Transcript

Fergus O'Carroll (0:00)

Welcome to OnStrategy Showcase. I'm Fergus O' Carroll in Chicago. Hope you guys had a great week. Really excited to share this week's episode with you. We went out to Deutsch a couple of weeks ago, recorded a show in front of a live audience. Deutsch hosted us. And one of the interesting things is that I think a lot of us see work and we kind of forget where the work is produced. And we had the same kind of a thing in Dallas where we kind of realized that so much great work has come out of those agencies. And the same is true when we go out to LA and we gathered these agency folks to sit down and have a conversation. The amount of great work that's coming out of these markets and out of LA is really phenomenal. And we had the privilege of having a couple of people around our roundtable who were working with sort of celebrity created agencies. Maximum Effect was there in Artist Equity, which is where Ben Affleck and Matt Damon come out of an Artist Effect is Ryan Reynolds. And both of those places are doing really, really. They have a different approach to it than traditional agencies or even more modern agencies have, which is really interesting to hear about. And we'll hear about that during this conversation.

Host/Moderator (possibly Fergus O'Carroll or another host) (1:15)

But I loved it.

Fergus O'Carroll (1:17)

We were really lucky to have the people that we did. And we tried a roundtable format for the very first time. And I kind of fell in love with it because I've always sort of suspected that having literally the panel sitting around in a circle, engaging with each other, it just feels more intimate rather than people sort of facing the audience. And I don't think it detract from the experience of being an audience member. So we're gonna continue to try that going forward. We actually just tried it last week again in London. We recorded at Mother this week and we had a great conversation there too. Very excited about it. We are coming up on December. We're heading into November now, of course. Well, shit, we're already halfway through November. Unbelievable. But yeah, we're heading in towards the holidays here. And we are doing our holiday ad special again here in Chicag. It's like Chicago's largest holiday party for planning. And you know, last year I think we had like 250 to 300 people. I don't remember exactly what the number was, but we had a brilliant time.

Host/Moderator (possibly Fergus O'Carroll or another host) (2:20)

It's been a pleasure to have us.

Fergus O'Carroll (2:22)

Hosted by High Dive in the Merchandise Mart. If you're in Chicago, I don't care what agency you come from, a media shop you come from a digital shop. You come from whatever. You define your shop as if you're in planning. We would love to have you guys come out and join us. You can learn more and you can buy your tickets on our homepage@onstrategyshowcase.com under the Live Tour tab. It's gonna be the same format of last year, which was, in essence, just fun. We're gonna play the best holiday ads of the year from the US and from the uk. We're gonna talk about them, we're gonna say what we like about them and just. It's a really uplifting way to end the year to look at all these holiday ads and have fun and be together with people in the ad community. So again, I. When we hear from agencies that they're gonna make it sort of their agency planning department holiday party, I love that. I would love to think that we will make that the purpose of this event every year in Chicago. So hope to see everybody then. It is Thursday evening, December 4th at the Merchandise Mart between like 6 and 8pm Again, more information under the Live Tour tab on our website onStrategyshowcase.com so here is our convers at Deutsch. We had a great roundtable and I am thrilled to have as our sponsors of this live tour. We have the Effies, we have Ipsos and Tracksuit. Thank you to those three terrific organizations for making this live tour possible. They're doing the best work in supporting our industry and what we're all about. So do check them out. Here's our conversation in Deutsch. Enjoy.

Summary

Podcast Summary

On Strategy Showcase

Host: Fergus O’Carroll
Episode: Live from Deutsch in LA: Those Moments of Magic
Date: November 16, 2025

Overview

In this special episode, recorded live at Deutsch in Los Angeles, the On Strategy Showcase presents a roundtable discussion with some of LA's top advertising strategists and creatives. The group digs into the elusive "magic moments"—those creative epiphanies and strategic unlocks that lead to truly standout campaigns. With real campaign case studies and lively anecdotes, the conversation explores collaborative processes, agency culture shifts, and what it takes to repeatedly create breakthrough work.

