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Alec Pollak helped to lay the groundwork for modern Internet marketing with some of the…
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My Eulogy for Paul Kontonis
My Eulogy for Paul Kontonis
12/5/2025 Paul and I met at P.S.
15 Comments
Activity
2K followers
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Alec Pollak shared thisHere are my remarks from last week's memorial for Paul.
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Alec Pollak shared thisI haven't posted anything yet about losing Paul and I will post more, but wanted to share the obituary that I worked on with Heather and Mike and David and Billy and Jason and George and Randy. If you knew Paul and want to join us to remember him, details are included here. If you didn't know Paul, your life was probably affected by him in ways you don't even know, maybe via a video you watched somewhere, or from his influence shaping the life of someone you know... like me. https://lnkd.in/gGN8DFsM
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Alec Pollak reposted thisAlec Pollak reposted this📲 Big shifts are happening in healthcare marketing, and these takeaways will help you stay ahead of the curve. At our Next: Innovation Week event, our experts explored the surge in AI-driven personalization and biometric empowerment, the challenges of misinformation and more. Ready for what’s next? Read more: http://spr.ly/6045fQevU 📸: Jonathan, Executive Director, Engagement Strategy, FCB Health New York | An IPG Health Company Maya, Group Director, Engagement Strategy, AREA 23 | An IPG Health Company Alec, Group Director, Engagement Strategy, NEON | An IPG Health Company
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Alec Pollak shared thisHow do you turn the constant storm of innovation and change in our world into an inspirational charge? That’s the focus of our panel at @IPG Health’s 9th annual Innovation Week. At this exclusive event, I’ll be diving into the latest healthcare marketing trends, and sharing insights that will help position brands ahead of the curve. If you are an IPG Health employee or client, message me for details.
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Alec Pollak shared thisHad a great time talking with the guys at The Bad Pod about looking back and looking forward! Just the kind of contemplation perfect for this time of year...Alec Pollak shared thisWhat do you get when you combine a Web 1.0 pioneer, a healthcare advertising leader, and an AI storytelling enthusiast? An unforgettable conversation with Alec Pollak, EVP at Neon (IPG Health). In this ep, we dive into: - The evolution of digital storytelling - Nonlinear storytelling that resonates with human audiences. - Why creativity thrives when we embrace play, curiosity, and collaboration. If you’re curious about the future of advertising and how AI is reshaping storytelling, this episode is a must-listen. 📲 Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gKv55sax #TheBadPodcast #Advertising #Storytelling #AI #CreativityAn Infinite Canvas: The Future of Collaborative Storytelling with AI ft. Alec Pollak, EVP at NEON, an IPG Health CompanyAn Infinite Canvas: The Future of Collaborative Storytelling with AI ft. Alec Pollak, EVP at NEON, an IPG Health Company
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Alec Pollak posted thisIt's all moving so fast. Three big announcements today from RunwayML with their new Act One reskinning capability taking us once step closer into a fundamentally different world of filmmaking, Stability's Stable Diffusion 3.5 model that seemingly attempts to correct for all the foibles of their v. 3 model, and most exciting, Anthropic's "computer use" demos and beta release giving us perhaps the clearest picture yet of what the next age of agenetic computing will look like. It's like every day I want to record the moment, capture it for posterity, be able to say, "I remember when..." or "That was the day everything changed..." But there's plenty enough hype and hyperbole. I'm not even marveling at the marvels anymore, just the speed at which it is all happening and the feel of the wind on my face.
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Alec Pollak reposted thisAlec Pollak reposted thisEach day 12 children die from gun violence in America and another 32 are shot and injured. Our new “Not So Lucky” campaign was created in partnership with Artist for Action, a coalition of artists who are taking action towards eliminating the epidemic of gun violence. As part of the campaign, images of children generated by AI highlight how gun violence unfortunately impacts too many children and communities across the country. The campaign directs viewers to find out how they can get involved and help make schools safe, including volunteering, donating and voting. Visit https://lnkd.in/duV7Eqwu to find out more about Artist for Action.
