Tom Morrissy of Noble People: Why This Media Agency Rejects $50 Million Clients

In this episode of CMO Weekly, host Hailey Culver sits down with Tom Morrissy, the Chief Growth Officer at Noble People—an independent media agency that lives by a simple philosophy: "No Bullshit". Tom shares how his agency, born out of creative powerhouses like Droga5, is disrupting the traditional media landscape by treating media strategy as a "hack to growth" through the fusion of creativity and analytics.Whether you’re a marketing leader, an aspiring media planner, or an entrepreneur looking to scale, Tom’s insights on media disruption and individualized brand journeys are a masterclass in modern growth strategy.📌 In This Episode, You’ll Learn: The "Media Agency for Creative People": Why Noble People views media as a creative canvas rather than just a spreadsheet exercise. Creativity as a Growth Hack: How blending left-brain analytics with right-brain creativity leads to smarter, more efficient brand growth. Breaking Through AI Anxiety: How Noble People uses over 150 internal AI tools to accelerate work rather than fear disruption. The "Smoke Weed with Jeff Sessions" Campaign: Behind the scenes of a viral, award-winning campaign that utilized clever media placement in D.C. and Arizona. Career Advice for "Hand Raisers": Why being the person who says "yes" to more responsibility is the fastest way to rise in the advertising industry.🕒 Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: Meet Tom Morrissy and Noble People. 05:45 – The Noble People Philosophy: "No Bullshit" Media. 12:30 – Why Independent Agencies are Winning in 2025. 18:15 – Balancing Brand vs. Performance with the "Budget Balancer" tool. 24:40 – Case Study: Creative Media in Action (The Jeff Sessions Billboard). 28:44 – Closing Advice: How to get started in the marketing industry.🔗 About Tom Morrissy & Noble People:Tom Morrissy is a media industry veteran known for his background in digital media, publishing, and advertising revenue leadership. As Chief Growth Officer, he leads strategy for Noble People, which recently saw 30% revenue growth and was recognized as a top independent firm at the 2025 Ad Age Small Agency Awards. Brought to you by Open Fortune: Put your brand inside actual fortune cookies! Visit openfortune.com to learn more. Subscribe to CMO Weekly: Don’t miss an episode of the world’s top marketing leaders uncovering bold moves and breakthrough ideas.#Marketing #CMO #MediaStrategy #GrowthHacking #Advertising #NoblePeople #CMOWeekly