Born: Tokyo, Japan
Worked in: Hong Kong, Boston, Dallas, Austin, Cincinnati
Lived in: Taipai, Hong Kong and the United States. He also speaks Mandarin, English and Pig Latin.
Michael Stich has been recognized as an expert who is able to distill complex phenomena into simple, elegant frameworks that inform decision-making. He is tremendously proud of Brand Ventures, a new model of agency ventures that brings emerging digital innovations together with agency capabilities and client relationships. “The goal is to invest with our clients and start-ups, resulting in accelerated innovation and shared success. It’s the first instance of investment between agency and investor, providing a new source of value between the two.”
What role does innovation play in your marketing strategy today? “Innovation is the 3rd leg to a great landscape assessment along with customer and competition. It serves as a backdrop to inform any great strategy.”
What is the biggest challenge you face in applying innovative thinking to international projects? “Different innovations are adopted by different markets at different times. The challenge is identifying which technologies are ripe for adoption in what markets at any given time.”
Dictionary definitions aside, how would you characterize innovation in the work you do? “I apply process innovation to define and execute, organizational innovation to ensure we scale our portfolio of service beyond the agency, and strategy innovation to allow us to inform the c-level executives of the impact of digital.”
Any other interesting aspects to your international background?Michael was raised as a “third culture kid,” which has been defined as “someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture." Due to this upbringing, Michael is able to bring a unique intercultural perspective in order to solve problems across borders and cultures.