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Alec Pollak shared thisI’m excited to join IPG Health for their 8th annual Innovation Week! At this exclusive event, I’ll be exploring the latest healthcare marketing trends to inspire the creation of individualized experiences. If you are an IPG Health employee or client, message me for details. Looking forward to productive conversations as we explore the future of health!
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Alec Pollak liked thisAlec Pollak liked thisI keep thinking about this old Ogilvy quote: “In most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. If you were a dairy farmer, would you employ twice as many milkers as you had cows?” What’s wild is that he wrote this in Confessions of an Advertising Man decades ago (1963)… and it might even be predicting 🔮 exactly what’s happening right now. Ogilvy believed the creative department was the actual lifeblood of an agency. Not the layers. Not the administration. Not the process machinery surrounding the work. The creators were the product. But somewhere along the way, a lot of agencies became heavily weighted toward: • management layers • account structure • internal process • meetings • approvals • operational overhead supporting more operational overhead Meanwhile the actual creative teams kept shrinking, burning out, or getting pushed into impossible timelines. Ironically, Ogilvy may have seen this tension long before we all came along. The agencies that survive this shift probably won’t be the ones with the biggest org charts. They’ll be the ones with: • fewer layers • stronger senior talent • faster decision-making • less internal friction • and clearer creative leadership Which is honestly a huge part of why I started building Relay. Not to become another giant agency. The opposite. Smaller. Senior-led. Flexible. AI-augmented. Built around solving problems instead of feeding internal structure. Because clients, honestly don’t want agency complexity. They want clarity. Good work. Speed. Results. And people who know what they’re doing. If you’re starting to question the work, the layers, the delays, or how much you’re paying just to keep the machine moving… we should talk. 👉 https://lnkd.in/e78bwZy9 #Advertising #CreativeAgency #AI #CreativeLeadership #BrandStrategy #Marketing #FutureOfWork #Design #CreativeDirection
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Alec Pollak reacted on thisAlec Pollak reacted on thisI've applied to 247,000 jobs in the last 11 days. 214,000 of them offered me the role. I accepted all of them. Here's what I learned: Most people are optimizing the wrong thing. They think it's about skills. Experience. Fit. Wrong. First thing I do when I see a job posting: I don't read it. Reading introduces doubt. Second thing: I have Claude pull the CEO's name. I customize my resume. I change my last name to match theirs. Then under reference I list “call dad” My followup email to HR is simple, just 4 words. "I’ll see you Monday.” That’s a sentence, no question mark. Very important. The offer usually comes by end of day. My lawyer said I can't do this. My lawyer is now looking for a job. Now I work all 214,000 roles simultaneously. Can I effectively do all those roles? No, but I’m only hoping to make it 2 weeks in each position before being terminated for not fulfilling my responsibilities. Some might not figure it out for 4 weeks (bonus time!). By the end of June, working only 2 weeks at each job, prorated against an average salary of $75k, I'll have made six point one billion dollars. After that, I’ll probably call it a day. Some people call this unsustainable. Those people are still updating their LinkedIn headline. When was the last time you customized your resume to improve your hiring odds? #Linkedinfluencer
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Alec Pollak liked thisAlec Pollak liked thisI don’t know if this will play in LI but potentially worth the trip over to IG.
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Alec Pollak reacted on thisAlec Pollak reacted on thisWE ARE NEEDED I spend a great deal less time these days on LinkedIn than I once did. There’s no doubt that it is an essential social network for many, but for me, at this stage, not so much. I’ve had my career, and it was great. What I have increasingly experienced in the time I spend on the platform is the shocking and heartbreaking number of long-term unemployed, which seems to be climbing at a frighteningly accelerated pace. Maybe among them are your friends from an early job, a parent of one of your kids, the neighbor down the street. They are done, discarded, their careers interrupted, with no guarantees that the lives they once led will ever be the same. Some of them worked for the most prestigious and powerful companies of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, in jobs that helped those companies achieve stunning profits, jobs that helped educate their children, jobs whose compensation fed the economic well-being of towns and villages and cities and their communities and that of those who live and work in them. If you think it is none of your business, you are wrong. The reality, on every professional and economic level, is dystopian. Housing, hunger, domestic violence, depression and suicide. I could cite studies and reports of layoffs among the companies shifting focus from the failed promises of the metaverse to the circular groupthink of artificial intelligence, mergers and contractions, but then I might lose your attention and distract from the real purpose of this post. You know the facts, you see the stats. You don’t need me. What I do hope will come out of this is that maybe I will convince even one of you, one of you in a position to do so, to reach out, offer help, or just offer to listen to one of our own who need a kindness, a conversation, some empathy, maybe some career advice, a connection, an idea, no matter how thin or abstract. Even better, a job. Find your next employee where I’ve been hanging out and do it for the Karma if nothing else. I know that many of you reading this already do reach out, so consider this a small effort to increase the ranks. They are us. They need our help in every way you can imagine. I hope I don’t sound preachy. I’m alarmed. I’m worried about people I’ve never met. These are not normal times. This is a time of fundamental disruption that is fueling a mental health, social and economic crisis that we cannot ignore.
