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A talking baby for E*TRADE, blindfolded dumpster-diving for Febreze, 1000 unique songs…
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Bitten by a partying bear in the open sea - a cautionary NFTale.
Bitten by a partying bear in the open sea - a cautionary NFTale.
After buying crypto currency in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) & Ethereum (ETH) for years I decided it was time to try buy…
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A good night for @fitzco @radiomercawards
A good night for @fitzco @radiomercawards
Radio Mercury Best of Show
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Apparently we started a Wiener War @fitzco #wienersmackdown
Apparently we started a Wiener War @fitzco #wienersmackdown
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12K followers
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Noel Cottrell shared thisApparently long-form podcasts are all the rage. Well let's hope that's the case, as this deep deep dive into all things me is 1 hour 48 minutes. It's probably 50% how/why I left South Africa and the two local agencies that gave me my start. And the other 50% is Murder Hornet and how, why and what that is. Tebogo Kakurupa and Brehndan Botha - Business Success Counsellor thank you for your extreme patience and lack of editing acumen. BIG love.Culture Code: Noel Cottrell on Creative Entrepreneurship | New Agency Model | Murder Hornet's SwarnCulture Code: Noel Cottrell on Creative Entrepreneurship | New Agency Model | Murder Hornet's Swarn
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Noel Cottrell shared thisLimes: we lost a big, global pitch to relaunch a B2B website. Lemonade: we got an incredible Swarm of web-genii helmed by Steven M. ready to build your new site.Noel Cottrell shared thisRecently we built an all-world web Swarm for a pitch. The ask was to implement a global B2B website build centered around a complete buyer journey in a hyper-competitive sector of tech. To quote the inimitable Steven M. 'Enterprise customers want to solve specific business problems: modernize operations, improve efficiency, reduce friction, upgrade legacy systems, control costs, integrate new technology, and support future growth, they don't want a static brochure of products’. The client went in a different direction. SO, there is an opportunity for a B2B client looking to build a global site (or someone just looking for real help with any big web build) to tap into this incredible Swarm of tech freaks, supported by our talented Nest led by Alexandra (Alex) McInnis 🔪🐝 and Noel Cottrell. Place order!
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Noel Cottrell reposted thisNoel Cottrell reposted this6 years in, we’re sharing our secrets to keeping the momentum and growing Gus (alongside the the uber-talented Nick Gallo from LOOP.co and Noel Cottrell from Murder Hornet). Thanks to Campaign US for the great piece on what it takes to build an modern Indie. https://lnkd.in/gV8V_tc3
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Noel Cottrell shared thisHope to see y’all there next Monday in NYC to celebrate the incredible women leading us into the future of Advertising. I, like Barack Obama, think all-women leadership might be the fix for our industry.
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Noel Cottrell posted this‘Would you like 100 hot sales leads a month?’ Vs ‘Have you ever considered outsourcing any of your production needs?’ FIGHT!
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Noel Cottrell shared thisI’m pretty sure cancelling your meditation app means great tumult is headed your way. Sorry Karen Crane CPCC, PCC 🧘🏼♂️🧘🏻♀️ Used it a lot though COVID and when starting up our company but I’m breathing a little easier. For now.
