Current Clients: Intel, Microsoft, Virgin Atlantic, Bacardi global brands
Born: London
Worked in: United Kingdom
Why do people see you as an innovator? Some people say that ink runs through their veins. Well, I bleed digital. New technology brings new platforms and marketing/communications techniques. Combine that with an ambitious or bold client, and there are plenty of opportunities to innovate.
What role does innovation play in your marketing strategy today? Many of the technological advances of recent years have given companies a much greater opportunity to compete, so innovation is a prerequisite of prosperity. Darwin couldn’t have put it better when he said, “It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”
What are biggest challenges you face in applying innovative thinking to international projects? 1. Getting involved early in the process. Some of the most innovative marketing programs have been effective because they’ve been deployed at a level that’s above campaign planning.
2. Generating usable insights. Some of the best innovations have been born out of breakthrough insights. I’ve helped drive our global studies on the democratized Web and the new mobile ecostructure. Although often costly, these exercises are worthwhile, as they have given rise to some unexpected and useful insights.
3. Budgeting for global marketing partnerships. Historically global budgets have been divided up across markets and deployed locally or regionally. The pre-eminence of properties such as Facebook, YouTube, MSN and MySpace means that sufficient allowance must be made to engage with them on a global basis.
Internationalist Trivia: Would being married to an Italian count? It certainly makes me more aware of cross-cultural misunderstandings!
