Luz Corona is a seasoned media and marketing leader whose career spans agency execution, brand storytelling, and industry journalism. She began in digital media planning before moving into content production, where she led large-scale, multicultural campaigns for brands like Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta. She later transitioned into editorial at Adweek, where she shaped industry conversations through its Voice section, launched DEI-focused content initiatives, and co-hosted its flagship podcast. Now, as U.S. Editor of Campaign, Luz brings a unique operator-meets-editor perspective, using her deep understanding of both brand-building and cultural nuance to elevate the voices and stories shaping modern marketing.
Luz Corona sits at the center of the advertising industry, covering the brands and agencies shaping culture. Beyond managing headlines, she’s also leading must-hear conversations with the industry’s top voices as a host of Campaign US’s Campaign Chemistry podcast.
In this episode of Question Everything, Luz breaks down what it takes to land on Campaign’s Agency of the Year list, who’s really making an impact on DEI in marketing, and how to get out of the inbox and into the headlines.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Question Everything, a podcast all about learning from the successes and the failures of those who dare to, well, question everything. This podcast is part interview, part therapy, and part Price is Right. We have our own game board stacked with questions that'll make even the most successful CMOs sweat. I'm your host, Ashley. I sit down with Luz Corona, editor at Campaign US, known for being tough but fair. On the industry's top happenings and running the highly coveted campaign agency of the year awards on this episode, you'll learn what immediately sends your pitch to the trash. Four things every winning agency has in their award submissions. Why Luz thinks the industry is in its indie era. And the one thing we all really want to know, do Ad Age, Adweek, and Campaign really get along?
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So delete that draft and prepare to start from scratch. Luz is running a masterclass on how to win big with the press. Luz Corona is a seasoned media and marketing leader whose career spans agency execution, brand storytelling, and advertising journalism. Now the U.S. She brings an operator, meets editor, lens pairing, deep industry experience, and cultural insight to elevate the story shaping modern marketing. She's also one of the hosts of the Campaign Chemistry podcast. Previously, Luz was a community editor at Adweek, where she led DE &I initiatives and co-hosted its flagship podcast. Before that, she worked in media buying and content supporting brands like Coca-Cola, JPMorgan Chase, and General Mills. Always the host, rarely the subject, we're excited to finally put Luz Corona in the spotlight. Luz, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much, Ashley. I'm going to need you to intro me when I come into any room, I think, from now on. That was great. I will be your hype girl. I am so excited for this. I've been anticipating this conversation for so long. You're always on the other side of the mic. How does it feel to be on this side? Pretty nerve-wracking, but I hope I can do you guys proud. Oh, I have no worries. Now, tomorrow's a big day. It is. It is. A lot of things go away. What's happening? What's the big event tomorrow? I'll be in New York. My flight's at 7 a. m., so I'll be at the airport probably at 4, I guess. Amazing. But I'll see you tomorrow night.
We will have a good time. It'll be worth it. Tomorrow is our Agency of the Year Awards. Always a really fun festive night. So we're just getting ready, putting the final touches on the write-ups and everything going live after the show. So yeah, it'll be a good night. Congratulations. The competition this year is so fierce. Do you feel that? Like in every category, it's like stacked. Yeah, when I saw the shortlist and the finalists, I was like, 'Whoa!' Like it was really great to see. And we introduced nine new categories this year, too, because the landscape is changing so much. So I'm excited for those winners to also emerge. That's great. And one thing that I think sets your award apart that's different than some of the others are the judges.
Can you speak a little bit about that whole process? Yeah, for sure. So what I love about how we judge at campaign is there's a jury of esteemed marketers. I mean, for our honorific. Like 40 over 40 and inspiring women, it's past honorees. Uh, but for agency of the year, it's top brand marketers. I mean, I don't think we had anyone under SVP. It was like SVP, a lot of CMOs across different brands across different verticals. Uh, and they are tasked with, you know, first doing a first round, looking online, kind of putting their scores in there. And then, this year, we did a virtual, live judging to finalize, you know, the finalists. So cool. Well, I can say as past winners, past standout agency, the award means a lot to us.
It means a lot to the industry. So thanks for all you do. To support all of us out there. Yeah, no, thank you. I know it's a little, like, I have to say, it's funny because I know we're one of the few awards that doesn't tell agencies in advance, and we're getting the texts, we're getting the emails, like, can you tell us, you know, things like that. But, you know, just being in the room the night of, and see people genuinely surprised when their name is called makes it so worth it. You know, if you think about like can awards or things like that, people don't know in advance, you know, if they're getting it. So the surprise element is so worth it. Love that. Okay.
