APG Sideways
About our guest: Matt Nolson
Matt is a Senior Strategist at The&Partnership. He has been in the ad industry for 2 years, preceded by 10 years in the music industry where he worked on global marketing for artists like City and Colour, SonReal, The Glorious Sons, Tokyo Police Club and Canadian marketing for Jimmy Eat World, The Lumineers, Dashboard Confessional, Good Charlotte, LÉON and more.
On the weekend, Matt loves to stay active running, cycling or playing Disc Golf. He can also be found exploring creative beverages of all kinds - from locally-roasted coffee to craft beer, cider and kombucha.
Previous Posts
Brilliant Weird Best
Planners are curious folks so we asked Matt to tell us the most brilliant, weirdest and best thing he’s come across recently.
Brilliant: The Nescafe World Says Coffee ad
The Nescafe ad from the Canadian Super Bowl broadcast this year has really stuck with me - the one showing the many ways people use their empty jars after the coffee is gone. The insight is so strong and relatable and the unique jar shape provides strong additional brand link without having to dwell on logos or labels and even avoiding the usual “coffee pouring” shot. Really exciting work.
Weird: There is no such thing as a fish
Unlike mammals or birds, the term fish refers to a wide spectrum of animals who do not share a common ancestor and are grouped together simply because they live in water. And because all land animals including humans evolved from aquatic animals, the real implication is that either there are no fish at all, or we are all fish. Woah.
Best: Apple’s iPod and iTunes ads 2004-2008
Visually striking, but also incorporating a perfect selection of music that launched the careers of some amazing artists. Definitely a bucket-list accomplishment for someone with a music industry background!
Top Guilty Pleasurees
Not all of our consumption habits can be academic. In fact, sometimes the most random things can spur our thinking. So we asked Matt to give us the sources to his creativity.
Books: Fantasy novels: from Game of Thrones to anything by Guy Gavriel Kay
I love the stories and world-building, but honestly I’m intimidated by the fandoms!
Podcast: The Big Dig
All about the politics and scandal behind Boston’s infamous downtown underground highway construction Also any well-executed limited series. I’m forever fascinated, and traumatised, by the 6-part 24-hour Hardcore History series about World War 1, but usually prefer much more mundane but insightful topics.
TV show: New Girl
I find it the best written, funniest and most relatable of the 2000s sitcoms. I relate far too closely with Schmidt.
This month on Slack
In case you haven’t been following us on slack lately, here are some of our most recent and popular links.
Contributor: Multiple
14 strategists from the APG community joined our most recent virtual social over lunch on November 22. We discussed some of our favourite new and old holiday ads, the common tropes we saw (eg. long-form storytelling and emotion), and how effective each appears to be. We also wondered why the UK in particular produces so much outstanding work this time of year…
Contributor: Spencer MacEachern
The clothing brand launched bold minimalist billboards across major markets. While it generated online buzz, was it effective work that drove results or was it just more LinkedIn marketing network back-patting?
Contributor: Cameron Fleming
Dove launched a free guide to help video game designers develop realistic hair textures and styles for their black characters; based on research that showed that 85% of black gamers think video games poorly depict natural hair.