Adam Hanft
This week Lonny speaks with Adam Hanft, CEO of Hanft Projects, a globally-known expert in marketing strategy, branding and messaging; he is also a prolific cultural critic and journalist. This combination of skills and experiences represents the confluence of disciplines that define the future of marketing.
Adam sits on the board of two public companies, Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) and 1800Flowers (NASDAQ: FLWS); he also has a non-Board role at SMG as Chief Brand and Creative Adviser .
In addition, Adam sits on the board of two private companies – Sensory Cloud, a pioneer in the application of olfaction technology to the hospitality and wellness, and Parallax, an early-stage life sciences company focused on the development of safe nicotine delivery systems.
Adam is an active angel investor and served on the advisory boards of start-ups in agtech, cybersecurity, AI, fintech, foodtech and HRtech. Included among them are Hampton Creek (now JUST) who is valued at unicorn status for their plant-based food innovation and HiBob, which has been called the most revolutionary start-up in the HR space.
The range of well-established companies and start-ups where Adam has contributed strategic insights and creative leadership attest to the range of his talents. They extend from WeWork to Match.com and Tinder, to TAE Energy – a pioneer in nuclear fusion who has raised nearly $1B– to McKinsey and Life Biosciences, the world’s leading company in longevity research.
Adam was an unpaid digital strategy consultant to President Obama’s 2008 campaign, and has been advising Yair Lapid, who is now running with Benny Gantz on the “Blue and White” ticket to lead Israel, and is leading in the polls.
Adam is co-author of “Dictionary of the Future,” a best-selling book that was described by “Wired” magazine as a “mimetic encyclopedia of what's to come, an engaging crash course in bleeding-edge ideas and debatable issues...it's an entertaining and enlightening trip."
Called a “marketing guru by U.S.A. Today, Adam had a successful career as an advertising agency founder; before selling the company and starting his consulting practice, Adam won over 100 major awards – including an EFFIE for effectiveness – and was responsible for creating the “Flick Your Bic” campaign, named one of the 50 greatest ad campaigns of all time by Entertainment Weekly
Commentaries written by Adam on a diverse range of subjects appear regularly in the Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, Fast Company, Atlantic, Slate and other publications. He is also a frequent commentator on public radio’s “Marketplace,” and has appeared on the “Today Show,” “The Daily Show,” CNBC, Fox News, and many other outlets. As an editor and contributor he has been on the masthead of five leading magazines, including “Worth” and “Inc.” – where he wrote the back-page column for five years – and “Civilization” – the magazine of the Library of Congress.
Adam began his career as a comedy writer for the legendary director Garry Marshall, writing scripts for “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley.”
Adam is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of New York University