I didn't even text you or call you or ask. So I feel like I'm. I'm winning there. I did ask you to come on the podcast, though. Totally fine. I'll take it all right. Well, you know how this show works. I've got 12 questions. I've got a game board. You don't know what's behind each of the numbers. The power is totally in your hands. We'll pull up the game board now, and then you can tell us which number you want to go to. First, number eight. Okay. I know there's some psychology behind numbers here. One day, I'm going to do a study in it, I swear. All right. So I'm curious about this. You know, a big group of listeners we have are actually client-side.
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And so I'm curious, from your perspective, from like a journalist perspective and a press perspective, is great creative on its own enough to win awards, win press without sharing the business results? And why do you think CMOs should be a bit more vocal about sharing some of their biggest wins? Well, I think, yes, I think great creative can be strong enough, even if it's like without the business results. Just because of the innovation out there, I mean, strong creative will always be inspiring and might spark inspiration to other creatives, you know, and things like that. It's sometimes, obviously, today, it's all about, I know some people hate the performance marketing, either you love it or you hate it, the term.
But, you know, it's all about like the business results and things like that, of course, because marketing budgets have kind of plateaued, right? So everybody has to make sure that they're really. Contributing to the bottom line, but there are just some executions out there that just hit the nail on the head when it comes to understanding consumers, and just having something fun and like it could totally be more for a brand awareness play, and that still counts. You know. And then. The second one, what was the latter question I had? Just, should CMOs, you know, be willing, do you think, to share more? I mean, we hear a lot like we don't want to spill our secrets. We don't want people to know like. Here's your take on the press side of it.
There's real benefit to sharing the work and sharing your stories. What do you say to them? I completely agree. I mean, I think we could all learn from each other. One thing that I wish CMOs would be a little more honest about is just the failures and the lessons learned. I think that's really incredibly self-aware and just kind of be like, 'Look, we tried this. It didn't work.' Uh, we've learned for next time, and maybe, if there's a successful campaign after that, they can talk about the one that was before that didn't really work out. But uh, I think just being a little bit more honest about the failures because every brand has them, you know. Um, so that, I would love to see, but yes, CMOs can always learn from each other.
That's great. I had a guest on the show, Kelly Leonard. He's really high up at Second City. I love improv. He told me a story of how he had a really big failure, it was well written, and he actually printed it off, hung it up in his office, and stared at it all the time as a reminder. And he's like, 'People care actually more about your failures than they do your successes.' And so I always thought that was really fascinating. But that's great advice. I think it's hard sometimes for CMOs to be vulnerable. I think the position is very volatile. I don't even know what the average tenure is anymore, but it feels like it's just constantly dropping— 18 months, maybe, maybe less now.
And so maybe that could be in part why they're not as willing to share. For sure. And I think also, I mean, CMOs now it's like, you know, the term that's going around is CMO plus, you know, and everybody has, it's not just that role that was like, even like two or three years ago, you know, like either you're a chief brand and marketing officer or you're a chief growth officer or we're seeing CMOs go up to president roles or CEO roles now. So there's such a wealth of expertise to be shared there, good and bad. Yeah. Yeah. Good. CMO plus. I like that. I'll see you start saying that on LinkedIn, I bet. Thank you. All right, let's go back to the board. Okay. I'm going to go with an odd number.
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No way. Number five. Shocked. What is one conversation you think the industry should be having right now, but it isn't? Are we okay? Sometimes I really wonder if we are all okay. Like with, you know, I'm just thinking about it. I'm like, surely it can't just be on the journey. Or press side, you know, that we're seeing the news and things like that, that, you know, feeling certain way some days. But there's so much turmoil going on now. And not to like even, you know, hype up the headlines or any like kind of like clickbait kind of thing. I really think there's genuinely a lot of change. We've seen the layoffs. Um, AI is coming into play, you know, and people are genuinely like excited and scared about it if it kind of takes off too fast or gets in the wrong hands.
