Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

I was lucky to have discovered the possibility of a career in advertising early enough that I studied it at university and took a graduate role in Client Services at McCann Manchester. Over a stint of 12 years, I learnt the ropes, worked across every sector under the sun selling clothes to lightbulbs, pharmaceutical medications to holidays – and eventually honed in on my ‘zone of genius’ (more about that below).

Somewhat unusual for an agency outside of London at the time – the creative, media planning, CRM / data teams and production studios sat in one location. It made for a great place to learn but also to work at the intersection of creative, media, channels and data. I saw how clients and agency teams alike often struggled to join up the dots to deliver integrated customer experiences and campaigns – and over time spent more and more time with clients, in their businesses, helping them to do just that.

I then left McCann and set-up The Right & The Left to help brands and businesses craft connected marketing strategies. Today, I spend my days helping brands (including JD Sports, Stonegate Pub Group, THG and Edwards Lifesciences) understand the world they’re existing in and what they need to do to better connect with their customers. It’s a mix of insights, marketing / commercial strategy, and comms planning.

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

In hindsight there were a lot of signs and feedback from people that should have directed me to this a lot quicker than I got there myself! But luckily a good few years back I was given a copy of The Big Leap. I sceptically read what looked to be a very American self-development book stuck in the 90s. The author introduces a concept: your ‘zone of genius’, of the importance of finding it, and the importance of using it throughout life.

It was this that got me honing in on my own ‘zone of genius’ – my ability to look at even the most complex of brands at a big picture level, dig into what’s going on and join the dots – whether that’s through insights to get them to a new positioning or joining siloed channels, content and messaging across the customer journey. It has without doubt become my strongest tool and the way I make the biggest impact on the businesses I work with.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

A lot of the time I’m taking clients’ challenges and providing a new lens or angle to look at them through. My greatest fulfilment often comes not from the end output, but from those 2 second moments where you see a spark, a realisation or excitement at what they can now do with their brand. I’ve had two only this week with an audio tech company (Warwick Acoustics) who’ve now realised the magnitude of what they’ve engineered, and a major streetwear retailer (JD Sports).

Aside from that, I have done a lot of work within health from pharmaceutical companies including Roche and Takeda to med tech (Edwards Lifesciences, Abiomed), consumer health (THG, Durex) and pharmacies (Well).

Whilst the pharma industry gets a bad rep, it does some amazing work behind the scenes. One of my favourite projects was for children with ADHD (for Shire Pharmaceuticals now part of Takeda). We created story books that helped children talk about, and better understand their condition and why they felt so different, using animals to personify some of the ways the disease manifests itself in what they say, do and feel. At the time it was innovative, and required a deep understanding of the condition through the eyes of a 7 year old to ensure the books connected. The process of meeting children and their families to build that insight, knowing we were doing something of real value, is something I’ll never forget.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

The work I love is the work that makes you smile to yourself because the insight behind it is so true of whichever group of humans it’s trying to connect with. A favourite example that I think really did this was Sport England’s This Girl Can. The fact it has run for several years and remains relevant, is testament to the thinking behind it.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

I very much doubt he’ll ever see this, but the first major influence was actually my art teacher at high school. He opened my eyes up to turning something I was talented at, but saw as a hobby, into the possibility of a real career. Early on, he gave me many windows into the creative industries, particularly advertising, endless opportunities and faux briefs (I wanted to be an architect!).

The other person who deserves a lot of credit is my first boss. He very much created a culture where thinking and ideas could come from anyone, regardless of job role – and encouraged me to follow what I was good at.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

In my earlier years, I found the industry as a whole to be quite pigeon-holed. Once you were in a department in an agency, it was hard to step sideways, or try something different.

I now spend some of my time mentoring people in the early years of their careers through programmes including Bloom North and Who’s Your Momma – and it’s something I’m still seeing a lot of people struggle to navigate. I really encourage everyone to explore the things that truly interest them, that they’re good at, and to never feel like they’re stuck on one path. I guess in other words, to find their own ‘zone of genius’.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

I think I’d already given that one away – I was all set to be an architect. For now, I’ll settle with some renovation projects instead.

Sarah Fleming is  Founder of The Right + The Left  

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

I have worked at creative marketing agencies, specialising in entertainment and gaming, for the last 16 years.

