The Ad That Threw Out the Script | Ep 19 w/ Dave Jansen

Dave Jansen — Chief Imagination Officer at Connecting Plots — breaks down Best & Less "So Much Better," a brand-repositioning platform for one of Australia's most iconic value-retail brands. And they made it by breaking every rule.They threw out the written scripts. They sent cameras to real families to shoot themselves. They convinced the client not to come to set. And they scored the whole thing with country & western — because a billionaire owner insisted.Then the richest state-of-the-industry conversation we've had: the "wheel of cool," influencer fatigue, the return of the mini-doc, why content deserves the same craft as a TVC, and what's really happening to director representation in 2026.Plus Gear Chat on Laowa's ultra-macro lenses, and a milestone — episode 19, nearly double the 10 we set out to make.

00:23 Intro

04:57 The Breakdown: Best & Less "So Much Better"

12:45 Throwing out the script

20:00 The country music story

32:27 State of the industry 2026

45:41 Craft doesn't mean polished

50:18 Gear Chat: Laowa ultra-macro

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