Imagine having a job where your mission every day was to encourage people to GROW!  To go outside in the backyard, walk barefoot in the grass, and sink their hands in the soil to plant a garden.  That is exactly what John gets to do as VP, Chief Creative Officer for the incredible lawn and garden brands at Scotts Miracle-Gro.

A 17-year veteran of SMG, John oversees the development, production and execution of all consumer facing messaging for the brands of Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Bonnie, Ortho, Tomcat and more.  Over the past couple years, the marketing world has taken notice of the campaigns and work coming out of SMG, recognized by AdAge in 2020 as one of America's Hottest Brands, taking top honors from iHeartMedia for the successful launch of a new gardening podcast (Humans Growing Stuff), and even stepped onto the world's biggest stage by airing the company's first ever Super Bowl commercial in February 2021.

Outside of Scotts, John loves to volunteer his time to serve on the Board of The 2nd & 7 Foundation, and recently as a member of the Upper Arlington Civic Association.  In 2017, he was recognized by Columbus Business First as one of the Top 40 Under 40 honorees.

John Sass:

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John Sass:

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John Sass:

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Yeah. That's so true. And another thing your company early last year, of course Scotts aired their first Super Bowl commercial. Why now? Why was that a good time, and obviously why was the Super Bowl the event to partner with?

John Sass:

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John Sass:

Speaker 2: Wow. Who would've thought that lawn and garden care could be so exciting.

John Sass: I tell you what-

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I'm getting excited just talking to you about this. Listen John, before we wrap up, I'm always excited when brands look outside of selling their stuff to really creating stories and creating their own media. Recently Scotts partnered with iHeartMedia to produce a podcast, Humans Growing Stuff. Tell me how has this podcast helped your brand? And maybe quickly, what other innovations can we expect in the future?

John Sass:

Speaker 2: Being where the attention is. That is insightful for sure. John, thank you so much for your time. This has been a delight. I really appreciated it.

John Sass: Awesome. I enjoyed it as well. Thank you. And I appreciate the time.

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