Having studied interactive media at Bournemouth University, I began my career as a web designer, responsible for updating and maintaining all of the Paramount Pictures UK and IE websites. At the same time, I dabbled in a bit of flash animation and actionscript. 

After a few years of doing that, I realised I was more suited to a role that involved people and client management, so transitioned into project management at Waste Creative, focusing on gaming, with SEGA as my main client.

After three years, I moved from Waste and had a two year stint at Mediacom as a senior PM leading their biggest account for EA games. As they say, the grass isn’t always greener and as much as I LOVED working with EA, and I’m a genuine fan of pretty much all of their games, I decided to return to Waste to plant my roots.

In the first six months back. I was part of a team that won a huge pitch to take over Supercell’s global digital advertising account for Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, and Clash Royale. That was six years ago, and from then till now I’ve helped grow the account and relationship to become Waste’s biggest client. We now work across Supercell’s full game portfolio, both Global and Beta (with the exception of the game Hay Day). Waste grew quickly and during this time I also moved from being a Senior Project Manager, to Account Director, and now to Business Director. 

Right now, I oversee a team of two Account Directors and four Account Managers, and together we’ve ridden the Covid wave and all the challenges that have come with it. We’ve delivered some cracking work across my two main accounts (Supercell and Riot), and the team morale and camaraderie couldn’t be better. 

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

I’m a good “people person”. This has allowed me to grow and retain strong client services teams as well as great long-term friendships and relationships with clients at all levels.

I pride myself in my ability to identify and convert opportunities that align closely with client objectives that subsequently help grow accounts.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

There are loads, however the global launch of Supercell’s Brawl Stars is the one I’m most proud of.

It was an 18-month long journey where we helped foster and grow an entirely new game community from the ground up. This culminated in a launch campaign where we deleted all of the social channels and pretended the game was being killed, only for us to then globally launch the game. High risk, high reward, and it paid off.

Most of the hype we generated was organic, with very little paid support. The campaign picked up multiple awards.

Brawlstars – Global Launch Case Study from Waste Creative on Vimeo.

We also recently delivered Supercell’s most ambitious developer update for Clash of Clans, which tied in with one of their biggest updates ever. Pretty epic. It was soon #1 Trending for Gaming, #31 Trending on YouTube, and has garnered 5.5 million views to date.

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Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

I would have loved to work on the FIFA global campaigns, especially the TV ads. There was a really epic one for FIFA 14, where all of the players are driving through the desert. I chose this mainly because I’m a massive FIFA and football fan… and I want to meet Messi.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

Throughout my career I’ve been mainly self taught, but in the early stages I received the most fruitful guidance that helped lay the foundations for my career.

I’d like to mention Felix Middleton, who gave me my first opportunity to work in the industry and taught me how to code!

Also Simon Coppleston (sadly no longer with us) who taught me the fundamentals of project management, some of which I still use to this day.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

The pace. The gaming industry can move at incredible speed, and you can’t really drop the ball most of the time. I’ve always been intrigued to understand what it would be like to slow down a little and see how that would affect output.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

I used to be a magician and child actor. I once auditioned to be Jim the Cabin Boy in Muppet Treasure Island.

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

I absolutely want to stay within gaming. I’m lucky enough to work in an industry that I live and breathe, and I’d never want that to change. In terms of progression, I’d like to get myself to Managing Director level within five years.

Harry Fairfax-Jones is Business Director at Waste Creative 

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

My career started 27 years ago at Dennis Publishing, where I worked at PC Pro magazine, and within a year, I’d moved over to their digital division to be the second person within the company to work in digital. Since then, my career has been one that has been lived and breathed in digital advertising. I’ve worked across major companies like Associated Newspapers, The Mirror Newspapers,  IAB, and many more, and I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a varied career within right at the heart of the industry. 

Then ten years ago this summer, I set up The Digital Voice PR agency. Initially, it was just me consulting on communications, and being the voice for companies as an individual.  Over the last three years, the business has grown to a wonderful team of 18 incredible experts who support our B2B adtech and martech clients. We deliver their PR, comms, awards, events, podcasts, everything. We help share their voice through every platform and every piece of content and messaging.

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

My strongest tool without a doubt is my energy. Energy is what powers me to get up at 5am every day to fill in as much as possible within my day; for both my company and for my family. Energy is also at the heart of The Digital Voice. We are known for having boundless energy and that makes me incredibly proud that I’ve also got a team that reflects that value. 

