemma” into something more creative and communal
• The surprisingly social nature of driving and the challenge that poses for self-driving cars
• Different metaphors one can use during interviews for more meaningful truths
• How to check for and overcome gender bias in research projects
• The way Tim’s experience as a ballet dancer has influenced his approach to research

Show Notes:

Below are links to books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation.

Tim’s favorite recent book: The Overstory by Richard Powers

Another great book: Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson