The Designer Who Makes the Future Feel Inevitable | Brian Collins (COLLINS)

About this episode

Brian Collins discusses how design drives business transformation and the importance of branding.

Brian Collins, co-founder of COLLINS, joins the show to break down how design actually drives business transformation. COLLINS has won the Ad Age Design and Brand Agency of the Year or Business Transformation Agency of the Year seven times, and has helped shape brands like Spotify, Airbnb, Robinhood, and The Coca-Cola Company. In this conversation, Brian explains why advertising makes things famous while design makes them useful, and how the best brands win by doing both. He shares his philosophy of “making the future irresistible so it becomes inevitable,” and what that looks like inside COLLINS, a consultancy-studio hybrid that helps companies imagine and build their next chapter. We get into the Up&Up transformation at Target, how great packaging should live in your home, and why most brands are designed to sell instead of to last. Brian also breaks down what actually builds long-term client relationships, the role of trust in creative work, and the difference between having a job and building a career. If you care about branding, design, and where the industry is going next, this episode is a masterclass from one of the most respected thinkers in the space. More from…

People in this episode

Host: Breaking and Entering Media

Guest: Brian Collins

Topics covered

• design
• business transformation
• branding
• advertising
• client relationships
• packaging

Keywords

• design
• business transformation
• branding
• advertising
• client relationships
• packaging
• trust

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: COLLINS, Spotify, Airbnb, Robinhood, The Coca-Cola Company, Target

More episodes of Breaking and Entering Advertising Podcast

• What This Agency Founder Wishes He Knew Earlier | Sam Slaughter, Founder of Lighthouse Creative · June 10, 2026 · 33 min
• Advertising Isn't Dying. You're Just Listening to the Wrong People. | Ad Legend Chuck McBride · June 3, 2026 · 40 min
• Patrick Coffee on the Real State of Advertising · May 27, 2026 · 42 min
• What Top Creative Directors Want From Entry-Level Talent · May 20, 2026 · 13 min
• The Manifesto Expert Behind Apple, Meta & Nike’s Greatest Brand Writing Secrets | Lonnie Elliot · May 13, 2026 · 39 min
• Todd Condie on Leaving Law Behind for a Career in Advertising · May 6, 2026 · 30 min