Illustration via 99designs
“The best ideas are when you’re like, ‘We can never do this. We’re going to get in big trouble. This is so wrong.’ When you feel that, you’ve got to stay there. You absolutely have to. That’s where all the interesting stuff happens.”
— Chris Beresford-Hill
Chris Beresford-Hill is one of the most sought-after creative leaders in advertising and has led brands with a combined market cap of over $1 trillion. He was recently named Chief Creative Officer of the Americas at BBDO Worldwide.
Previously, Chris served as North America President and Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy and Chief Creative Officer at TBWAChiatDay. His work for clients like Guinness, Mtn Dew, Dove, Workday, Adidas, FedEx, McDonalds, HBO, and Foot Locker has driven sales while putting dent after dent into pop culture.
Chris and his teams have won every award for creativity and effectiveness many times over, including five campaigns in the permanent collection at MoMA. He has been named to Adweek ’s list of best creatives — Adweek ’s Creative 100 — Business Insider ’s Most Creative People in Advertising, and the Ad Age 40 Under 40, back when he was under 40.
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Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Podcast Addict , Pocket Casts , Castbox , Google Podcasts , Amazon Music , or on your favorite podcast platform . Watch the interview on YouTube here .
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#715: Chris Beresford-Hill — A Master Ad Man on Superbowl Confessions, How to Come Up with Great Ideas, Cold Emailing Mark Cuban, Doing Naughty Things, Poetic Mind Control, Creative Process and Insider Tips, How to Negotiate with Bosses and Clients, and The Power of a Stolen Snickers
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Want to hear another episode with someone who sells for profit and fun? Listen to my conversation with domain broker Andrew Rosener in which we discussed securing brand identity, negotiating equity, a potential digital real estate boom, avoiding attraction to unnecessary pain, domain investors vs. domain squatters, the impact of AI on the domain industry and SEO business, and much more .
#711: Andrew Rosener — Becoming The Hokkaido Scallop King, Leasing Blue Chip URLs, Life Tenets from Charlie Tuna, Selling 8-Figure Domains, and More
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments .
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Chris Beresford-Hill :
LinkedIn
BBDO Worldwide
Modernista! | Wikipedia
Timeline: The Rise, Fall, and Return of the Hummer | Visual Capitalist
The Dallas Mavericks
TBWAChiatDay
A Safe Place For Brave Ideas | Arnold
How to Increase Your Luck Surface Area | Codus Operandi
The Media Business: Advertising; Volkswagen Campaign Presents Driving as a Metaphor for Life | The New York Times
Volkswagen Da Da Da Commercial Spot | The Ad Club
Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples | Amazon
A Father Teaches His Son the Secret of Creativity | Muse by Clio
Universal Studios Hollywood
Psycho | Prime Video
Back to the Future | Prime Video
The Ultimate ‘Back to the Future’ Filming Locations Map | L.A. Curbed
Jaws | Prime Video
Timeshares, Vacation Clubs, and Related Scams | Consumer Advice
My New York Knicks: Comparing the 1993 Knicks to the Knicks of Today | Bleacher Report
Purchase College | SUNY
Comics and Graphic Novels | Image Comics
Youngblood | Image Comics Database
New York Comic Con
Dave Matthews Band
It’s the Simple Things: How to Aim in Golf | The Left Rough
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Got Milk?
Hummer Ads: A Trip Down Memory Lane at $4 a Gallon | Daily KOS
The Origin of Super Bowl Ads — And How They Conquered the Game | Time
The Essential Robert Goulet | Amazon Music
Fatboy Slim ft. Bootsy Collins: Weapon Of Choice [Official 4k Video] | YouTube
Rocky | Prime Video
An Oral History of Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like | Creative Review
Henry Ford, Innovation, and That “Faster Horse” Quote | Harvard Business Review
Kevin Kelly — Excellent Advice for Living | The Tim Ferriss Show #669
Emerald Nuts: Boogeyman | Ad Age
Gild the Lily Idiom | Grammarist
“I Drink Your Milkshake!” Clip | There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood | Prime Video
Russell Crowe Accused of Assault With Hotel Phone | The New York Times
Cast Away | Prime Video
The Shining | Prime Video
‘The Shining’: Bryan Cranston Stars in Mountain Dew Commercial | Rolling Stone
The Harvard Lampoon
Iconic Ads: iPod “1,000 Songs in Your Pocket” | Point of View
“Where’s the Beef?” The Story of the Most Famous Slogan Ever | Better Marketing
The Shoe Surgeon
Adidas: Billie Jean King Your Shoes | Clios
A Short History of Napster | Lifewire
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Advertising by Luke Sullivan | Amazon
The Making of South Park: 6 Days to Air | Prime Video
Boardomatics | Milowerx Media
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster | Netflix
Metallica by Metallica | Amazon Music
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop | Prime Video
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott | Amazon
Anne Lamott on Taming Your Inner Critic, Finding Grace, and Prayer | The Tim Ferriss Show #522
Progress Over Perfection | Tone House
Dog Tips and Training with Tim Ferriss | YouTube
Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking Without Willpower by Allen Carr | Amazon
The Easy Way to Quit Caffeine: Live a Healthier, Happier Life by Allen Carr | Amazon
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle | Amazon
Conan Learns Korean And Makes It Weird | TBS
Levels of the Game by John McPhee | Amazon
Balthazar Restaurant New York
“Always Be Closing” Clip | Glengarry Glen Ross
Glengarry Glen Ross | Prime Video
Message on a Bottle: The Story Behind Dr. Bronner’s Soaps | Dieline
Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Liquid Soap (Baby, Unscented) | Amazon
Derren Brown: The Push | Netflix
Derren Brown: Miracle | Netflix
Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Dr. Frank Luntz | Amazon
Republicans Say ‘Death Tax’ While Democrats Say ‘Estate Tax’ | Business Insider
Modell’s Sporting Goods
DimeMag | UPROXX
Foot Locker Commercial with Mike Tyson, Dennis Rodman, Brett Favre | TYT Sports
Guinness Wheelchair Basketball Commercial Breaks the Beer Industry Stereotype | Slate
SHOW NOTES
Editor’s Note: Timestamps will be added shortly.
