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.

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