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Noel Cottrell shared thisAnother teaser for the Friday drop.Noel Cottrell shared thisWhat happens when you go from white middle-class South Africa to living in a trailer home with four African American guys in America? For Noel Cottrell, this became an education in culture, resilience and adapting to environments completely different from his own reality. From sleeping on couches, chasing clients and building Joe Public with Dr Pepe Marais and Gareth Leck in South Africa to discovering Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J in New York, those experiences eventually shaped how he approached building Murder Hornet with Alexandra (Alex) McInnis in Atlanta. In the upcoming Culture × Code conversation, Noel talks about culture, entrepreneurship, advertising and why sometimes the best preparation for the American dream is simply being thrown into the deep end. This episode drops this Friday. Follow Culture x Code podcast on LinkedIn and YouTube for the full conversation. #CulturexCode #CxC #MurderHornet #Advertising #CreativeIndustry #AfricanCreatives #SouthAfricanCreatives #Culture #Entrepreneurship #AgencyLife #NewYork #AdvertisingCulture
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Noel Cottrell shared thisNoel Cottrell shared thisIf Adam Grant and Brené Brown can team up... If Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert can hang... Then so too can the 'new models' agencies grab drinks together. Turns out we all like each other. Thanks for a great Brandweek #Frenemies Eric Segal Alexandra (Alex) McInnis 🔪🐝 Dana Hork Noel Cottrell Brett Banker
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Noel Cottrell shared thisThanks so much to Tebogo Kakurupa and Brehndan Botha - Business Success Counsellor of Culture x Code for the deep dive into Murder Hornet, our model, origin story & creative violence. 🔪🐝 Love your format and style of your program. Episode drops Friday!Noel Cottrell shared this#EpisodeAlert - South African creative Noel Cottrell is thriving with his relatively new independent agency, Murder Hornet, based in Atlanta, USA, built around a deliberately provocative philosophy: Creative Violence. When Noel was deciding what kind of agency he wanted to build, he looked at independent creative shops that had found ways to give their identities a little more edge - GUT, Anomaly and Mischief @ No Fixed Address - alongside creative minds such as Greg Hahn, whose work continues to challenge the conventions of advertising. But Noel wanted to push that idea further, so came Murder Hornet. In this upcoming episode of Culture x Code, Noel chats to Tebogo Kakurupa and Brehndan Botha about the thinking behind the agency, why Creative Violence became its philosophy, and what it means to build an independent creative company where disruption isn't just something you talk about - it's built into the DNA. He gets into the culture of independent agencies, the creative work that inspires him and the ambition to be part of a global creative conversation where ideas are allowed to be strange, unexpected, uncomfortable and genuinely disruptive. Noel also shares the story behind Murder Hornet's identity and the influence of his former co-founder at FoxP2, Andrew Whitehouse, who played an important role in shaping the agency's visual expression. This is a conversation about creativity, culture, ambition, identity and much more. (via youtube.com/@culturexcode) #CulturexCode #MurderHornet #CreativeViolence #CreativeCulture #Advertising #Creativity #CreativeDisruption #AgencyCulture #SouthAfricanCreatives #Atlanta #CCO #Culture #Content
Noel Cottrell commented on a post
4h
Awesome! Hope to play together again soon.
Noel Cottrell replied to a comment
13h
Nick Bayne I get at least 20 LOC calls on my phone every day.
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Noel Cottrell liked thisVery exciting announcement for our portfolio company UNIT AI and our friends at Barrett Distribution Centers, Inc.! Congratulations to Avihou Barkay, Arthur Barrett on the partnership.Noel Cottrell liked this👀 Thursday checklist: coffee, meetings, announce a major tech partnership. We’re expanding our partnership with UNIT AI and we have some pretty exciting plans for 2027. Beginning next year, Barrett Distribution Centers, Inc. will deploy UNIT’s Networked Physical AI Platform across our operations, connecting inventory, fulfillment and returns across our warehouse network. 🎤 Tim Barrett, CEO of Barrett, on what this means for our network: “Expanding our partnership with UNIT will give us the ability to intelligently coordinate inventory, fulfillment and returns across our network while creating new opportunities to improve efficiency, inventory utilization and customer service.” 🤖 From the UNIT side, Avihou Barkay, co-founder and chief business officer, on what comes next: “Our expanded partnership with Barrett represents the next phase: connecting facilities so inventory, fulfillment and returns can be intelligently orchestrated across an entire network and near points of consumption.” Consider this your first preview into 2027 🙌 Official Release Here: https://lnkd.in/eJCX4mPz #teambarrett #warehouseautomation #physicalAI #supplychain #technologyBarrett Distribution Centers Expands UNIT AI Partnership to Bring Physical AI Across Its Warehouse NetworkBarrett Distribution Centers Expands UNIT AI Partnership to Bring Physical AI Across Its Warehouse Network