So, you know, with all the and not to get like political but just a lot going on in the outside world right now that I wonder. Obviously, advertising is great. I love advertising. Every spot, every out of home billboard, you know, things like that. But there are moments where it's just like, 'Okay, but this— the world is burning down outside or you know, maybe personal life got a little crazy one week over the other, and it's just—I don't know if we're asking each other enough. Like, are we okay? Hmm. That's a very profound question. I like that. And I mean, as an employee and a friend. We do need to ask each other that more. But then I put on my employer hat. And what are employers doing?
To go above and beyond and make sure their people feel supported and taken care of and have space to think and be and, you know, get their hands dirty and be in the community and do all of those other aspects that make them a whole human. Have you heard anything on your end of how, like, agencies are kind of stepping up right now or anything come to mind like that? Yeah, I think the ones that kind of stand out to me are the leaders, such as yourself— just being super conscious of it, you know, and just um being flexible at the same time, you know, it's completely understandable. Leaders are in the position that they are because they are tasked with driving business growth, right?
So you have to make sure the bottom line is doing well. But I think with that, it's also making sure the people are OK. So I think flexibility is a big one there. Obviously, then, you see the other end of the spectrum where the RTO mandates are coming in, and that's all fine too, you know, we did it once before, and it just depends on the business and what's a good fit. But I think with that, probably flexibility would be. would be ideal. And I see it across, I guess, more indie agencies. Yeah. Agreed. Yeah, I hate the phrase. I'm sure you hear this a lot too, like we got to return back to normal. Yeah, what is normal? And was what we were doing before 2020 normal?
I don't think so. No, it was like at a tipping point. I just feel like. We're kind of, I mean we're getting real existential, but I feel like we're getting back to how things were before the pandemic in terms of like burnout and just like running a million miles an hour without stopping to catch our breath, you know, like mentally. And the pandemic forced everyone to kind of slow down. Adapt to working from home and things like that, and it's almost like that's It's like we didn't really learn our lesson, you know, but. Yeah, crazy times. I remember going to work like three days before I gave birth to my first kid, like just waddling down the subway steps. And that was like normal.
And maybe that is again now, but it's just kind of crazy to think about. Yeah. And does it have to be? Like surely we've come. A long enough way to not have to do some of those crazy things that we used to have to do. Well, and I think just going back to the generational question, I think these younger generations aren't even going to accept it— they're not going to allow it. I mean, it'll be really interesting to see what the workforce looks like in a few years with more influence from them. Yeah, 100%. And you know what, something that my husband and I realized, because he's also agency side, and that's where we met. But remember, do you remember the days when we didn't have laptops? We just had desktop stations?
Because I remember, I'm like, 'No, a sick day meant a sick day.' Like, we couldn't bring our work home with us or anything like that. There was like. Just even from the parameters in place, we weren't able to. Force our way through sickness and still work, you know. But things are different now. Everything you can work from your phone, from your laptop. So yeah, it's just a different landscape now. I used to bring sweatpants to the office and put them in my desk drawer. So like, at six o'clock, I could put sweatpants on at least at the office because I knew I'd be there really late. So smart. So smart— or really stupid. I don't know. Maybe I should have just gone home. Who knows? All right, let's go back to the board.
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All right. Okay. There is a science to numbers because I'm being drawn to number 11. Okay, let's see. Okay. Campaign US just dropped its 2026 leading women list. Why does this list matter? And what can the rest of us learn from the women on it? You know, I think I immediately think of just some of the talk tracks I've heard over the years, even when I was at Adweek and we had like our women trailblazers list and, you know, people say, 'Well, like, why does it have to be women trailblazers? Why can't it be that?' I think maybe it's a hot take, but, you know, the women in the workplace, we're not exactly advancing, you know, like just following the pandemic, following now with the RTO mandates coming back and layoffs.
I mean, we've seen the statistics. Women are being impacted by all of this. So it's still important to champion these trailblazers that are really making a difference in the industry and getting recognized for it because recognition also isn't always there. The categories. I mean, I always get really excited. The vibes and the inspiring women room are just so fun and celebratory, everyone's hyping each other up the walk-up songs. You know it's just— and it's also— they um, you have the option to bring your kid because it's Bring Your Kids to Work Day, so they can see, you know, mom up there doing her thing, you know, having a good home life and work life, you know, like killing it in both places. But I think it's important because there's also different categories.