How Chris landed his first job with the help of Mark Cuban.
Lessons learned from first boss Lance Jensen.
Writing cold emails that work.
What Chris’s dad taught him about workarounds.
A golf strategy that inspired Super Bowl aspirations.
Good taste and the Modernista style.
Portfolio building.
How Chris landed his first Super Bowl ad.
Editing and expectations.
Critical acclaim.
Working with BBDO’s David Lubars.
Working fast and resisting the urge to “gild the lily.”
Shining a light on the Super Bowl LIV Mountain Dew commercial.
The value of the vaguely naughty mindset.
Making less more with Tor Myhren.
The Adidas/Billie Jean King gambit.
A Napster campaign crashes.
Creative industry-related reading and viewing.
Overcoming creative roadblocks.
What Chris does in lieu of meditation.
Books and videos that save lives and inspire curiosity.
Best investments of less than $100.
Capturing and saving good ideas for later.
What words are worth.
If the idea is good enough, there’s always more money.
Give Chris a Foot Locker and he’ll take a mile.
An ego check.
Chris’s billboard.
Parting thoughts.
MORE CHRIS BERESFORD-HILL QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW
“I’m not here to do what the plan is today. I’m here to see what’s possible.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“The best ideas are when you’re like, ‘We can never do this. We’re going to get in big trouble. This is so wrong.’ When you feel that, you’ve got to stay there. You absolutely have to. That’s where all the interesting stuff happens.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“Another lesson — certainly in advertising, but anywhere — is the more ground you can cover in a room, the better because you start further ahead than if you constantly come together, and split off, and come together, and split off.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“The best gift you can ever get is a first boss that has great taste or high standards.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“It just felt like I was able to create the life of my dreams, even if the day-to-day reality didn’t totally match it. And that was fine by me.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“This is not the kind of idea that gets green-lit. I had a stolen Snickers in my pocket, and I wanted out of that store.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“I liked my climb. I liked working my way up slowly and learning my craft and not doing something that might’ve made me very sought after and might’ve gotten me a bigger, better job faster. So it was a heartache, but it put me right on the path that I needed to have, which was the long path.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
“If the idea is good enough, there’s always more money.” — Chris Beresford-Hill
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Mark Cuban
Lance Jensen
John Caples
Cinderella
John Starks
Anthony Mason
Charles Oakley
Patrick Ewing
Marv Albert
Michael Jordan
Todd McFarlane
Rob Liefeld
Deadpool
Jim Lee
Stan Lee
Jeff Goodby
Rich Silverstein
Rick Rubin
Steve Simpson
Matt Herman
David Fincher
Peter Farrelly
Bobby Farrelly
Kaws
Robert Goulet
Fatboy Slim
Spike Jonze
Christopher Walken
Andrew Burke
Mickey Goldmill
Craig Allen
Eric Kallman
Henry Ford
Kevin Kelly
The Perlorian Brothers
Vera Goulet
Ian McKenzie
Bob Garfield
Gene Siskel
Roger Ebert
David Lubars
Amy Ferguson
Julia Neumann
Daniel Day-Lewis
Will Ferrell
Nicole Jones
Greg Lyons
Russell Crowe
Bryan Cranston
Tracee Ellis Ross
Tor Myhren
Billie Jean King
Ricardo Franco
Nancy Reyes
Bill Burr
Luke Sullivan
Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Lars Ulrich
James Hetfield
Conan O’Brien
Arthur Ashe
Alfred Hitchcock
Alonzo Wilson
Molly Ferriss
Allen Carr
Daniel Coyle
John McPhee
Ted Kaczynski
Rob Schwartz
Derren Brown
Frank Luntz
Bill Murray
Rob Reilly
Dan Lucey
Jed Berger
Mike Tyson
Evander Holyfield
Dennis Rodman
Brett Favre
Aaron Rodgers
Kanye West
The post Chris Beresford-Hill — A Master Ad Man on Superbowl Confessions, How to Come Up with Great Ideas, Cold Emailing Mark Cuban, Doing Naughty Things, Poetic Mind Control, Creative Process and Insider Tips, How to Negotiate with Bosses and Clients, and The Power of a Stolen Snickers (#715) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss .