CB Hot Suit Takes: Rosie Brown, Head of Strategy, Kill Boring Dead
CB Hot Suit Takes is our Q&A series for extremely busy CEOs and senior leaders across the industry ~ covering careers, creativity, challenges and the song that sums it all up. Next in the hot seat is Rosie Brown, Head of Strategy, Kill Boring Dead.
1. What made you get into advertising?
I fell into it – got invited to write an EDM for a Marketing Manager while I was working in the RaboBank call centre. Comms for banks 15 years ago was… BORING… so from that point on it was a quest to find more and more interesting ground.
When I was a kid and someone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said “the boss.” What I now realise is being the boss sounds great until you realise it mostly means dealing with everyone else’s problems. But being the thinker? That’s where I belong. Which is why being 2IC to Marcus at KBD is, genuinely, the job that KEEPS me in advertising.
2. Which piece of work are you most proud of, and why?
Timely one – we just won a Webby for it. Loctite’s Museum of Second Chances. We took a brand most people know from a Bunnings aisle and made the internet care about it. Objects repaired with Loctite, displayed like art, living on social. It won “Social & Games – Weird” at the 30th Annual Webby Awards, which is genuinely one of my favourite sentences. Weird is underrated as a strategy
3. What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role right now?
I am, without exaggeration, deliriously passionate about this industry. Which makes it genuinely painful to watch brands treat “playing it safe” like it’s a strategy. It’s not safe. A safe brand is a dying brand – you’re just watching it happen slowly. The biggest challenge is making that case convincingly, to people who are scared to do anything differently, but also want BIG results.
4. What’s the most recent thing you’ve learned – professionally or personally?
Personally – I think better when I’m moving. I’m deeply committed to a voice memo walk and talk (much to my colleagues’ dismay).
Professionally – AI is the best research tool I’ve ever had, but only if you know how to use it. It still can’t write a strategy for you. But it’s so. damn good at scraping community insights from social, from DMs, from marketplaces. It helps you find unique insights fast, which means I spend more time on the bit that actually matter like bringing a strong idea to life.
5. What song best sums up your career so far?
“Work Bitch” – Britney Spears. Self-explanatory.
Read Andrew Siwka’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Nicole Miranda’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Sean Cummins’ Hot Suit Takes here
Read Justine Leong’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Alex McManus’ Hot Suit Takes here
Read Ben Walker’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Lucy Houldsworth’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Tom Ootes’ Hot Suit Takes here
Read Suzie Shaw’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Jamie Scott’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Meredith Cranmer’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read James Mackinnon’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Sophie Lander’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Alex Carr’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Danielle Moeller’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Jarrick Lay’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Georgina Powell’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Paul McMillan’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Celia Wallace’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Jules Hall’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Jen Sharpe’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Jaimes Leggett’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Hanne Haugen’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Adam Brami’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Matilda Hobba’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read John Marshall’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Gayle While’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Adrian Mills’ Hot Suit Takes here
Read Chiquita King’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Tim Evans Hot Suit Takes here
Read Sheryl Marjoram’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Ben Lilley’s Hot Suit Takes here
Read Lisa Sutton Gardner’s Hot Suit Takes here