Panelists:

John Deschner (Head of Brand, Maximum Effort)
Ryan Lehrer (Co-Chief Creative Officer, Deutsch LA)
Jill Bergeson (Chief Strategic Officer, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA)
Jason Carley (Executive Creative Director, Artists Equity)
Amanda Shapiro (EVP Group Strategy Director, Deutsch LA)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Path Into Advertising & Early Inspirations

Many guests fell into advertising from creative or unconventional backgrounds—references to TV’s "Thirtysomething," dabbling in writing, and accidental first jobs.
Jill Bergeson: Inspired by the Nike "Instant Karma" ad—“I want to be able to do something like that.” [08:35]
Ryan Lehrer: Started at Chiat\Day as a receptionist, built his book through foosball games with founders of what became Omelet Agency. [11:29]

2. Finding and Enabling ‘Magic Moments’ in Creative Work

Magic or epiphany moments are rare but pivotal.
Teams brought 2–3 examples of these moments from their careers to discuss live.
“There’s not an exact way of finding them or discovering them, but when they happen, they make everything we do just feel really great.” — Host [06:00]

3. Preferences and Habits in Creative Process

Early in careers, many panelists were “isolators,” believing the best work happened solo. Now almost all embrace collaboration.
- Amanda Shapiro: “I used to be an isolator...now, I fully believe in collaboration.” [13:35]
- Jill Bergeson: “Google Docs put a real end to all this...you can’t hide anymore.” [14:12]
Preferred work environments range from soft chairs at dawn to team whiteboards and long walks.
- Amanda: “I boot up at like 6am...if I really need to concentrate, I go to a comfy chair, shoes off.” [13:35, 14:54]

4. The Role of Collaboration

Collaboration means sharing early, being vulnerable, and encouraging stupid ideas.
- Jill: “Put ourselves out there and be vulnerable...just get it out there and talk about it.” [16:57]
- Amanda: “It takes the pressure off always having to have the answer...we just have to get to the answer.” [18:00]
At Maximum Effort, the strategy process is quick, outcome-focused, and “light on insight.”
- John Deschner: “We don’t write briefs...we just get all the information together, mush it down to something you can communicate in 3–4 minutes.” [19:19]
- Decision-making is much like a writers’ room—large groups brainstorming, filtering, and distilling to actionable creative seeds.

5. Being Interesting vs. Being ‘Right’

“It’s more important to be interesting than right.” [21:09]
- Maximum Effort often targets emotions broadly (e.g., for virality) rather than narrow audience segments.
- Celebrity involvement is a lever, not a guarantee (e.g., Ryan Reynolds’ decreasing on-camera presence). [23:03]

6. Unlocking Ideas & Overcoming Brief Fatigue

Panelists use tricks like “the worst idea” game and intentionally pushing ideas to extremes, then dialing them back.
- Ryan Lehrer: “Come up with the worst idea, and sometimes you can reverse-engineer to a good idea.” [25:11]
- Brainstorming is likened to Battleship—finding “hits” through testing a wide range of creative concepts.

7. The Right Strategy: Bridge, Not Filter

Strategy should enable, not limit, creativity.
- Amanda: “The role of strategy is not to cancel the idea, but to make it on strategy...build the bridge.” [30:29]
- Early, iterative collaboration between strategists and creatives is critical—“He talks in ideas, I talk in strategy.” — Amanda Shapiro [31:45]

8. Facilitating Participation—Introverts Welcome

Remote/async tools like Zoom chat and Slack help introverts contribute without public pressure.
- John: “You just have to multi-thread so it’s not down to who’s loudest in the room.” [37:02]
- Set expectations that early ideas don’t have to be ‘good’—just get them out to be improved by the group.

Memorable Campaign Case Studies

1. Astronomer – Gwyneth Paltrow Fastvertising [39:19]

A B2B company embroiled in an unexpected scandal after their CEO was caught on a Kiss Cam. With the world watching, Maximum Effort is brought in for a creative solution.
Within 48 hours, they craft a satirical but innocent video “from” Astronomer, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow as a spokesperson, leveraging Ryan Reynolds’ network for speed and access.
- “There are 99 ways to do this wrong, and one to do it right. You need to reclaim this moment.” — John Deschner [41:03]
The entire campaign is earned media—no spend. “That video had more impressions than the Deadpool and Wolverine trailer.” — John Deschner [45:14]
Approach: React with honesty, cleverness, and a sense of innocence.
- “It needs to be really innocent and naive because these guys are data dorks.” — John Deschner [41:46]

2. Snapple—“Shoulding All Over Ourselves” [47:24]

The team sought to revitalize Snapple for Gen-Z/younger New Yorkers, surrounded by hyper-functional beverage competition.
The unlock: People feel guilty about not being productive during afternoon breaks (“I should be working out, I should be productive, I should be drinking water...”).
- Amanda Shapiro: “The brief was: We’re shoulding all over ourselves. And Snapple can be that refreshing taste of freedom.” [47:43]
Campaign pokes fun at functional beverages—celebrating enjoyment for enjoyment’s sake.
- “You know what’s refreshing? A drink that actually tastes good.” — Snapple ad [52:39]

3. Bud Light—Swear Jar [53:08]

The brief: “People want it.” (not much to work with)
Epiphany: In riffing mundane ideas, the notion of a “Swear Jar” in an office—fines for swearing used to buy Bud Light—instantly unlocked a flurry of vignettes that “practically wrote themselves.” [55:36]
- “The moment he said Swear Jar, we were just like, that’s it.” — Jason Carley [56:06]
Funny, relatable, and true to brand, but initially undervalued by the client—languished until it became the standout “bait” for a failed corporate platform. Later, its creative excellence was widely recognized.

