Soul & Science: Fast Forward Your Marketing Mind
In today’s world how does a brand break through the noise and become iconic? Well, there’s a complex marketing machine running behind all your favorite brand names that goes deeper than you could imagine. Join Jason Harris, co-founder and CEO of award-winning creative agency, Mekanism, as he speaks with leading experts about how to build an iconic brand. We will pull back the curtain on how culturally relevant brand building and always-on digital work together to make brands famous and drive business Results. Think of it as EQ meeting IQ. Let’s fast forward our marketing minds on the Soul & Science Podcast. Soul & Science is a Mekanism podcast produced by Maggie Boles, Ryan Tillotson, Grace Robert and Lily Jablonski. The show is edited by Daniel Ferreira, with theme music by Kyle Merritt. At Mekanism we build iconic brands with Soul & Science. The Soul is culturally relevant brand building and the Science is the always-on marketing activities that drive the bottom line. Learn more at mekanism.com. Brought to you by Mekanism.
Episodes
Donny Jensen, CMO of Black Rifle Coffee, joins Jason Harris to share lessons from a career that’s spanned Nike, Red Bull, Beats by Dre, Spartan Race, and now one of America’s fastest-growing coffee companies. Donny explains why brand is the ultimate differentiator, how Black Rifle balances irreverent viral content with disciplined growth marketing, and what it mea...
Doug Sweeny, CMO of Oura, joins Jason Harris to unpack the playbook behind Oura’s evolution—from a sleep device born in Finland to a holistic health platform used by pro teams, biohackers, and everyday members. Doug shares why the internal reset comes first (“align the company, then tell the world”), how revenue ownership changes the CMO seat, and what it takes to balance...
John Lowe, Managing Director at Amok Consumer Growth and former CEO of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, joins Jason Harris to share his playbook for identifying breakout food and beverage brands.
During his 14 years as CEO, John scaled Jeni’s by more than 100x in revenue—while also serving on the boards of White Castle, Watershed Distillery, and more. Today, he’s bringing t...
Alex Schultz, Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Analytics at Meta (and author of the upcoming book Click Here), joins Jason Harris to unpack the soul and science behind decisions that move billions of people: the rebrand from Facebook to Meta, launching Threads to 400M MAU, the retention curve that signaled Ray-Ban Meta glasses were a hit, and why a g...
From Coca-Cola to Spotify to Hinge, Jackie has spent two decades shaping brands that endure by focusing on cultural insights, inclusive teams, and work that actually serves audiences. Now, as President and CMO at Hinge—the dating app “designed to be deleted”—she’s proving that long-term growth comes from products that deliver real o...
From being a Parade All-American athlete to coaching under Jim Valvano, Michael Palma pivoted into advertising recruitment—eventually placing more than 1,300 top talents and helping agencies win over $400 million in revenue. Today, as founder of The Palma Group, he manages reviews for global brands like Coca-Cola, Heineken, Peugeot, and Zaxby’...
In this episode, Jason sits down with Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur magazine and author of Build for Tomorrow. From walking away from his first reporting job to pitching national outlets cold, Feifer has built a career on spotting opportunities no one asked him to pursue—and helping others do the same. They unpack ...
Jason Harris breaks down how they pulled it off, why it’s a symptom of a bigger problem in the industry, and what Cannes is doing to prevent it from happening again. From de...
In this episode, Jason sits down with award-winning director and creative pioneer Jason Zada, founder of the AI-native entertainment studio Secret Level. From Elf Yourself to Take This Lollipop to an AI-generated Coca-Cola ad that sparked headlines and backlash, Zada has spent his career pushing the boundaries of how audiences engage with content.
They div...
✅ Key Takeaways:
- Reverse mentorshi...
In this episode, Jason sits down with Kate Torrance, VP and Head of Brand at SickKids, and Josh Budd, Chief Creative Officer at Citizen Relations, to unpack one of the boldest healthcare campaigns in recent memory. They share how SickKids transformed a milestone into a powerful storytelling opportunity...
We’ll dig into:
- Why DEI isn’t a “nice-to-have,” but a business imperative
- The bac...
In this episode, Jason sits down with Ben Lerer, co-founder of Thrillist, creator of Group Nine Media, and now Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. They talk about the shifting tides of media, tech, and early-stage investing. From building one of the first great digital brands to navigating the rise of creators, platforms, and AI, Ben shares har...
In this mini episode, we explore how today’s shifting landscape—from tariffs to market instability—requires a smarter, more agile approach.Jason shares three core principles that can help entrepreneurs and innovators not just survive, but thrive during turbulent times.
Key Takeaways:
- Agility beats the grand reveal
- F...
In this episode, Jason talks with Nicholas Karrat, CMO of StockX, about the Soul & Science of marketplace models—and what it takes to build brand trust, cultural relevance, and business performance at the same time. A veteran marketer with experience across Fortune 100 companies and DTC startups, Nick has held leadership roles at AT&T, Citibank, Plated, Boll & Bran...
In this Soul & Science mini, Jason unpacks the marketing strategy behind Adidas Originals’ latest capsule: apparel and accessories designed for pets and their owners. Matching outfits? Yes. Global rollout? Not yet.
For marketers, this launch raises big questions:
🧠 Is this a clever test-market move or a missed brand moment?
📍 Why China first—an...
In this episode, Fi’s Chief Creative Officer Bryant Brennan joins Jason Harris to explore the Soul & Science of in-house creativity, product-first marketing, and building brands with staying power.
From launching Nook at Barnes & Noble to scaling Peloton’s creative team into an award-winning force, Bryant shares how to align tea...
In this Soul & Science mini-episode, Jason unpacks why the HBO brand is once again reclaiming its name, and what this says about brand equity, consumer sentiment, and the fine art of knowing when to walk it back. From Gap to Tropicana to the Twitter-that-shall-not-be-named, some branding detours are better left reversed.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Don’t m...
In this episode, OBERLAND Founder & Creative Chairman Bill Oberlander joins Jason Harris to explore the Soul & Science of purpose-driven marketing and talk about why creativity, commerce, and consciousness can (and should) coexist.
Bill shares his journey from Madison Avenue to launching a values-first agency that's now AdAge’s Purpose-Led...
This week on Soul & Science, Jason sits down with Jim Lesser, Chief Brand Officer at ServiceNow, the enterprise platform helping organizations simplify workflows and put AI to work across their business.
Before stepping into the world of B2B tech, Jim led award-winning campaigns as CEO and Executive Creative Director at BBDO San Francisco, including the well-known "Imagine t...
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