Besides Ads focuses on people in advertising who do remarkable things outside of advertising

Welcome to Besides Ads! A new podcast about people in advertising who do remarkable things outside of advertising.

Things like leading expeditions up Mt. Everest, running a non-profit to help underprivileged teenagers, blogging about advertising every day for 15 years, creating hipster bear traps and NYC tourist lanes, and much more.

Creator and host Marc Hartzman has been an award-winning copywriter/creative director for twenty-five years, but has always kept up with various side projects, including seven published books, a website called WeirdHistorian.com, and his own publishing company that revives obscure public domain titles, CuriousPublications.com. And now, he’s adding this podcast to the list.

Marc was long ago inspired by something Andy Rooney ranted about at the end of 60 Minutes:

“Too many able, creative people have turned their time and talent to selling. Too few are doing the work on which all sales should be based: manufacture. It is not false flattery when I say to people in advertising that there are more interesting, able, and creative people in your business than any other business in America. I urge some of you to get out of the business of selling and into the business of producing… for God’s sake, go MAKE something.”

Those words really stuck with Marc. Throughout his career he’s met others who’ve used their creativity for more than marketing products for giant companies. In Besides Ads, you’ll hear their stories, what motivates them, and how these outside projects feed their creativity and make them even better at their day jobs.

Guests include:

• George Tannenbaum - Creator of the industry’s most read blog, AdAged, former Copy Chief and ECD on IBM at Ogilvy, and current Chief George Officer at GeorgeCo.
• Jeff Greenspan - As an activist artist, Jeff’s projects include tourist lanes in New York City and hipster bear traps in the East Village. Jeff is a former Buzzfeed Chief Creative Officer, and writer and creative director at agencies
• Danielle Skeen – She’s the founder of the Star Boutique, which helps underprivileged teenage girls gain confidence and discover career opportunities. Her non-profit organization gets sponsorships and donations from numerous Fortune 500 companies that provide clothing and training for all who participate. She is also the co-founder of andnoire.com, a company which supports black-owned businesses. Danielle is a Senior Business Development Manager at Microsoft and a former Sr. Account Manager at KBS.
• Robert Anderson - An Executive Creative Director who’s worked all over the world at agencies like Ogilvy, FCB, and Digitas. He’s also a world-class mountain climber who’s reached the highest peaks on six continents—solo— and leads expeditions up Mount Everest.
• Stephie Coplan - An ACD copywriter currently at Liquid Sunshine in LA who, before beginning her career as a copywriter, was a rock star opening for bands like Cake and writing with Lauv, Rachel Platten (“Fight Song”), and other artists.
• Winston Noel - Co-creator and improv actor in the Mission to Zyxx podcast. The podcast has been downloaded more than eight million times and is part of the Maximum Fun network. But by day (and plenty of nights), Winston is an Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy New York.
• Chad O’Connell – CEO and founder of WhisperBidets.com. That’s right—he makes bidets. And after listening, you’ll want one. (I have two in my home.) Chad is also an art director who’s worked at KBS, Ogilvy, 360i, R/GA and other agencies.

And coming soon: Oriel Davis-Lyons, former Droga5 creative director, current creative director at Spotify, and founder of the One Show Portfolio Program for Black Creatives; and Nicole Narváez, cultural artist and children’s book illustrator.

Meet the Besides Ads team:

Marc Hartzman, creator, co-producer, and host: Marc has been writing in the ad industry for more than two decades. In addition to writing a Super Bowl spot ranked by CBS as the 17th best Super Bowl commercial of all time, he’s led dozens of award- winning marketing efforts in the digital space and traditional media for BMW, IBM, Rolls-Royce, Samsung, Windstream, SAP, and more.

James Archer, Co-Producer: James is a freelance podcast producer, audio engineer and sound designer with a passion for narrative-driven storytelling. He is the producer and co-host of The Miami Chronicles: Booby Trap, a true crime documentary series formerly on Terry O’Reilly’s Apostrophe Network, which has been featured in Canada’s Hot Docs International Documentary Festival as well as CBC Radio One’s Podcast Playlist program.

Stephie Coplan, Musician: Stephie is an associate creative director and writer originally from Washington, DC. Her band, Stephie Coplan & The Pedestrians, charted on rock radio in 2012 with their single, “Jerk,” which led to a two-year tour opening for Cake and writing with Lauv, Rachel Platten (“Fight Song”), and more. Her advertising work has been recognized at award shows like Cannes and One Show and in media outlets like the New York Times and the Toronto Star.

Rich Wallace, Art director - Rich has been working in advertising for over 25 years, including 16 at Ogilvy, New York. There, he developed and created campaigns for IBM, American Express, Cisco, Miller Beer, Kodak, Time Warner Cable, NASCAR and Morgan Stanley. His work has been recognized by One Show, Communication Arts, Cannes, Clio, London International Awards, Addy, Graphis, Effie and Webby Awards.