APG Sideways
About our guest: Hannah Newport
Hannah Newport likes people watching and overhearing interesting conversations. So, she took this nosiness and turned it into a career as a strategist.
Hannah is approaching 10 years in advertising and while most of her career has been spent working in Canada,, for the past two years, she has been working remotely in Toronto as a Strategy Director for Mischief @ No Fixed Address — which, does in fact have an address, in Brooklyn, NY.
When she's not uncovering insights, Hannah can be found looking for streaming links for US broadcasts so that she can watch the American ads for brands that she works on. Hannah can also be found slowly but surely working towards a creative writing diploma at UofT.
Previous Posts
Brilliant Weird Best
Planners are curious folks so we asked Hannah to tell us the most brilliant, weirdest and best things she’s come across recently.
Brilliant : Chirp - Feel Good, Do More
Sometimes, the best work comes out of a category that people expect to be a little dull. Like remedies for back pain.
I love the insight that back pain turns you into a bit of an a**hole and Chirp makes you a lot more pleasant to be around. It’s so important to have tension at the heart of a strategy (back pain pun, intended) that creatives can bounce off of. The tone is strange in all of the right ways and the work is completely unignorable in a category that is quite frankly, very ignorable.
Weird : Iceland Tourism Bureau - OutHorse your email
The majority of us check our email while we're on vacation, which seriously sucks. Since Iceland’s tourism bureau believes that everyone needs to RELAX and enjoy their beautiful country while on holiday, they created OutHorse your email, where the country’s “very professional horses” would write real out-of-office replies by walking on a giant keyboard.
I love when a simple insight can lead to absolutely bonkers creative. To me, the more simple and less academic the strategy, the better the work. This campaign got loads of people talking and actually drove a significant uptick in travel to Iceland. Weird can work, people!
Best : The Art of Noticing Substack and newsletter.
Observing the people and places around us is so important for a strategist. Journalist, Rob Walker, has a substack that’s all about how people can pay closer attention to things — from a kooky house that you never noticed on your morning walk to the way that they stack the apples at the grocery store. It’s incredibly human and fun. He also has a recurring icebreaker of the week where people submit questions that would be great for lulls in conversation, or, to ponder yourself.
Top Guilty Pleasures
Not all of our consumption habits can be academic. That's why we asked Hannah to give us the sources to her creativity.
Reality Television, specifically, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
I feel like I could’ve listed a prestige drama that makes me seem smart but I am going to be honest because as a strategist, there should be no fakery.
I love reality TV. I actually took a whole class on it in university. It’s a genre that looks at the human psyche — in all of its motivations and messiness. Yes, some shows are completely shallow and occasionally problematic. But, others have a knack for getting into the incredibly entertaining minds of people that you would probably never hang out with (looking at you Lisa Barlow). As strategists, we need to understand the people outside of our little bubbles...I mean, also way beyond a few rich women from SLC, but, you get the gist.
This is an interview show where all of the subjects are inanimate objects. In each episode, an object tells you its life story from how it came to be to where it is now. You ever wonder what it’s like being a pillow? Dennis the pillow has some hot goss. How about a subway seat? Sean the subway seat has some stories. It’s equal parts silly and smart. I say that we all listen so that they put out more episodes.
Rave scenes and/or sad scenes in movies.
I love nothing more than buying an over-priced bag of popcorn, putting my phone on silent, and watching a film that makes me feel how incredibly fun life can be. There is nothing better than a scene with a good thumping track, strobe lights, and throngs of sweaty people dancing.
But, I also love a film that looks at the harder moments in life, too. One that makes me wish I brought a box of Kleenex to the theatre.
Nicole Kidman was absolutely correct in her AMC commercial, movies are magic.
This month on Slack
Been MIA on the APG's Slack Channel? No worries! Catch up on all the buzz with our latest and greatest links right here!
Incredible Work for the Terry Fox Foundation
Contributor - Spencer MacEachern
We all loved the Terry Fox campaign by the team at Diamond. They truly knocked it out of the park with their latest campaign. By honouring Terry’s legacy, they’ve created something powerful to support the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network.
Contributor - PK Lawton
Joe Burns breaks down the rise (and overuse) of the “Your Cool Friend™” brand voice. A sharp take on why it’s starting to feel more copy-paste than clever.
Contributor - Umar Ghumman
Why are so many young men drawn to Trump’s brand of chaos? A deep dive into the psyche of Gen Z men and their political leanings.
The Kumon Logo Knows What It Did
Contributor - Cameron Fleming
On our favourite APG Slack channel, Shitposting, we read about Drunk man who takes a stand against the dead-eyed menace of the Kumon logo. Honestly? Relatable. 😂