Bottlenecks, briefing and flaming burgers

What happens when Superside CMO Jen Rapp joins the Marketing Millennials Podcast for a spirited conversation about why creative teams are burned out? Find out.
Love The Marketing Millennials podcast? So does Superside CMO, Jen Rapp. When she was invited to come talk about the struggles of in-house creative teams, her podcast-bucket-list-moment turned into an insightful look into the inner workings of internal creative teams.
In addition to how she became an accidental marketer, she shares why these teams are so stressed, how to better communicate with creatives right from the start and why you can’t always predict what will perform—the flaming burger edition.
One of the most overlooked challenges, bottlenecks
As someone who has been running creative teams for the last 10 years, the biggest problem creatives face today is bandwidth.

First, there was digital transformation, now there’s AI. These days, creative teams are asked to produce more than ever—a time when they’re also the most under-resourced.
With more creative requests coming in than creative flowing out, the creative team becomes a bottleneck. If Queen’s Under Pressure is starting to play in your head, it’s no accident. When workflows break down, so do the people—the creative team and the teams they serve.
🎙️Audiophiles, here's the episode link.
Start with a really strong brief
A great brief isn’t just a task list—it’s a roadmap, a vibe check and a creative spark all in one.
Give clear directions. Show examples. Reference styles, moods and inspirations. If you say, "Make it fun," expect a thousand interpretations. But if you say, "Coachella meets Disneyland," they’ll know exactly where to go.
Creatives thrive with direction, not guesswork. The more context you provide, the faster they’ll get it right—and the better the final outcome will be.
You can’t always predict what actually performs
True story: When Rapp joined DoorDash, she saw this outdated direct mail piece—a flaming burger flying through space in a cringe-worthy design. She thought, never again. Turns out, it was the highest-performing mailer ever. Nothing trendy or polished could beat it.
Lesson learned? Data over ego. Instead of reinventing the wheel, she reflects that she should have asked. “Why is this working? How do we build on it?”
Great marketing isn’t about personal taste—it’s about knowing what resonates and leaning into it.
Ex-copywriter turned content strategist with two decades of creative chaos under her belt. She's helped scale content, brands and frozen pies—yes, really. Now? She empowers creatives to work smarter, not smaller.
You may also like these

Why your graphic design RFP should include AI
The hours of research and preparation you put into a graphic design RFP, helps you build an in-depth framework for the ideal creative services partner.But, before you hit send, there’s another acronym to consider: AI.Not because 96% of creative leaders believe that AI will save time, 93% think it’ll improve quality or that 90% say their executive team understands the impact.Beyond saving time and money—AI lets you seize more opportunities.How AI opens doors
5 steps for comparing graphic design RFP responses
Enterprise companies use graphic design requests for proposals (RFPs) as part of a coherent, systematic process for evaluating prospective outsourced creative partners.Once a creative services RFP has been issued and the prospective partners have submitted their responses, it’s time to objectively compare these bids based on key criteria ranging from the quality of the creative to how each partner best supports your team.In this article, I’ll provide an overview of five main steps in comparing RFP responses.5 steps for comparing creative service RFP responsesExperience has taught me that evaluating RFP responses can be broken down into five steps—providing a repeatable framework that you can continually leverage and refine to find ideal creative partners.
The bold, the brave, the builders: Tips from Superside’s Insider summit
What does it take to build campaigns that resonate, scale and actually move the needle? At Superside’s Insider Summit, we got the answer straight from the source.Four bold creative leaders—Ty Haney (Outdoor Voices, Try Your Best), Andrei Vexler (Shopify, Kaseya), Udi Ledergor (Gong) and Maureen Carter (Nike, BET Networks)—pulled back the curtain on the strategies, systems and mindsets behind some of today’s most iconic marketing moves.From building community into a $100M growth engine to crafting scrappy stunts that look like they have Super Bowl budgets, the sessions were filled with actionable ideas and personal insights from the people who’ve actually done the work. These weren’t rehearsed case studies. They were the candid truths and hard-earned lessons behind breakthrough creative.Here are the biggest takeaways from the summit.1. Community is the new growth engine