Marc Stoiber is a force of nature. I almost said freak of nature, but I didn’t. Not sure why, because he’s that, too.
Not only did he build a dazzling career, drinking with the world’s creative elite and working on brands that would make Don Draper salivate, he threw it all away in a mid-life bid to create the ultimate green agency (sound familiar?) sold it to focus on a career fostering innovation, then threw all THAT away to go surfing in Bali for a year and write a book.
How irritating.
But try as I might, I can’t do anything but admire Marc, and heartily recommend his new book ‘Didn’t See it Coming’ for anyone interested in the creative mind, our messed up planet and the Venn diagram intersection of those two irregular shapes.
In a tight 144 pages, Stoiber takes us through an honest look at the changing advertising business, a glimpse of future-proofing and a side-track of Zen and the art of brand self examination before opening the door to a world where failure is beautiful, secrecy is a myth and REAL design matters.
A few quotes:
“In high school, the career counselor asked me what I imagined myself doing for a living. I said I didn’t know, but I saw myself getting off an airplane in a good suit.”
“While big brand executives tinker, garage entrepreneurs invent bullets that will take those brands out of commission.”
“The Stupid Curve… we’ve been flooded with amazing devices, toys and tools…and you’ve been sentenced to life as a newbie, feeling perennially stupid and incompetent.”
Tasty and even relatively easy to digest.
If you’re at all curious about what’s coming up on the horizon, read ‘Didn’t See It Coming’. You won’t look back.
Go buy a copy of Marc’s book on Amazon.ca here.
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