What was your first job? My first job was Junior Camp Counselor at Quail Hill Scout Reservation in Manalapan, NJ. I was 14, would get paid “next year,” and lived in a pop tent all summer. My work with kids around campfires made me a great presenter—though my knot skills are still lacking.

Do you have any brainstorming rituals? What are they? I absorb as much as I can from the brand/competitors beforehand. I’ll spend a few un-billable hours at it. With a good strategist, I’m more perusing than researching.

Knowing what’s come before makes it easy to spit original thoughts, then cherry pick what moves forward. I’ve always felt throwing shit at a wall leaves you polishing turds.

When did you know that this career was what you wanted to do? My career started at Martin. We met every department; account, strategy, leadership, and media were paraded in like the circus. They saved creative for last, and I was gazing into a slightly older mirror. Sweating scripts, infinite line rewrites, dumb jokes.

A few weeks back in 2009 set the course of my career.

Do you have any hobbies that shape your work today? I do a lot of side work to figure out the bits of our industry I don’t understand. Think media buying, new biz, and production. My little side campaigns won some Clios and Addys, which is nice as it’s all purely experimental.

Separately, my afterhour adventures are pretty well documented. I was interviewed on Little Black Book a few months ago about my cageless shark dives, poetry, and offroad racing. Your 9-5 should fuel lots of personal exploration and reinvention.

(Reference: https://lbbonline.com/news/Petermayer-Kevin-Zengal-Side-Quests-Sharpen-My-Creativity)

How do you stay up-to-date with industry trends? I start my morning with a Peloton ride to shake off wandering thoughts, followed by coffee with a side of newsletters. 1440, Adweek, Exec Sum, and yesterday’s Creativity Daily. Later, I’ll hit two doom scrolls to (catch up on bullsh!t and) see agencies doing the good stuff—like Tombras, Gut, Preacher, Wieden, Quality Meats, etc.

What new territory of digital creativity are you interested in getting into? I follow my buddy Sam at solomon.io and I try to do whatever he says. He’s ahead of the curve.

Do you have any tips for entrants on how to build an award-winning entry? Courtesy of AI, people have already forgotten how to tell a story.

In your write-up, bring a three prong CONTEXT / CONCEPT / OUTCOME hierarchy (which you guessed it—beginning, middle, and end). In big ol’ type, support your story with the key performance indicators that clients and judges love. Have a poster and a case study video, minimum. And make it look good.