Welcome to "Signals & Sparks," the podcast that finds the method in the madness and the data behind the creative spark.
This week, James Welch sits down with Jamie Sergeant, founder of the global marketing agency Crowd. Jamie joins the pod to talk AI, global insights, and... giant penises? (Yes, you read that right.)
The Signal in the Noise
Jamie's signal is the great AI showdown: USA vs. China.
He argues the US is trying to build one "behemoth AI" to rule them all (and costing a fortune in compute power to run). Meanwhile, China is quietly building an army of "bespoke AI"—over 2,000 tiny, specialist AIs in WeChat alone—that "get one job done really, really well" using far less power.
Jamie places his bets on the bespoke approach, warning that the giant models will soon be too expensive to even switch on.
Connecting the Dots
So, how does Jamie know all this? He's not just doom-scrolling. His "spark" comes from his agency, Crowd.
While some agencies are "global" on their website, Jamie is on "daily calls" with his teams in key territories like Chengdu and Shenzhen. He explains how having 25 nationalities on a staff of 55 and serving as a UK "export champion" gives him a direct line to what's actually happening on the ground, long before it becomes a trend piece.
High Five
We finish with the "High Five" quick-fire round, and frankly, it's an all-timer. Tune in to hear:
- His Hero: The "super cool" James Bond.
- His Best Decision: Starting his global agency, Crowd, back in 2012.
- His Worst Decision: The classic managerial regret: "a couple of people that I've hired over the 25 years..."
- His Funniest Moment: This one is worth the download alone. It’s a story about pitching an NHS sexual health campaign that involves the immortal line: "Close your eyes. Imagine you're in a big dark room and there's a ginormous penis in front of you." (He won the pitch, by the way).
- His "Bright Spark" recommendation: Matthew Horobin, our fabulous brand strategist friend who introduced us.
(Music from "Signals & Sparks" by The Consultants)
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