David Angelo founded boutique ad agency David & Goliath with an indie-label philosophy: “Take on big marketing challenges not by swinging blindly into the fray, but by being smart, nimble, focused and brave.” The 12-year-old company, based in El Segundo, Calif., has made music a focal part of brands’ strategy–most notably Kia Motors, D&G’s founding client whose dancing hamsters have helped make hits out of LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” and Ivan Gough’s “In My Mind (Axwell Remix)” as well as help Black Sheep’s ’90s hip-hop hit “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)” experience a resurgence after appearing in a 2010 spot.
7:15 AM I like to start my day with a breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal and an apple.
7:45 AM I drafted an outline for my meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin. He’s one of the main guys that Kia signed to help promote the Optima, and has recently been seen in a series of time-travel spots that use iconic songs from his past like OMC’s “How Bizarre,” Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” and Sean Paul’s “Gimme the Light.”
8:45 AM I jumped into my Kia Optima–yes, I do drive a Kia–and headed to the office. I like to listen to New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give”–it really prepares me for work.
9:00 AM I have my daily conference call with three of my CEO friends–I call them my three amigos. One works in New York at a big postproduction company, another lives here and runs a digital company, and the other is a director/writer/producer whom I’ve known since my first day in the business. You don’t have too many people you can talk to when you’re a CEO, but these guys are like my sages. We’re constantly trying to inspire each other and help each other through our challenges.
10:00 AM Rehearsal for my presentation for ThinkLA, an ad club in Los Angeles.
12:00 PM Over to the L.A. Clippers facility, where I met the president of the Clippers and the coach. Then a one-hour brainstorming session with Blake Griffin for the upcoming campaign. One of the questions I asked him was, “If you had a theme song for your life, what it would be?” It’s going to give away the campaign if I tell you, but I think that will help shape the direction we head.
3:00 PM Met with our creative to discuss Powerball rough cuts. The lottery is one of our clients, and we just launched new Powerball work a week ago that features a new, choral take on “California Dreamin’.”
6:45 PM Checked in with Colin Jeffrey, our executive creative director, to discuss music options for the next Kia Soul hamsters spot. Kia always has to be a challenger brand, so when it comes to music the goal is to either rediscover a piece that’s relevant to that target or find a new song that hasn’t come out yet.