You know, it's women breaking barriers in media and technology, which is a male-dominated space, you know, it's not. It's not like these are all kind of equally created spaces. So it's so important to champion the people that are paving the way for the next few generations. That's great. Well, you said a lot of the things I would have followed up with. I think, just like in looking at the list, a lot of the commonalities, a lot of these women are in male-dominated fields. They're innovating. They're bringing just like new, interesting things to market and ways of working. Just kudos to you guys for continuing to recognize them and bring their stories to the forefront. I think it's awesome and very inspiring for me as a woman to read about them and connect with them online as well.
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Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it's always like just a really inspiring event from inspiring women. Thank you. Awesome. All right, let's go back to the board. I am going to go with number one. All right, behind number one, how is the industry really doing on diversity and representation? Are we making progress or are we just talking about it more? What do you think still needs to change? So this is a good question. I think. I think we are advancing. Look, the conversation is still very much active. If the conversation was dimming down, you know, quieting down, or dimming. I would be more worried, but the fact is— ever since you know, kind of the last social reckoning that we had over the pandemic— these conversations really rose to the surface.
They're still very much there, from based on what we all saw and what we all heard and witnessed. But there's definitely still more ways to go. I think the conversation is advancing, but I don't think it is advancing as fast as it was a couple of years ago. It's definitely scaled back. And this is, you know, to marginalize communities. Um, so I think the conversation is advancing, just not as fast. And there was a really great op-ed on Campaign. I think we made it free because it's like impact-related anything, DEI-related, we you know put in front of the paywall. Don't tell my bosses—I told you. Um, uh. So with that, it was kind of like a post-2020, I believe it was someone from Duncan Shannon, sorry, mentioning another agency on here, but great.
Oh, we love agencies. Yeah. And it was, you know, kind of a post-2020 reflection, what worked and what do we still need to do? And it was just a really great piece. Recommend everyone to take a look. And you know, just kind of what I just said is based on that the conversation is advancing. Yes, we made a little progress, but there's still ways to go. I have hope though in just seeing the initiatives that some brands are doing, like a brand like Lush is so inspiring, just kind of like when, and also, you know, our multicultural agency of the year. I don't know. I should say, but I was just reading well, this will come out, but confidential. It's Alma as the multicultural agency of the year.
And they're a good example because, you know, and you'll see in their write-up. They won some general market pitches and then added multicultural to it. So it just goes to show that some of these agencies and brands are thinking. Multicultural is mainstream because it is, you know, and kind of looking at you, see it in the results, you see it in the business wins. So I have hope when I see things like that, when so many things feel like it could be going against the grain because of, you know, the narrative coming from the administration, then you see, like, other marketers and agencies going against the grain. And just doing what feels right. That's incredible. Well, congratulations to Alma. I can't wait to read their write-up.
And I had Pedro Lerma on the podcast not that long ago, and he said some very similar things to me. And he's seeing some of those reactions in his business as well, where it doesn't have to start multicultural. But bringing a multicultural lens to it is a good business decision as well. I just think the more agencies can start thinking like that, the better. From a brand side, are you seeing, you mentioned Lush, like what specifically are they doing or what's inspiring about them? So with Lush, you know, it's their brand pillars that they are, you know, a brand that's all about advocacy and inclusion and using their platform to drive messaging to be more inclusive in the world, so they live it.
You know that's the big difference between Lush and, like, say, other brands. I don't want to bash any brands, but uh, with Lush, you know, they even— you would think they're just like a bath bomb brand, right? Not just a bath bomb brand, like they use, you know, an example is like, they and whether you know agree with it or not, but they use their storefronts to um. So a recent one, you know, we've covered, Julia Walker has covered a couple of their, you know, initiatives, but I think it was when there was something with Governor Newsom and, you know, they kind of rebutted that they did something. I can't remember the specifics.
And then, most recently, they took a stand against the anti-immigration sentiment, you know, and just created, I believe, bath bombs like in honor of that. You know, maybe it's just a bath bomb, but really it's about a brand with a platform that's not afraid to. Be inclusive and speak its mind. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. We'll link to those articles too that you mentioned so everybody has access to them on your website. Awesome. Well, I think it's a really important conversation. And obviously, it's an area that you have studied and have a personal passion in and have for a while. Yeah, it definitely gives hope, you know, especially in this past year with the anti-immigration sentiment. Like, I'm a child of immigrants, so it's hard to read the news and not feel a certain way—something that could have been me 30 years ago.
