S04 E09: Committing to Culture & Staying in Beta with Franke Rodriguez, Partner at Anomaly

For the final episode of our fourth season, we are joined by Franke Rodriguez, Partner and CEO of Anomaly, a global strategic and creative marketing agency. Franke’s desire to take Anomaly to new heights made him the perfect fit for his role as the youngest-ever CEO of their New York and Toronto offices, and he has worked with major blue-chip brands such as Nike, Budweiser, Captain Morgan, Carnival Cruises, and Google in their marketing missions. In today’s episode, he nerds out with us about staying hungry, being humble, and always being in “beta,” walking us through what that looks like practically for his teams at Anomaly. We discuss what the future of agency work looks like in a post-COVID world, how to preserve your team and culture as you grow, the value of investing in your people, and the ins and outs of creating a Super Bowl commercial. We also touch on creating the company you want to build by working backwards from a very specific vision, and talk about the power of a single impact brand moment versus broader social awareness, making this conversation equal parts inspirational and practical. Tune in today to learn more from Franke Rodriguez, a true ‘anomaly’ in the industry!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Find out what Franke has been up to recently and how he is prioritizing work-life balance.
  • Some of the ways that moving to a fully remote model changed the way he does business.
  • What it means to Franke to be a leader during COVID: finding new ways to help people cope.
  • His predictions for what Anomaly’s hybrid approach to work will look like post-COVID.
  • The importance of having a vision, starting with the end in mind, and working back from there.
  • Find out how Franke preserves team and company culture by focusing on joy. 
  • What an Anomaly holiday party looks like and what Franke means when he says, “What you celebrate, you duplicate.”
  • How Franke nurtures Anomaly’s corporate values and the maxim: stay hungry, stay humble.
  • Franke reflects on what ‘always in beta' looks like at Anomaly and how they keep innovating.
  • The process of creating a Super Bowl commercial from someone who has created nearly 30.
  • Franke on whether or not Super Bowl campaigns are still effective and how they’ve evolved.
  • The benefits of the single impact moment versus broader social awareness for brands.
  • Some of the brands Anomaly has produced and why they have taken that approach.
  • Learn more about Anomaly’s Funded program, which is like their own version of Shark Tank.
  • Franke highlights the power of investing in your people by rewarding entrepreneurial spirit.
  • Why committing to the culture means feeding it, nurturing it, and helping it grow.
  • Franke on who is making waves right now and why: triple threat, Anthony Ramos.
  • Final words of wisdom from Franke: creative storytellers are the ones that people will look to when the going gets tough.


Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Franke Rodriguez on LinkedIn

Franke Rodriguez on Twitter

Franke Rodriguez on Instagram

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/

Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.

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