LUKE SULLIVAN:

KEYNOTE SPEAKING, CONSULTING & TRAINING.

My name is Luke Sullivan. I was in the advertising business for 33 years, all of them at A+ agencies, two of them perennial “Agency of the Year” winners from Adweek and Ad Age – Fallon Worldwide and The Martin Agency. During those years, I started my collection of One Show medals, now at 21.

I’m probably best known as the author of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Advertising. With the sixth edition set to release in February, 2022, it’s referred to as the Bible of advertising in about every third review on Amazon and was named to the Top Ten Marketing Books of All Time by an Ad Age poll.

I just retired from ten years of teaching advertising at the Savannah College of Art & Design, and what I offer today is an series of energetic presentations on a wide variety of subjects related to advertising, branding, and marketing. (Some of my most popular presentations are listed directly below.)

I’ve spoken to audiences all over the U.S. including the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, as well as many in-person appearances overseas: Sydney, Berlin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Auckland, Reykjavik and Istanbul. People seem to like what I offer and I’ve added some client reviews below.

Thanks for your consideration. I can be reached at [email protected] and my cell number is 912-655-5648.

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CLIENT REACTIONS

Luke is one of the most sensational presenters of work I’ve ever seen.

–Wendy Ludlow Clark, CEO DDB North America

Luke, you have ignited our agency with a flamethrower. You’ve inspired us to take fresh new approaches to creating great disruptive work. I cannot thank you enough.

–Russell Miyaki, SVP Global Creative Director, TMP Worldwide

Luke Sullivan is a hall-of-fame ad person. He came into our agency for several days of workshops and seminars, the goal being to take us from good to great. I can tell you unequivocally that he added a ton of value and we’re still riding the wave of his recommendations.

–Chris Raih, Founder, Zambezi, LA

Our entire team, including myself, left with so much energy and motivation. Many were already rethinking ongoing projects as soon as they walked out of the room, and the buzz has continued into today. I can think of no place more relevant for your message than with an in-house department like ours. We needed that shot in the arm of honesty and clarity, and it needed it to be heard—which it was.

–Brad Stephenson, Creative Director, Lowe’s National

I loved your presentations when I was at my last agency, and I loved your sessions today! You have an amazing way of energizing people and challenging teams to find new ways to think about things. And let’s be honest, the last two years have been challenging and exhausting for so many, both personally and professionally. What a great way, and time, to bring new energy.

–Janee Wolf, senior account supervisor, Core Creative

Monday was a big day for PointRoll at SXSW Interactive, and you made it great. Every single person I spoke with told me how much they enjoyed your presentations. Mario, our CEO, could not stop talking about you and all the ideas your talks created in his head. … From the early planning to the pre-panel prep, to the way you thoughtfully sweated the logistical details, to your uniquely compelling presentations themselves, you were just wonderful to work with and, as you promised, absolutely DID NOT SUCK!

–David Simon, CMO, PointRoll

Luke Sullivan is an authority in the creative industry. His notoriety draws the crowd and his passion for creativity and strong presentation keeps the audience present. One audience member said, “Luke’s presentation alone was worth the price of admission.”

–Rebekah Giaraffa, Worldwide Partners, Inc., Denver

Luke is a professional, the kind of speaker you want to invite. From the beginning he was focused on identifying the event’s objectives and the profile and needs of the audience. He’s committed to understand what organizers want to achieve in an event and becomes a member of the team working for that goal.

–Felipe Calleja, BCC International Speakers Bureau

My Favorite Presentations

BUILDING STORYTELLING PLATFORMS FOR NEW BUSINESS

BUILDING STORYTELLING PLATFORMS FOR NEW BUSINESS

To understand the difference between an ad campaign and a brand platform, consider the difference between a movie and a Hollywood franchise. Any movie that’s franchisable contains more than just one story. It suggests an entire world beyond its own borders, a world...

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LEVERAGING TENSIONS TO CREATE BRAND NARRATIVES

LEVERAGING TENSIONS TO CREATE BRAND NARRATIVES

One of the most effective ways to jumpstart the creative process and get to big ideas quickly, is by leveraging creative tensions; by using polarities to spark story. Wherever you find conflict or opposing energies, you’ll find conflict. And where you find conflict,...

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EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MARKETING IN FOUR STEPS

EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MARKETING IN FOUR STEPS

In this presentation Sullivan reframes social marketing with a simple process of four steps, one that participants can use immediately. By reverse engineering successful social campaigns, Sullivan breaks it down to what he calls “Do > Invite > Capture >...

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A CREATIVE WRITES THE BRIEF

A CREATIVE WRITES THE BRIEF

The brief is the single most-complained-about thing in creative industries.(“What are we supposed to do with this?”) Every client, agency, and strategist on earth has a different idea of what makes a great creative brief. So do creatives – and this is one creative’s...

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OPTIMIZING CREATIVE OUTPUT (OR HOW TO MANAGE CREATIVES)

OPTIMIZING CREATIVE OUTPUT (OR HOW TO MANAGE CREATIVES)

It’s a good thing many creative people are often cynics and eye-rollers. It’s their well-tuned B.S. detectors that make them effective communicators. But motivating cynics and eye-rollers in an industry full of B.S. is tough. How do you manage people who don’t like to...

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Suggested Reading


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Luke Sullivan

Author, speaker, and ad veteran available to recharge, reinvigorate, and refocus marketing, advertising, and branding firms.

I give a hugely energetic series of presentations on innovation, creativity, branding, and marketing. I spent 32 years in the trenches of advertising (at agencies like Martin, GSD&M, and Fallon) and I’ve put everything I learned into my book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. But for me nothing beats taking the message out and speaking to living breathing audiences at clients, agencies, and conferences. You can book me on the button below.

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