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Noel Cottrell liked thisNoel Cottrell liked thisAfter back to back exciting projects at Translation, YARDNYC, Ogilvy New York and time off spent in Japan I’m ready to get back at it. Available for short or long term projects now through end of the year. Hit me up, let’s work together.✨ https://lnkd.in/gnXa_RMQ
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Noel Cottrell reacted on thisNoel Cottrell reacted on thisRich Silverstein is an absolute legend, and I want to pay my respects. When I arrived in San Francisco in 2006, most people on the outside referred to the agency as “Goodby.” But spend two minutes inside those doors and you understood it was Goodby Silverstein & Partners (Sometimes capital SILVERSTEIN). A couple things I liked most working with Rich: He liked solving the problem in the room together, in real time. Get the right people around the table and make the work better. Nancy Reyes and I still believe in that. And whether the agency had just won or lost a hundred million dollar account, Rich's energy was always about getting together and figuring out how we were going to do something brilliant, full stop. We should all remember that one more often. Rich, thank you. jeff Goodby, and Margaret JohnsonI love you too, obvs. https://lnkd.in/gsnttdAFAfter 58 years, the man behind ‘got milk?’ is walking away from advertisingAfter 58 years, the man behind ‘got milk?’ is walking away from advertising
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Noel Cottrell reacted on thisOur partners are putting in the work that matters! Thank you E.L.F. BEAUTYNoel Cottrell reacted on this100 NOW BECOMES 150!!!!!!!!!! We announced we were sending 50 women impacted by layoffs to Blackweek and brands keep stepping up to send more. HUGE PROPS to E.L.F. BEAUTY for stepping up a second year in a row to send an additional 50 women. That means 150 women are now headed to Blackweek LA 2026. That’s what showing up looks like. ❤️ Thank you E.L.F. BEAUTY for helping us open the doors even wider. The 50 women selected by E.L.F. BEAUTY are tagged in the comments below. We will email your ticket shortly. See you in LA. October 7–9.
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Noel Cottrell reacted on thisNoel Cottrell reacted on thisKiller Mike and governor candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms met over at Mike's restaurant, Bankhead Seafood. They along with Bear Sills and DJ Swiff recorded an episode of Conversate with Killer Mike podcast. You can listen to the podcast here, https://lnkd.in/eAWgHCF2
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Noel Cottrell reacted on thisNoel Cottrell reacted on thisThat’s MISTER Creativity to you, buddy. I’m out of the country right now, and so I had Adidas send a package to The One Club for Creativity where I work, rather than to my apartment. They somehow conflated my last name with the last word in the company’s name.
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Noel Cottrell reacted on thisNoel Cottrell reacted on thisPeople tattoo your brand on their bodies? Your product turns up in the obituaries of their loved ones? "Community" isn't marketing BS? Why? When? How? This AJC piece, published yesterday, is the best explanation I've seen of the "cult" behind Big Green Egg, a heritage cooking device that has spent 52 years becoming something much bigger. Proud to be part of a consequential, purpose-driven company — at a moment when the world, our consumers, and our employees need a lot more of them. #lovewhatyoudo #hiring
Experience & Education
Publications
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Sushi Made Easy
Random House
Most Copywriters have a book in them. Mine just happens to be a soft cover about how to prepare sushi at home. I wrote it, my great friend Michele Gomes Bush did all the rest. It's been reprinted many, many times, translated into 11 different languages, sold in kit form at Sainsbury's in the UK and was Border's Best Selling Xmas gift a few years in a row. I really, really hope I have another book in me.
Other authorsSee publication
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Afrikaans
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Michael Rivera
From stage to capital. For Venture Atlanta 2025, the mission was to take a sophisticated brand identity and activate it for the big stage. Working with PullSpark, we utilized the established brand toolkit to develop an event-specific creative package—the "Living Blueprint"—designed to feel as kinetic as the startups in the room. This was a massive exercise in scaling a visual system across every touchpoint of the founder journey. The project scope encompassed: 1,300+ Attendees 350+ Investment Funds 125+ Creative Deliverables 49 Pitching Companies Our work bridged high-level art direction with high-volume execution, translating the brand for the massive LED scale of the Woodruff Arts Center and providing a cohesive, professional framework for nearly 90 founder presentations. The full case study and process details are live on the website: https://lnkd.in/gWBhA-dw Supporting visual credit: Venture Atlanta Conference #ArtDirection #VisualDesign #VentureAtlanta #BrandDesign #StartupEcosystem #PullSpark
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