Madvertising by AdQuick — Advertising, Marketing & Ad Tech Podcast · AdQuick

John Long - state of creativity, agency life, AI and more | E56

February 13, 2025·45 min·3 clips

John Long says good clients bring “business challenges, not marketing assignments.”

1. Madvertising by AdQuick features John Long, the SVP and Executive Creative Director at Digitas, on agency life, creativity, and AI. 2. Host Adam interviews John Long because Long has led in-house teams at The Economist and LG and written for AdWeek and The Drum. 3. The episode asks what has changed in agencies over the last decade and why creative work still matters. 4. John Long says brands have built more in-house teams since 2013, especially for social media and creative production. 5. He says many brands now run their own social channels, which has taken work away from large agencies like Huge and Code. 6. He argues that agencies still matter because they want to make “famous work” rather than stay anonymous. 7. The conversation turns to audience taste, and John Long says nobody can reliably predict what people will love. 8. He points to Barbie and Oppenheimer as proof that algorithms did not simply manufacture the year’s biggest hits. 9. He uses Netflix to show that streaming success came from investing in quality, not from flooding the market with cheap reality TV. 10. John Long says Apple, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix all proved that craft and quality still drive attention. 11. He criticizes Apple’s “mushing together” ad as a message mismatch with a brand tied to human creativity. 12. He says in-house teams can miss because they start “drinking the Kool-Aid” and stop challenging the brand. 13. He also mentions the Pepsi/Kylie Jenner campaign as another example of a miss that lacked outside perspective. 14. On social and cultural advertising, John Long says brands should not try to offend nobody because “people get offended about everything.” 15. He says a principled stand is often better than saying one thing and showing the opposite, as with the Coca-Cola holiday spot and AI-generated people. 16. On performance marketing, he says the brand-versus-performance split is a false choice because every impression shapes the brand. 17. He compares social and digital ads to postcards, using J.Crew birthday coupons as a case where familiarity creates response. 18. He says startups need a sharp point of view, a clear product definition, and an engaging tone because people do not buy purely rationally. 19. The tone is conversational and direct, with long answers, concrete examples, and repeated emphasis on craft over speed. 20. People working in advertising, startups, or creative strategy will get the most from it, while listeners wanting a purely technical AI discussion may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical case for brands that are distinctive, entertaining, and easy to remember.

John Long makes a steady case for strong marketing built on a sharp point of view, a clear product, and a brand voice that can charm and entertain instead of trying to explain everything in purely rational terms.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear Digitas SVP and Executive Creative Director John Long unpack what makes brands stand out.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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