On My Radar: Matt Jensen

What’s the best ad campaign you’ve seen recently?

The hype – and flop – of No Man’s Sky hooked me by the wonder-cockles. By promising a near-infinite universe, they stoked a near-infinite amount of speculation and “wouldn’t it be cool if...” chatter. 

What website(s) do you use most regularly and why?

Reddit helps me parse internet culture and its impact. 4chan satisfies my inner reprobate.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?

Amazon Echo. Podcasts while I cook are a must. Messes while I cook are a given.

What’s your favoured social media platform?

Yelp takes the legwork out of finding solid burritos.

What’s your favourite app on your phone?

I spend on odd amount of time using Acorns, which provides beautiful and engaging interactions with my personal financial hell.

What’s your favourite TV show and why?

I appreciate that most major network prime-time programming keeps a particular segment of the population generally out of trouble, for at least a couple hours a night.

What film do you think everyone should have seen and why?

Cool Hand Luke. It is our nature to break free – literally and metaphorically – and critical to know the things that imprison us.

Where were you when inspiration last struck?

Outdoors. Always.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

The transition from brand-as-narrator to the shared stories written by brands and people.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

Placing a premium on making the world a better place, not inspiring frivolous consumption.

What or who has most influenced your career and why?

The Time-Life book series, Mysteries of the Unknown.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.

In the interest of maintaining any human relationship, I spend my largest portion of mental energy filtering and phrasing what’s on my mind before saying it aloud.