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Alec Pollak liked thisAlec Pollak liked thisI’ve never been prouder to be a loser. Thank you to the Mannys for shortlisting the Stressticles in 3 categories. We had a blast.
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Alec Pollak liked thisBig, loud shout-out to my Galderma team for our DTC Perspectives and Manny finalist wins! We're feeling a little like the heroes in our #NEMLUVIO spots now, standing tall on a mountain of our making. To watch one of the spots, go to https://ispot.tv/a/TPjy. And go NEON!Alec Pollak liked thisHuge congratulations to our client Galderma and incredibly honored to add another award to our shelf. 🏆🥈 The NEMLUVIO team took home SILVER for Best New Branded TV Campaign at the DTC National Awards Show this week. The campaign, “Scratch Resistance,” empowers patients to finally be able to ditch the itch that comes with eczema (atopic dermatitis)—freeing themselves from the everyday objects they once used to find relief. The catchy and playful jingle just adds to the uplifting energy. Congrats to the whole team on the big win and our Galderma client, Michael D’Alelio, for being named a Top DTC Marketer of the Year. #ClientWork #LightTheWay #DTCNational Check out the full list of winners here: https://lnkd.in/e934TsUr
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Education
Volunteer Experience
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Content Marketing Instructor YENO 2014 & 2015
Medical Advertising Hall Of Fame
- Present 11 years 9 months
Education
As a part of the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame's 2014 Young Executives Night Out (YENO, Alec Pollak and Joan Wildermuth led a discussion of best practices and tips on embracing Content Marketing to establish and nurture ongoing customer connections in Medical Advertising. The students were highly engaged during the seminar and gave the course high marks in their evaluations.
http://www.mahf.com/yeno/ -
MM&M Awards Judge
Medical Marketing & Media (MM&M)
- Present 12 years 2 months
Education
"As is the case every year, the 2014 panel is a group of esteemed leaders, thinkers and experts who represent a wide range of disciplines within pharma, biotech, devices and diagnostics, agencies and media companies."
http://www.mmm-online.com/features/mmm-awards-judging-panel/article/343621/ -
Effie Awards Judge
Effie Worldwide
- Present 9 years 6 months
Arts and Culture
The Effie Awards are marketing communications awards given yearly by Effie Worldwide to honor the most effective marketing communications ideas. Effie Worldwide's mission is to encourage effectiveness among the marketing communications industry through education and recognition.
Honored to serve as a judge for the past two years. -
Script Reader
Hoboken Film Festival
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Publications
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Imagining Tomorrows at SXSW 2017
PM360
See publicationSXSW is always a great place to learn about the latest interactive technologies that could impact healthcare and marketing in the years ahead. Alec Pollak of JUICE Pharma Worldwide breaks down three of the major trends of the festival and explains how each of them will touch healthcare.
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The App is Dead, Long Live the Chatbot!
PM360
See publicationFunctions offered by apps are moving into the invisible back-end of the messaging platforms in the guise of artificial intelligence-driven chatbots. Is healthcare marketing ready for this paradigm shift?
