Those who have a keen eye for spotting title changes may notice something a little different in my bio line, so let's all get that out in the open. Yes, I am ditching the use of "former agency CMO" so I can focus on what's ahead, not in the past. Serial Marketer is the name I'm using for my proprietorship, and I'll have a lot more to say about how that came about shortly. Consider... Read more →

The New York Times ran an important story on gender bias in the ad industry. The timing was interesting for me. I was sharing an UberPool with someone en route to iMedia's Agency Summit yesterday, and the topic came up with the other passenger. She's an aspiring fashion designer who was in town for a few months from Chicago, and when I brought up my industry, she referenced "Mad Men." I noted how some issues... Read more →

I'm here at iMedia's Agency Summit in Lost Pines, TX on a panel (details below) about the nature of the agency and client relationships. It's only slightly ironic, as this is the first time in more than ten years that I'm not actually with an agency, and it's probably the only time (anytime soon) I will use "former" as my official title (more on that soon). If you happen to be out here in Texas,... Read more →

originally published in Advertising Age To understand what happened at South by Southwest (SXSW) this year, pick up a physics textbook. Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion can be considered the primary law of the festival, and of the entire advertising industry: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." The law can explain practically every cultural phenomenon. It predicts how the rise of gyms and low-calorie foods coincided with the spike... Read more →

Will you be attending any of the events below? Let me know, as it would be great to connect around them. First, this Thursday, March 24, I return to MediaPost for Marketing:Automotive for a session where I'll draw from the research MRY put out a bit ago at the intersection of mobility and cars. Here are the details of this session at 2:30pm: Panel: Technology and Younger Buyers: Sea Change Ahead? General Motors’ recent partnership... Read more →

Ahead of the session on the future of storytelling that I'm doing with German Haus at SXSW (see details here), I'm using ReplyAll to chat with host Irmela Schwab about themes from the session. This post will be continually updated as we have the conversation, and you can follow along right here. Read more →

SXSW 2016 is fast upon us, so continuing what can now be considered something of a tradition, here is this year's #DamnSXSW preview deck, with a convenient preview of SXSW and a template you can fill out for your own recap decks after. SXSW 2016 Preview: #DamnSXSW, back at it again with the Obamas! from David Berkowitz Read more →

We're going all German, all the time here at Marketers Studio. Following up on the previous news that I will be joining an illustrious roster at German Haus at SXSW, Thanks to my new friends at SMG Germany (shoutout to Johannes Lenz), they asked me some pretty interesting questions about marketing in general and my role in particular. I hope my answers remotely lived up to the questions. Here's an excerpt: Johannes If you would... Read more →

Are you going to SXSW 2016? Do you like tech startups? Do you love Germans? Are you a Rebecca Lieb groupie? Any of these are good reasons to stop by German Haus. As if you needed a reason to stop by German Haus! And better still, you get to see me not once, not thrice, but twice! On March 12, at 9:30am, you can catch me on this session: INTERNATIONAL BREAKFAST: DIGITAL STORYTELLING - HOW... Read more →

In what feels overdue, I'm finally making it to Mobile World Congress for the first time this year. I'll be speaking at Mobile Media Summit on the session detailed below. You can also find a slew of updates on Twitter from my colleagues at Starcom Mediavest Group by checking out the hashtag #SMGatMWC. You can also check out SMG's full speaker roster, featuring Laura Desmond, Lisa Donohue, and other luminaries. If you are out at... Read more →