4. Twitch—“Together For Whatever” [60:07]

Brand struggled with internal alignment, varied employee/creator definitions.
Jill: The epiphany came when describing hosting for her daughter’s friends: “You just roll the ball out and get out of the way.”
- Led to a brand platform around the idea of Twitch as a digital playground—“Together for whatever.”
- “It really helped us expand what we were talking about.” — Jill Bergeson [63:52]

5. Dr. Pepper – Fansville [64:23]

After the long-running “Larry Culpepper” phase, the challenge was to create sustained, episodic relevance in college football.
The unlock: Focusing on the drama of “the stands” (fans), not “the field” (players).
- “The strategy unlock was: Gatorade is for the field, Dr. Pepper is for the stands.” — Ryan Lehrer [65:07]
Fans are “crazier” than the players—so Fansville is a sitcom-like universe for fan stories, with the brand at the heart of their rituals.
- “Once we had that unlock about the drama being in the stands, it just, it untaps so many stories...” — Ryan Lehrer [70:08]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"We don’t write briefs... It’s more like, get all the information together, distill it quickly, and then mush it down to something you can communicate in 3 or 4 minutes.”
— John Deschner [19:19]
“It’s more important to be interesting than right.”
— Repeat from previous guest, endorsed by panel [21:09]
“The role of strategy is not to cancel the idea, but to make it on strategy... to build the bridge.”
— Amanda Shapiro [30:29]
“I’d rather have a clear strategy... Now we’re looking at convenience with this product, now, in this year, with whatever’s going on in culture.”
— Jason Carley [59:13]
“You want your brief to be showing, right?”
— Ryan Lehrer [77:45]
“Too much time and too much money ruins everything... Sometimes mashing yourself into crazy constraints is what’s needed.”
— John Deschner [77:56]
“The most dangerous thing to do is be safe... The risk is not getting noticed.”
— Ryan Lehrer & Host [89:28, 91:01]

Panel Advice: “More Of, Less Of” Rapid Round

Amanda Shapiro: “More reading, talking, connecting. Less focus on the problem—look adjacent and at the peripheries; connections come from unexpected places.” [74:10]
Jill Bergeson: “More IRL stuff—get out of the scroll/algorithm. Less time on AI/ChatGPT; original inputs matter.” [75:03]
Jason Carley: “Not every strategy has to be lofty—sometimes clarity and simplicity win. Less strategy as filter; more as bridge.” [75:48]
John Deschner: “Less time and money per idea; more scrappiness, more joy. Don’t always try to make things bigger; constraints force creativity.” [77:56]
Ryan Lehrer: “More entertaining, less advertising. Act like a fan, not a brand. If you’re interrupting, at least make it fun.” [80:54]

Audience Q&A Highlights

Q1: How do you find magic moments on long-running/established campaigns?

Identify shifts in culture that allow you to refresh the strategy in new ways. Fansville succeeds because it’s seasonal and adapts to real trends in college football. [82:07–84:46]

Q2: What makes a good strategist?

Curiosity, taste, the ability to make strategy useful and actionable, clear writing, and understanding people/insights—less pontification, more practical impact. [86:22–88:07]

Q3: How do you sell clients on brave creative risks?

Build the business case: the biggest risk is being ignored. “Remind them how much they’ll spend on media—creative is just a fraction.” [88:45–90:54]
Reframing risk as the danger of boring work, not bold work.

Closing

The episode illustrates the chemistry and process behind breakthrough agency work—where rigor, humor, vulnerability, collaboration, and strategic flexibility all intermingle. These LA agencies show that the “magic” isn’t blind luck, but a mixture of process, bravery, repeated creative collision, and sincere enjoyment—focusing on what’s entertaining and emotionally resonant, rather than just filling a brief.

For Full Campaign Examples and Further Industry Insights:
Visit onstrategyshowcase.com
Relevant references: Effie Awards, Tracksuit, Ipsos Creative Excellence

This summary omits advertising, intros, and non-content banter for clarity and depth. Timestamps (MM:SS) indicate moments referenced in the provided transcript.