Our values are to improve it, own it and above all, love it and our team puts bucket loads of energy into everything we do. Hopefully that stemmed from me as a leader, demonstrating how important that skill is.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

It’s actually been one that’s just happened this week. Our team at The Digital Voice has been involved with the launch of GumGum into Europe. It’s been a massive team effort all across the global team at GumGum and for our team to deliver their Mindset Matrix, a new framework for showing how to have true contextual understanding, smart ad creatives, attention measurement and optimisation. What’s been really exciting to see during the launch is just how many different elements we have combined to achieve a huge impact. From a new website to  thought leadership, press news, comments, plus creative social posts, carousels, infographics, a month-long series of events for contextual month with The Drum and a series of virtual experiences. 

I’m incredibly proud of GumGum and our team  at The Digital Voice for delivering such a comprehensive launch.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

What springs to mind is the Specsavers campaign that’s just run on an OOH campaign. It was genius. It reflected the tone and the messaging of Specsavers. It was clear; it was relatable and it added an element of humour in a time when we most needed it. One thing that really comes out with Specsavers: you can think Specsavers, and you think of that strapline. And we always say to our clients, how do you say what you do in one line? How do you say what you do in 140 characters? Really know your voice. Be bold, be brave, be you. And that’s what I think Specsavers and lots of other brands, including many of our own clients, do so well.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

So many people have influenced my career. The management team 27 years ago at Dennis publishing, from Susan Ramage to Pete Wootton to my team members like Julian Lloyd Evans, Mandy Critchley, Guy Sneesby – so many people back at Dennis Publishing! Then throughout my career, all of my co founders of the Digital Leading Ladies are incredible. And now I’m head of PR and impact at a professional network called Bloom UK; so every day, I’m being influenced by the leadership team there and especially the senior leadership team of Karen Carter, Samantha Frankel, Caroline Mastoras and Sophia Durrani.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

One thing that stands out has to be the gender pay gap. I find it strange. I’ve never paid a man or a woman more or less. I have paid the person and the role, the amount that it deserves and it warrants – irrespective of their gender. I find it bizarre that in 2022, we’re still having this conversation.

Let’s hope next year, it’s not “breaking the bias” on International Women’s Day. It will hopefully be  “broke the bias” or not even mentioned because it no longer exists as a problem.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

People are often surprised at how very short I am, considering I am very noisy. In fact, it’s  where the name The Digital Voice actually came from.

But I’m five foot one. So small but very loud.

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

This is an easy one as I have such a clear vision for The Digital Voice. The team I have now is the team that I want by my side in five years time. And in fact the clients we work with are the clients we want by our side in five years time. Many of them have already been with us for years and years; they become part of The Digital Voice family. 

The next step is bringing in more technology, more content partnerships, more team training and creative solutions that really help our clients. First up, we are investing on podcast technology to enable our clients to produce podcasts with our teams as producers. Every year, I will layer on new technology and new expertise needed to drive The Digital Voice forward to be the very best we can as a small, but perfectly formed B2B ad tech agency.

Julia Linehan is Founder & Managing Director The Digital Voice

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far

I was the first person in my family to pursue a career in the creative industry. I grew up in a small London commuter town and always felt like I was out on a limb. That all changed a few years into my art school education when I found a community of misfits who thought differently. I loved it (and them) and that environment has guided how, where and with whom I’ve worked over the last 26 years. 

I cut my teeth in book design and corporate literature then quickly switched gear into branding and brand experience. Later, I fell in love with packaging design and now I’ve found the perfect fit at StormBrands in combining all that knowledge.

I’ve been lucky over the years, I’ve worked at great agencies, with super-talented people on interesting but challenging briefs, not a bad way to earn a living!

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

The fear of failure is a strong motivator every day. But I guess the strongest tool in my skillset is the combined experience of many years spent working across the creative disciplines giving me perspective and allowing me a 360°view on things. 

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

The repositioning and repackaging of Kenwood is a career highlight of mine. More recently, I was involved in creating the new visual identity for the Black in Business association for London Business School. It’s not often you get a chance to do great work that has a positive social impact. I am very proud of the team in delivering such a simple but effective solution. It’s a powerful piece of work.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

Wow, what a question and kind of impossible to answer. I am suitably envious of so many pieces of work – the envy is the engine that keeps me creating. So…safer to choose an event which I guess you could class as ‘a piece of work’ – The opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. I remember looking on nervously for the first 10 minutes, then I got swept away with the emotion of it all and was completely moved to tears by the end. It was just such a great moment of optimism, so beautifully executed and masterfully directed. Bravo Danny Boyle and team. Missed a trick though Danny not inviting Susan Boyle, that could’ve been interesting!

