Accolades
John Manley is the thoughtful, smart, collaborative strategic partner that clients dream of. He has the strategic horsepower and brand-building experience to back up his opinions and recommendations and he isn't afraid to bring new ideas to the table. John engages deeply and provides very thoughtful counsel and vigorous debate but at the same time, he isn't afraid to be wrong. He sees the whole business and understands how to translate brand objectives and business needs into tangible and creative briefs for his team. I forged a very productive and fruitful working relationship when John was my planning director on Pinnacle Vodka because he challenged me every day, inspired our creative team, and pushed us over the finish line to great work. I’m very proud of the work we did on Pinnacle and John was a crucial member of our team. I miss having John in my corner and would jump at working with him again.
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Senior Vice President, Chief Growth Officer,
Constellation Brands
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Every time I had the opportunity to collaborate with John on projects it was not only a pleasurable experience but a learning experience. John's unique and diverse background (both creative and consumer knowledge) allows him to provide truly unique insights into consumers that only someone with a variety of experiences can offer. John has the ability to understand and see the consumer from an uncommon perspective and that's what truly helps differentiate and build brands. I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate and tap into his knowledge again!
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Senior Vice President, Global Managing Director,
Starcom Mediavest Group
John Manley has the eye of a strategist, the heart of a creative, the instincts of an entrepreneur, and the ravenous curiosity of a toddler. The result is that John is always learning, always stretching, and consistently crafting the kinds of breakthrough strategies that clients need---if they are to have any chance of succeeding in the hurley burley of today. John's integrity, sense of humor, penchant for mentoring, and collaborative style all ensure that he's got a gaggle of great people following his lead. John's impact is obvious---tallied by the impressive list of TMA new business wins he has notched on his belt.
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President, Peacock Nine
In the many years, i have known him, john manley has been a marvelous client, collaborator, and friend. as a client, john’s strategic stewardship has led dig to some of our best work. as a collaborator, his creative talents and strategic insights have made dig look much smarter than we actually are. finally, if he ever becomes your client or your collaborator, he will soon become one of your best buddies — which says a lot.
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John has the resume of a misfit - and I say that with jealousy. He's dabbled in media, digital, creative, and planning, and that's just the kind of person I look to hire. The future of planning won't be led by thoroughbreds but by those with a broad set of tools and a large appetite. I hope John continues to embrace this method of career-building and achieves much success in it.
CEO, The Martin Agency
I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with John during my tenure at The Martin Agency. He is a rarity as far as planners go because he brings a wide set of skills into his thinking -- media, digital, traditional, analytics/research, social, and even creative. When I say "skills" I don't mean that he just has experience in these, John is the type of guy that immerses himself in these things in his life and that comes through in his work every day. This is a huge point because he is as comfortable digging through research to find insight as he is sitting in a room with creatives improving their ideas & bringing several of his own.
John is one of the best I have ever worked with in thinking through the entire brand experience from a customer's point of view. He established the practice of brand experience planning at Martin, and the fundamentals that he set are used widely on all of the brands at the agency now.
He is great with clients and quick to understand not only the intricacies of their brand but also how their business truly works ...so he can help the agency figure out how to create work that will affect the bottom line.
I am smarter for having worked with John and would welcome the opportunity to work with him again in the future.
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Former SVP, Director of Digital & Social,
MullenLowe
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John is one of the premier marketing strategists and planners in the business. I worked with John for over 2 years at Pizza Hut and his partnership and insight were critical to the great advertising we produced and integral to our new product development and positioning work.
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