You know, like our doors being banged down on, and we, I guess, just got lucky because of the time. You know, that we weaponized, but um, is it luck? You know, it just should be like just basic human rights. But anyway, without getting too political or existential. I think it's really important for these brands and these agencies to keep doing what they're doing and just not be afraid and be unapologetic about what they stand for. Hmm, yeah. Great advice. Alright, I don't know where you're going next. I can't even predict. Let's see. Thank you. Okay. I'm going to go for number 10 for Leo Messi. My kids love Leo Messi. Awesome. All right. Here's a hot question: Do the three ad press giants actually get along? In what way?
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You guys are stirring the pot. Just a little. I love it. No, that's a great question. I will say in short, yes. You know, we run into each other at events. It's not like we give each other the side eye or we're going to do a dance off, you know, or anything like that. We, we, you know, we know the reporters at Ad Age. Obviously, I know the reporters at Ad Week. You know, we look at what each other is bringing to the table, which I think is very different across all three. And I'm just going to name, like, Ad Age and Ad Week as our, you know, the top two. No offense to the other ones. You know, obviously I read Digiday and all the other ones.
Um, but yeah, we do in short, we do. I see us also like we kind of give each other flowers when there's like a good exclusive or things like that. But grudgingly, you know, sometimes like it depends on who it is and I remember like some of my former colleagues at Adweek have gotten some great high-profile interviews. So why wouldn't I? Shout you know, Rebecca Stewart out for getting a cool interview with Colin Jost, you know, and things like that. So it's um yeah, I'd say we all respect each other, uh, when we see each other in the room, and I'll leave it at that. That's great. I mean, I would, you could, I can relate it to The ad agency side, you know, it's highly competitive, but we're also very supportive of each other.
I think we're all very giving of our time and our opinions and our connections and things like that as well. I've had many agency folks on the podcast, actually, and I'm inspired by them. And I think they have fascinating stories. But we also pitch against each other, which is wild. But that's what makes this industry so fun, I think, too, is the people. Yeah, no, I love that. When I first found out a couple of years ago, when I was at Adweek, how um supportive indie agencies were to each other, like whether they were just starting out or you know, a couple decades down the line, uh that really took me by surprise and also gave me hope that uh for the industry, just a camaraderie there, um even though you are pitching against each other, but uh I do love that part of indie agencies, same, same.
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Alright, let's go back to the board. Thank you. Yeah, make it my way. You've got two on each line here. I don't know. Okay. I'm going to go with. Number seven. Okay. Let's go number seven. What emerging trends stood out in campaign U.S. Agency of the Year entries, and which ones do agencies need to jump on now to stay relevant? So I can speak to the things that really made the applications stand out for the winners. Cause trends, I think it's in line with what we're seeing and what we talk about, but I will say the winners. The finalists who ended up getting like top honors had a nice mix of creative work and business results. Like at least in the judging group that I kind of popped my head in and was moderating.
The business results were really important. Now, it depends on the judge, right? Like they're uh, there were a couple, you know, there were some judges that look at talent retention. You know, you may have like a solid list of client wins, doing great, but did you lose half your people because you're burning them out? You know, like the numbers speak for themselves. So um, I will say the ones that rose to the top were good creative work. You know, if there was a sizzle reel in there, obviously always helps. Strong performance, strong client testimonials, you know. There were some client testimonials in there that were like, ok, you are not just phoning it in. You really work hand in hand with this agency, and it shows in the work and the business.' So, yeah, I would say those, then talent retention, and internal culture, and key hires— you know, where they came from, and what impact they have had on the business.
So all the wins, I guess, yeah, yeah, that's great, okay. So creative results, retention, client testimonials— that's four key things that every winning entry has to have. That's good. And also, I know that folks use AI for support, but the judges could tell that, you know, when there was like completely. You know obviously comms teams are so much smaller now, too, you know so we understand that part so if it's like a good mix like if you check all the boxes that we just mentioned and you needed a little boost from AI, fine, like we're seeing it. But yeah, I would say those are the key things that should be included. So what do you do? Does it like get vetoed if it was clear?
No, I think we can just tell like, okay, they popped a couple of things in. I don't know. It needs to still have like kind of a human element because that's what this industry is, right? Like if there's a comms person there that's able to inject life in it, you know, it gets you excited about the work rather than just like listing. Numbers and things like that. So I say that always helps. Okay. All right. Great advice for next year. Yeah. All right, let's go back to the board. I think we have time for two more. Your game. All right, let's do it. Okay, I'm gonna go for number three is calling me. Hmm. Number three, what does it actually take for a new campaign to break through in the press and what do you think are missing in most pitches?