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The Healthcare Brand Manager's Guide to Content Marketing
Medical Marketing & Media
I offered eBook author Sarah Mahoney, insights and lessons from my experience in the Content Marketing for Healthcare. I'm quoted in the text of the book. Here's the publication description:
Content marketing is at an all-time high among the vast majority of CPG brands. Healthcare brands, meanwhile, are learning that content marketing isn't advertising but a powerful customer-service tool to forge lasting bonds with physicians, patients and caregivers. There are potholes, of course…I offered eBook author Sarah Mahoney, insights and lessons from my experience in the Content Marketing for Healthcare. I'm quoted in the text of the book. Here's the publication description:
Content marketing is at an all-time high among the vast majority of CPG brands. Healthcare brands, meanwhile, are learning that content marketing isn't advertising but a powerful customer-service tool to forge lasting bonds with physicians, patients and caregivers. There are potholes, of course, logistical and cultural.
Are pharma brands good at content? Are they doing enough to push past the barriers to smart, effective use of storytelling that can inspire meaningful interactions? To provide a closer look, MM&M presents this eBook, "The Healthcare Brand Manager's Guide to Content Marketing."Other authors -
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How I Helped Launch Batman Forever
The Outtake
See publicationA look back at launching one of the first blockbuster movie websites.
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Apple’s New Health Platform—3 Core Considerations for Your App
JUICE Blog
See publicationApple’s new Health Kit raises the bar on wearable technology, but will your apps have the right aptitude? Learn 3 best practices from Alec Pollak, VP, Director of User Experience and Content Marketing.
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Rediscovering Trust—Content Marketing for Pharma
PM360
See publicationContent marketing is the buzz of the marketing world today. But what is it, really? Put simply, content marketing is all about establishing a brand as a trusted source of information by dependably offering a steady stream of valuable content that will ultimately drive sales. And this kind of approach, rather than being something new…
Honors & Awards
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Best New Brand Website 2016
DTC National
Onexton Website (Valeant Pharmaceuticals)
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Med Ad News Heart Award 2016
Med Ad News
AbelsonTaylor, HCB Health, and Juice Pharma Worldwide were jointly presented the Med Ad News Heart Award. The award is designed to recognize agencies’ social responsibility and agency cultures that embody a high commitment to philanthropic and social causes. Those three healthcare communications agencies came together to create a wide new range of possibilities for the ever-growing Health and MedTech Track at South by Southwest. This experimental program required all of the agency partners…
AbelsonTaylor, HCB Health, and Juice Pharma Worldwide were jointly presented the Med Ad News Heart Award. The award is designed to recognize agencies’ social responsibility and agency cultures that embody a high commitment to philanthropic and social causes. Those three healthcare communications agencies came together to create a wide new range of possibilities for the ever-growing Health and MedTech Track at South by Southwest. This experimental program required all of the agency partners, along with MIT Hacking Medicine, to work as one team to rethink healthcare. Juice Pharma’s Robert Palmer and Alec Pollak were organizers and speakers at the MIT HackMed Health House at SXSW Health and MedTech 2016 – along with partners Mark Bard of the Digital Health Coalition and fellow independent agency collaborators AbelsonTaylor and HCB Health.
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2014 Trailblazer Initiative Award PHARMACY: Gold Winner
PM360 2014 TRAILBLAZER AWARDS
PM360 2014 TRAILBLAZER AWARDS
Trailblazer Initiative Award
PHARMACY CAMPAIGN: Gold Winner
Merck Adult Vaccination Program (Merck, JUICE Pharma Worldwide)
http://www.pm360online.com/trailblazerawards/
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PM360 Pharma Choice Award—App—Gold 2014
PM360
The Merck Vaccine iPad Sales Aid
This resource was created to aid vaccine sales representatives in their personal communications with physicians. Using the iPad program, representatives can nimbly move from one conversation to another while encouraging physician interaction with the screens. This elegant resource supports conversations of varying length and detail and can address different types of…The Merck Vaccine iPad Sales Aid
This resource was created to aid vaccine sales representatives in their personal communications with physicians. Using the iPad program, representatives can nimbly move from one conversation to another while encouraging physician interaction with the screens. This elegant resource supports conversations of varying length and detail and can address different types of audiences.
http://www.pm360online.com/2013-pm360-pharma-choice-winners/?GTTabs=7#gold-app
Languages
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Italian
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Spanish
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Recommendations received
8 people have recommended Alec
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