London Olympics 

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

Impossible to name one, so here’s an attempt at 5 notables, for their single-minded vision, talent, entrepreneurialism and bravery:

Neville Brody, Sean Perkins, Gary Withers, Adrian Caddy, Wally Olins CBE

Neville Brody

Sean Perkins

Adrian Caddy

Wally Olins

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

Problem solving takes time. Things were pacey back in 1995, now client expectations have compressed that even further. We’re very agile at Storm and always lean into work to hit deadlines, but I always wonder what the outcome would have been if we had the time to incubate our thinking more. Typical creative answer I know.

Also, the pre-occupation of digital, it’s just a channel like anything else. It still requires all the rigour, discipline and good ideas to create compelling connected content that answers the why? The best examples do just that.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

I would love to do stand-up or write for comedy. Having a good sense of humour helps me through the long hours and the uncertainty of the times we are all living through. One day…

Comedy General 

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

Right now I am enjoying growing and nurturing the team of super-stars we have at Storm and I’m eager to see how I can help create a platform for the new generation of talent to succeed. Let’s see where that goes. 

Tony Coppin is Executive Creative Director  StormBrands 

Q. Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

Am a graphic designer and founded SW19 Design and Print in 2004 with the aim of providing a friendly and cost effective solution for businesses who need professional printing, on time and on budget.  Started in Devon from home in 2004 and restarted in London 2015.

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

As a former professional cricketer, I have a laid back but highly focused style that permeates in my approach to the design & printing business.

People say they love to work with me and my team of professional printers and come back time & time again for more work as shown by the testimonials on our website. Why? Because running my own printing plant ensures the highest printing quality and that deadlines are always met, even those last minute deadline jobs.

16 Years later SW19 Design and Print is a force to be reckoned with; from small one off business cards to printing the vast Argos Catalogue, we continue to provide that personal service that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

You could say: “Am anally precise on quality”

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

 WWE work as its colourful, exciting and testing but high quality. Has foiling, spot uv, soft touch laminating, roll up banners, banners, posters and best all has to be translated to French too.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

Would love to have an election design and print job.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

My wife Kavitha Joshi is a calming and a hugely positive and inspiring influence in my life.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

A mantra that I have actively followed is finding solutions and not problems for clients. I wish we could adopt this more as an Industry.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

I absolutely love wildlife photography.

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

Somewhere without Covid.

Prakash Joshi is Founder and Creative Director at SW19 Design And Print

Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

I graduated from Falmouth College of Art in 1989 and moved to the Big Smoke, where I was lucky enough to work for The Conran Design Group and then for various agencies, large and small in scale, gaining experience across a diverse client range and multi disciplines, on a national and international level. I learnt so much during this time and had so much fun but I definitely felt the pull of the coast. So, I instinctively followed my heart, packed up, and returned to my first true love; Cornwall. I then set up Absolute in 1991, starting off in a tiny spare room in my rented flat, and have never looked back. 30 years later it’s been hard work, but it’s always been worth it!

Over the years, I have had some fantastic clients and worked on some really exciting projects, from five-star Caribbean holiday resorts, to a Premiership Football Club and much-loved household names such as Pizza Express and JD Wetherspoon. Myself, alongside my incredible team, have carried out award-winning work, such as our significant brand and interiors overhaul for Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen and the Watergate Bay Hotel, which was to go on to become one of the UK’s most stylish lifestyle destinations as a direct result. Between 1996 – 2002, whilst busy building Absolute, I also somehow found the time to lecture part time on both the Graphic Design and Journalism courses at Falmouth College of Art and Design. I have been a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers since 1996, and was a board director of the Design Business Association for 3 years.

If one business wasn’t enough, in 2008, my husband founded the property development company, Stephens + Stephens, which myself and Absolute take an active role in. We work collaboratively on Stephens + Stephens’ projects from inception to completion, adding a design led approach from architecture, interiors, branding and marketing to all developments. Stephens + Stephens is all about cohesive collaboration, offering the unique combination of architectural, building and multi-award-winning lifestyle and interior design capabilities. Together we have developed a whole new-wave style way of designing buildings, interiors and surrounding spaces with architectural and our signature Cornish life + style-driven longevity.