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Great question. Great question. Um, there are pitches that come in where we're like, 'How did they think of that?' You know, and that's when we get excited. We're like, 'Okay, we got to figure out a way to cover this or at least, you know, if anything, we'll include it in a roundup.' Um, but those are the pitches that get us excited. And the pitches that have that, I would say, are the ones that are. Tapping into culture, I know we've heard this so much— but if it's, if it's like, just kind of like a genius play, like capitalizing on you know some chatter, and it shows the brand was able to move fast, they have the right people in place, they have like a flexible, agile model, and they were able to get it going.
And those are the ones that you end up seeing, you know, win the awards. But uh, so those, you know, those always kind of make us chuckle, and we always want to do that. Um, I think when there are campaigns that— quote unquote—hack platforms or kind of conversation and kind of own it. Those are always good too. Um, I'm trying to think of a good example. I can really only think of like the ones that we've all talked about for a couple of years, but uh, I'm trying to think Spotify, you know, spread beats with FCB. I mean, that could have just been like a regular, as a media buyer, that campaign really. Spoke to me as a former media buyer, because those Excel sheets will make you want to rip your hair out sometimes of the media plans.
And then they found a way to make it interesting. And they kind of hacked like Spotify's technology to do it. They worked with them. So those are always, I think, those are super smart and worth covering if we can. So, yeah, I think ones that are really strategic, not performative, obviously, it's in line, you know, with what you stand for, those are always great. I think what pitches are missing these days. And, you know, it's, it's tough, right? Small comms teams are blasting out these emails, like we totally get it. But I think it always helps to put, you know, why our readers should care. Sometimes we get pitches, and it's like, it's, you don't read our site, you know, because you would know that we don't cover this kind of stuff.
And what is that? Like an easy example could be like a new product that comes out that doesn't have to do with marketing, like if it's like a new toy that came out as part of like a TV show, things like that. You know, unless it's like a McDonald's Happy Meal, you know, where that was clearly the marketing team was involved. Like those are things that we're just not going to cover. So I think, you know, just knowing the reader base and just knowing what campaign typically covers and. Putting in there why it would matter to our readers, I think, is always helpful, and it doesn't always have that. And then I think. What? Some pitches are missing, or just kind of that makes us want to like rip our hair out— also is if they're incomplete or too early.
Like, I think it's totally understandable when you know comp teams want to be like, 'Hey, we have something cool coming out—like, you know, just a heads up' and that's fine. You know, just kind of like it might leave our brains in an hour, but okay. Thank you so much for the heads up. Like, you thought of us, you took the time, the one minute to like write this email, and give us a heads up. Well, yeah, giving you a heads up, I think is interesting. What's too early for a heads up? Is that like a week before, or how early do you want it? I think if the creative isn't final, okay. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's true. Yeah, it could be really infuriating because, like, you know, say this has happened a couple of times.
It's not to call anybody out across a variety of like agency teams. You know, comms teams, but we'll just get like, you know, an email and be like, hey, you know, this is happening like this weekend, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, okay. Who's the agency that worked behind us? What's the creative look like? Are you going to be blasting this out on, you know, the streamers this weekend? Like, those are the key details. Like, a lot of the time it's just incomplete. It's just like, okay, yes, you're excited because you were there, you know, in the room, but we need to know the details. So I think. If there isn't final creative, or if details aren't really ready to be shared—um, it kind of makes us lose a little bit of trust too in the comps teams, you know, because we're a lean team.
We're very intentional about what we cover, why we cover it, why we think our readers would care or should know about XYZ. Um and if we can't get to it, we look to our freelancers. You know, who would be the best freelancer to write about this, based on their expertise. So we really put thought into it. So then, when we get those pitches that don't make complete sense or they're really incomplete—um, you know, it could be like a little bit frustrating. Yeah, that makes sense. So when a pitch has everything— when it's got you know, headline and it's got the creative, and they've sent you the credits and you know, they've thought of every question— and you still don't cover it. Is it because you guys just don't like the creative?
