Interview with Patrick Lafferty

In this interview, Patrick Lafferty, President of Translation LLC, details his career in advertising and how his experiences in the US Army and the media industries have helped him become a leader in advertising. With a career thriving on working in dynamically changing environments, Lafferty shares how to effectively blend creativity with smart-minded analytics. He describes how advertisers can be "culturally led." He also explains how changes in media have altered how audiences are conceived, reached, and incorporated into advertising work. In particular, Lafferty shares several of his projects that exemplify how changes in media and culture need to be taken into account for ads to effectively resonate with relevant audiences. To conclude, he provides advice to students, educators, and the general public, which falls in line with a recurring theme throughout the interview: advertisers need to be empathetic, understand what motivates others, and embrace diverse perspectives and ideas.