Arnold Worldwide

A few years ago, I was reading Mark Pollard, Strategy Friend book on my couch. A few weeks ago, he asked if I’d speak at his Do-Together strategy conference. Last Thursday, I led a session at the Sweathead Do-Together in NYC called “Tension Mapping: Making Sense of the Nonsensical.” Surreal! We explored how all the nonsensical, contradictory, irrational things people do can lead to the most interesting points of tension in our work. Think: self-soothing with serial killers. No makeup makeup. Buying “quiet luxury” to flex. Fearing debt more than death. A huge thank you to everyone who showed up (both IRL and virtually), leaned in, and even played along with my bingo game (!!) — you made the room feel genuinely collaborative. And a special thank you to the Sweathead team for creating a space where strategists (and aspiring strategists) can show up and learn together.

What happens when you have a #BrilliantlyBoring brand and a fantastic partner in the Dallas Stars? Well naturally you open a Mane St. Branch on #PNCPlazaDallas to celebrate PNC’s commitment to long-term growth via an ode to hockey hair! So proud of the creativity and hard work that went into bringing this activation to life. Can’t wait to share more updates from the Mane St. Branch tonight and Thursday night - stay tuned for more flowing locks! Shout out to #TeamPNC Arnold Worldwide Dallas Stars Dresdyn Hefferen Amy Farrell Jenna Yanchik Dan Knopp Brendan McGuire Cari Hensley Kelby Krauss Alexander Overstrom Todd Barnhart Jeffrey Martinez Tim Rice Amber Scanlan, MBA Bob Schukai

Stopped by NBC 5 today to talk about PNC’s “Mane Street Branch” activation and the connection between banking and hockey hair (yes hockey hair) :) Thank you Dallas Stars for your partnership and #TeamPNC for bringing this first-of-a-kind idea to life. We are 12 days away from the BIG build on #PNCPlaza. Amber Scanlan, MBA Cari Hensley Jenn Garbach Amy Farrell Jenna Yanchik Dan Knopp

From new AI tools at our fingertips to rising expectations in the boardroom, the advertising industry is staring down the barrel of the Era of Short-Termism. At StratFest, I joined fellow members of the 4As Strategy Committee to moderate a session on building the Strategist’s Survival Toolkit. Over 400 strategists debated how to navigate this new reality — protecting quality from speed and ensuring our work still moves business forward. Afew takeaways that stuck with me: 💡 Our role hasn’t changed, but our tools have. Now more than ever, strategists have to be the representation of what’s real in the room. 🌱 It’s time to get back to living off the land. Six-week discovery phases can now be done in six hours. Six-figure focus groups are being replaced by synthetic personas. We need to get scrappy again. Talk to real people, walk in their shoes, and keep our instincts sharp. 🤖 AI isn’t an adversary; it’s an enabler. Used well, it helps us learn faster, identify the obvious ways in, and find conviction with pace. 🧭 We’re still the stewards of quality inputs. Whether it’s prompting in discovery, framing provocative problems, or grounding work in marketing-effectiveness principles, it’s on us to create the conditions for distinct, resonant, memorable ideas. ⏳Attention spans aren’t shrinking, but patience for crap content is. When feeds are full of AI slop, deepfakes, and hot takes, powerful insights still cut through and drive action. ⚡️Shortcuts are tempting & perspective is essential. Our job isn’t to chase quick wins. It’s to help our clients build brands that grow with intention and endure. Huge thanks to Andy Goldsmith and Christopher Owens for the opportunity to help lead this conversation. Here’s to the strategists playing the long game, even when everything around us is built for short ones.