Or it could be a variety of reasons. You know, sometimes we're just stretched so thin, you know, and it's not like great. But I'm just being honest. You know, we just can't dedicate a full write-up to it, but we'll try to. Sometimes we'll. We do our best to respond because, clearly, you know, that was a pitch that how we prefer to receive it was complete. So we do our best to respond and be like. Thanks so much for thinking of us going to pass on it for now. And if people ask why. You know, if we have like a minute where. We're happy to share feedback. Like Leslie, our brand marketing and creativity reporter, she's super direct and honest. And I know that.
Teams are appreciative of it, and it's always in a respectful way, but it's like you know, candidly, this was a miss, or candidly, like this doesn't match up with. You know what the CEO was saying like a couple of weeks ago— things like that. Um, so there's that part. Um, and then it's just about resources, or uh, Link. Simple reasons could be, maybe one of the other campaigns picked it up, you know, or maybe, like, if it's a health campaign, you know, MMM, they might already be on it. So then we'll pick it up or same for PR week or things like that. So it might be, you know, we try to just make the best use of all the resources in Haymarket. And that could be why. Love it.
Well, it's always so thrilling when you see it. Come out into the world. I know I see the comments on LinkedIn, like people sharing it. And it really is such a feel-good feeling because you know, it's recognizing people for their work, and they're feeling celebrated. So it's always like a one-win. Yeah. Awesome.
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All right. Last one. Where do you want to go? Let's go to number six. Okay. Many industry experts think we are in an indie agency era. What do you think? I do think so. I do. And this is like a passion point for us. Obviously, the Holdcos do great work, you know, with the resources they have and things like that. And they're, you know, that's not to, you know, rag on them or anything, but.
Indie agencies you're always rooting for, like the underdog kind of a thing, right? And yes, we're in a kind of golden era of indie agencies, just simply because it's a ripple effect of everything that's gone on in the last year, right? Like with Omnicom's acquisition of IPG, you know, and then there were layoffs, and then those people went off to start off their own shops, you know, and things like that. It's just a natural progression of everything that we've seen. So yeah, I think we are in that era, and it's really cool to see the ones that are really like working hard surfacing to the top, or you see celebrated creatives. And they're like, 'Oh, they're opening.' This up or they're doing that, or I wonder what they're going to do.
So yes, we are in that era, and it's a really cool time. Yeah, I agree. I can tell you from my viewpoint, too. I mean, we're seeing it. We're seeing it in applications. We're seeing it in the types of opportunities coming our way. Like the vibes are high. Culture has never been more important or better. And I'm just super excited to see how we can continue that momentum forward. Because we do believe, I mean, we were kind of started as, can you have a New York type of agency in a Midwest town? Do really great work, but have a really great culture. Because I mean, so much of what I experienced was— you have to sacrifice culture for the work or the work for the culture.
You're either at a boring shop making boring ass work. But you're making a lot of money, and you don't have to work that hard. Or you're selling your soul to the you know to the corporation. But you're making really great work that you're proud of. And like, is there a world in which you can do both? And I think this industry has proved that in fact can happen, which I'm excited to be on this side of that. I know we're cheering for you guys. I was cheering for Hold Coast, too, whoever's listening, but also the agencies. Also, we're hiring. I'm just kidding. All right, my friend, this has been a total blast. We love to end each podcast with a little 'this or that.' So first thing that comes to mind, do not overthink it.
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This is just for fun. Are you ready? I think so. All right, here we go. Okay, writing or podcasting? Podcasting. Okay. Interesting. Hosting a panel or running a jury. Hosting a panel. Okay. Coke or Pepsi? Oh, man. You're really stirring the pot. All right. I'm a Coke girl. We're just getting started. All right. Ad Age or Ad Week. Do I get a pass? I don't know. Do you need one? Okay, I'll say just going back to my alma mater, I guess. But Campaign first. That's right. All right, Chris Hemsworth or Liam Hemsworth? Chris Hemsworth, because I got to interview him. I know you did. I know I saw the photo. Awesome. This was so much fun. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you, Ashley. This was a lot of fun.
It's weird being on this end, but you made it a lot of fun. You did so good. If our listeners want to contact you, what's the best place for them to visit? I'm sending a letter or something. I don't know. By mail, postal, by owl. By mail, don't ship express. No, I would say LinkedIn is good. Email is good. Obviously, I give people permission. A few polite nudges is fine because my inbox just gets buried. But I would say email and LinkedIn are two key ways. Awesome. We'll make sure your LinkedIn is in the show notes for people. All right. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Yes, we'll party then. We will party then. All right. Thank you.
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Lead Guitarist
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