At 52 I am not sure I have another 30 years to commit to the creative industries [and I don’t think anyone would deny me a sun lounger somewhere hot one day!] but I am not planning to go anywhere yet…

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

As a self-confessed design geek, I would say it is the fact that I am multi-disciplined. I have worked in graphic design and branding for 30 years and interior design for more than 20 years. Combining the two, and also maximising consumer brand experience opportunities across both disciplines is something that I love to do.  I know that our clients love the multi-dimensional extra element that we bring to the work when we do both things together to work in complete synch.  That said, I can compartmentalise the two and we can always deliver major results when we are working purely on one of the disciplines. However, the extra ‘magic’ that can be delivered on a multi-layered brief continually excites and drives me.  

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

It is probably the work produced for a Chinese client wanting to launch a beer brand here in the UK in the early days of my business. Despite working on a tight budget, I was determined to take an innovative approach to develop a stand-out, cut-through brand identity for the client. I wanted to use the (then pioneering) clear label and screen printing approach which was relatively new in the 90s.  Hours of hand painting acetate for client proofs (pre the amazing digital world we now work in changing a colour took hours sometimes days!), the resultant design was simple but striking and culturally relevant, representing a Chinese New Year celebratory banner and using colours that signified power.

We launched this in London’s China Town, and the client wanted to hand out samples of beer to all who attended. I still remember spending hours with card trying to find a way of creating a ‘four pack’ for the beer bottles. With no budget for printing a set of chopsticks elevated the packs as well as holding them together!

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

I wish I had worked on the interiors of El Nacional in Barcelona. You walk into this place and it is so fabulously unexpected. I love how the team has created a really unique environment from an old garage with multiple zones where you can enjoy everything from a cocktail to seafood, meat, and cheese in the cheese bar. All perfectly reflect the rich social and cultural life of Barcelona and you can have an entirely different experience in each area – it really feeds the creative soul. Mingling through the space at leisure, for me, would be a Saturday afternoon lunchtime dream!

In terms of graphic design, this would have to be the identity for Habitat and their catalogues from the 60s using fabulous line art illustrations are still beautiful. They were really ground-breaking! The company’s rebrand in 2002 was also pretty brilliant. 

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

It has to be the legendary Terence Conran. Some of his ideas were so progressive and have stood the test of time, really pushing Britain forward in terms of influence in design.   I worked for him in 1989 and everything that I learned still informs and inspires my daily toil today.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

I absolutely love this industry. It is my passion but sometimes, I wish clients could more clearly see, and understand, the value of effective design. We have countless proven case studies that demonstrate a mammoth ROI and strongly believe that design is an investment, not a cost. It adds so much value, on so many levels and this should be recognised across the board.

I would also put a ban on websites that offer £10 logos as well as this is devaluing good design at every turn!!

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

My degree was in graphic design specialising in magazine design. My first interview out of University was at Vogue House. It was a valuable experience but it really did scare the life out of me and pretty much put me off working in magazines! I do often say though that there is a magazine in me still trying to get out – one day perhaps …

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

Still doing the same thing in the same beautiful place. Our passion for Cornwall is at the heart of everything we do as Absolute and also as my other property development company with my husband Paul – Stephens + Stephens.  

Cornwall has its own enigmatic ‘super power’, a sense of magic, and wonder, like that sparkling time as the sun either rises or sets over the endless ocean.  And I know that I am so lucky to live a life here and run a business.  It’s a place, and a life that I always feel an elemental pull towards, no matter what I am doing.  

Believe me Cornwall was a tough place to run a creative business 30 years ago, it took mountains of drive and tenacity to drill into businesses here the value of good design so seeing my beautiful Cornwall thrive makes me smile – a lot!

I also feel so fortunate to work with such an amazing team, with brilliant long standing creative collaborators and with ongoing and new clients.

Cornwall is now a continual hotbed of aesthetic and creative inspiration and we have a brilliant creative community of like-minded and inspiring collaborators here – and we all share that same elemental passion and energy for what we do here.

I love that my job allows me to learn something new every day. It is fantastic when the big, core, creative idea lands and the excitement that brings. I love celebrating our and our clients’ successes. I am so happy to still be here 30 years on – what else could I possibly want? 

