This is a shameless plug
for my cat.
That's an unusual way to start an About page, no? Well, my cat is pretty unusual. Out of the millions of felines vying for attention online, I helped turn mine into a top ten, social media star.
Allow me to explain.
@CobyTheCat began in 2015, when my wife, Rebecca, started posting photos of him on Instagram. After questioning why she would post pictures of our pet online — and after her questioning me about questioning her — Coby was picked up by Time, Buzzfeed, Mashable, and 9gag. And started to amass a following. Then I quickly changed my tune. And went all in on Coby with her.
Today, Coby has more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram and over 100K on TikTok. He’s partnered with brands like Google, Spotify, Ubisoft, Instacart, Arm & Hammer, and KVD Beauty to name a few.
If I can do that for a house cat, imagine what I can do for your brand.
Now onto me.
Unfortunately, I'm not as famous.
I’m an independent CD / CW with more than 15 years of experience. I’ve won the big awards and at one point, taught Wordsmithing at Miami Ad School. I also play the saxophone and love jazz. Except for Kenny G. He’s just too smooth for me.
While I often get hired to work on complex businesses (B2B, tech, and healthcare), I have experience in just about every category. I enjoy coming up with platforms that can flex to every touchpoint and message just as much as I enjoy coming up with moonshots and "what ifs."
When leading projects, I'm a big believer in autonomy. Because when I was coming up, I learned best when I was allowed to own the work and arrive at the "aha" moment on my own (with support from CDs, of course). That's how creatives grow.
AI sucks. AI is awesome.
There's a ton of AI hype out there. And a ton of AI leaders making a ton of money off that hype. Having worked at some of the top AI companies, I've seen first-hand what AI can, and can't, do. Which brings me to my point. Those who think AI can replace the entire creative process from ideation to execution, or that AI is a magic button that solves all their advertising needs, simply don't understand the point of brand advertising. Or just have really bad taste. But those who think AI is nothing without the humans who use it, actually understand where the future is headed.
So here's how I use AI. For strategy and insights, I incorporate research tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT. And social-listening tools like OneCliq. I also use Generative AI (Midjourney, Sora, VEO3) to help comp up ideas and sell them in. BUT, it stops there. Generative AI still has a ways to go before it becomes the go-to for end-to-end production. It's just not there. Yet.
