Like the Beatles? Then you’ll love this episode of the Ideasicle Podcast.

Welcome to the Ideasicle Podcast where Will Burns relentlessly untangles the mysteries of the elusive idea. This episode, Will talks to David Lubars, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO North America, about The Beatles and what we can learn from them as marketers.

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David and Will have known each other a long time. And whenever they get together they always gravitate back to one topic: The Beatles. They’re both big fans, but they also both study the band, admire their creativity and love the ingenuity they consistently presented to the world. They don’t always agree as to which Beatle is the most talented or important, or which song is the best, but they do always have a provocative conversation. During this podcast, David applies the Beatles’ prowess to our marketing lives today.

David’s Bio:
David Lubars is the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO North America. For those not in the ad biz, here’s a run down of David’s storied career. He began his career in 1981.  He has since won every major creative award in the world several times over.  His work has been written about in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business 2.0 and Time, and has appeared on the cover of Archive magazine twice.

He has been named Creative Director of the Year in the trade publication Adweek; his BMW Films was made part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection in New York City and won the first-ever awarded Titanium Lion at Cannes.  He has been the subject of feature stories in New York magazine, Creativity, Archive, Fast Company and American Executive. Before joining BBDO, David was President of Fallon Worldwide and Executive Creative Director of Fallon North America where he oversaw famous work for Citibank and BMW, among others.

Show notes:

  • We begin by discussing what made the Beatles so inspiring.  They were the perfect mix of individuals.
  • Part of the magic of the Beatles was that they put the work first and everything else second. Ad agencies in the beginning can learn from this.
  • Importance of a “good vibe” in creativity.
  • The John vs. Paul discussion.
  • Parallels between the Beatles fanatical perfection as they crafted the songs, and the advertising business in executing great work.
  • Revolver as the most creative album due to its experimentation.
  • Solo they were nothing like the Beatles, and we speculate why.
  • Memories of the Paul McCartney show in NY City 3-4 years ago and how he really sold it.
  • Bob Dylan discussion on his prolific nature early on and how he lost it (or did he?).