Curiosity, conviction, and a desire to get out of one’s comfort zone - these are just a few of the characteristics that Seth Gaffney and Marika Wiggan look for in strategic candidates at Preacher, and it’s this non-traditional approach to finding talent and building campaigns that has led to Preacher’s continued success, winning them Small Agency of the Year for four of the last five years.
Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include:
- Discovering the very different ways Seth and Marika broke into the world of advertising
- Scrappy techniques for learning about customer pain points and mapping out the customer journey
- The way Preacher is leveraging AI in their strategic work
- Funny and insightful stories from their work on Tommy John, Tecovas, Favor, WeTransfer, Sport Clips, and Foot Locker
- The personal advice from parents that have shaped their approach to the work they do every day
Show Notes:
Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation.
Clipper Confessions - Tashanee Williams and Zachary Stubblefield understand from first hand experience with focus groups that bad research environments lead to bad answers which result in bad learnings and bad representation. So they took focus groups out of the focus group facility and into the Barbershop with Rich “Smash” Payne. Questions include: “What’s the dopest thing about black culture?” and “If a CEO was sitting in the shop right now, what advice would you give them to better support black people?” The answers are nuanced, rich, and revealing.
A few campaigns from Preacher:
Tommy John Campaign - No Adjustment Needed
Vital Farms Campaign - Bullsh*t Free Eggs
Tecovas Campaign - Don’t Go Gently
Favor Campaign - How Texas Orders In
Foot Locker - The Heart of Sneakers
A few campaigns that Seth and Marika admire:
IKEA - Proudly Second Best
Amazon - Spend Less on Your Kids
Capri Sun - Wireless Kid-Noise Canceling Technology
Favorite Books
Marika’s favorite recent book - Big Swiss
Seth’s favorite recent book - Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.