Current Clients: AT&T, Symantec, BMC, Autodesk, Cisco
Born: London
Worked in: London
What role does innovation play in your marketing strategy today? Innovation is not about executing a wacky media idea; it is about constantly pushing boundaries to reach a target audience effectively and with impact. It requires clients who are prepared to take risks and to trust in an agency’s ability to deliver.
Why do people see you as an innovator? My role is to challenge the conventional. Clients are now used to me saying, “I know that’s what you want to do, but tell me what you want to achieve. When I understand these goals, we can then debate about how we can best do the project.” Media owners certainly now know that I will not accept the obvious. If it is not a new solution, I don’t want to hear it.
What is the biggest challenge you face in applying innovative thinking to international projects? Innovation in an international environment, such as crossing European borders, brings varying in-country constraints associated with implementation, strategy and creative availability. Preset budgets and briefs rarely provide much room for flexibility, and they are a challenge to true innovative thinking. We find that if we have conversations before briefs are set, or if we can work with a top executive with marketing vision, we can often achieve better results. A client’s trust in you makes all the difference.
Describe an innovative idea or business solution of which you are most proud. I am most proud of having spent 17 years applying international media strategy, and I have genuinely tried to be innovative during every working minute.
