At the 2025 IMC Conference, I sat down with Dean Oelschig, Founder and MD of Halo, to discuss creativity, bravery, and what’s holding the industry back. Dean believes that fear and process are strangling the kind of bold work that once made brands unforgettable.
We spoke about Halo’s Pineapple Insurance campaign, which helped make Out of Home advertising cool again. Dean explained how a clear brand positioning and the confidence to stay consistent are the real engines behind creative longevity.
He also spoke about Second Rodeo, Halo’s new sister agency built to specialise in performance marketing while Halo continues to focus on brand-building. It’s a model inspired by The Long and the Short of It by Les Binet and Peter Field, where brand and performance work hand in hand.
Here are some sharp insights from our chat:
- Fear is the real barrier to brave work.
- Out of Home still works when it’s creative and consistent.
- Independent agencies are thriving because they have freedom.
- Process often kills creativity faster than failure ever could.
Watch the full conversation below:
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