 Helen Stephens is Founder and Creative Director  Absolute 

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

I ended up in the agency business by happenstance.

I thought I was going to work in international relations, solve the middle east peace crisis and perhaps win a Nobel Peace Prize. But, I landed in an agency 23 years ago and have never looked back. 

I started in my native Sweden as a project manager, which back in those days, included learning the trade from the ground up. Hence, I have been known to build a comp (this is oldskool ad-lingo for putting together a brochure prototype) or make changes in QuarkXpress. 

I moved to the US during the .com boom and started as an Account Executive at a San Francisco ad agency. In 2003, I resigned and started Skona and since then, my responsibilities have included client services and sales. In the last 3 years, Skona has grown up as a company which in turn has pushed me to start serving as the CEO.

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

I used to think it was my biggest weakness – having too much empathyI was afraid being too empathetic would make me ineffective.

Today, I have learnt the balance and understand that empathy more than anything, makes you human and encourages you to treat your colleagues as human beings. 

I now believe empathy is what enables me to successfully motivate and inspire the team, which today is my most important duty.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

In recent times, it’s being part of the team that helped build Snowflake’s brand and watching them go through the most successful largest software IPO…ever.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

There’s so much good, clever work out there but the Apple 1984 commercial has really stood the test of time.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

There was a CD at the agency when I first started that has really shaped how I think about the business. His enthusiasm for ideas and creativity was contagious, not just to the employees but also in pitches and to potential clients. Because of him, I’ve always valued the creative output and tried to protect the creative process and creative people.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

I’m working on bringing respect to the B2B parts of the business. I want young creatives to realize how amazing it is to work in B2B, as you’ll have to use both your analytical and creative mind. I wish young creatives would see that  creativity goes beyond Old Spice and Doritos. And to reflect that, we need more B2B categories in all the international competitions. 

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

I love the satisfaction that comes from producing things with my hands.  

I feel secretly proud when I can prove to myself that I’m self-sufficient… such as the ability to run a generator in a power outage or the satisfaction of growing my own vegetables or tiling a bathroom on my own. For me, a weekend is pretty much wasted if I can’t point to something ‘accomplished’ at the end of it.

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

I hope I’m still the CEO of Skona but at that point, we will have grown to be the biggest and best global B2B agency in the world.

Jenny Sagström is CEO and Founder of Sköna 

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

I started working at a social marketing agency when I was 20 and I learned the ways of digital marketing by helping brands like Spotify, Unilever, Schweppes, Disney and Microsoft. 

Now, aged 30, I have founded 3 businesses, worked in leadership positions at a few agencies, been in charge of travel destination brand on the client side and finally, I’ve found my way in a growing martech startup, Boksi, as the Director of Growth and Operations. 

Maintaining a steep learning curve has been my main ambition for the last decade.  At last, I can focus on building businesses using everything I’ve learned so far.  I hasten to add, my learning has not stopped, it is just different. 

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

Creativity. I am a numbers person, but a creative one. 

It took me a long time to figure out that it’s actually a very valuable asset and not a commodity.

I understand the big picture when it comes to how different businesses can grow.  Creativity helps me figure out how growth works for a particular client/business I’m involved with. At Boksi, the knowledge of content creation and media buying from my past experiences has been a key to success in this role because it helps refine the product-market fit. 

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

It has to be “Sound of Lapland“.  It’s a concept that binds together two of my passions:  Music & Travel.  With Sound of Lapland, we built a series of subconcepts and campaigns under the “big idea” of raising awareness to Finnish Lapland as a destination for travel, creativity and unwinding from a hectic city life which many people experience the world over. 

There were some really creative outcomes, such as launching a branded ambient album and creating a sound bank for producers. We also did a label collaboration where we brought a global artist on location. It was a one of a kind project for me personally.  I started planning the idea while working at an agency and later jumped to lead the project myself on the client side.  I basically had to take full responsibility for executing what I had planned. 

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

From a creative campaign production perspective, the first one that springs to mind would be “Epic Split” for Volvo Trucks. It’s a masterpiece of traditional creative advertising. The film integrates a challenging product usp, a creative idea and flawless execution. It’s as entertaining as it is Epic. 

On the other hand, it would have been fantastic to have been part of building a disruptive service like AirBnB or a phenomenon like Game of Thrones from scratch.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

Even if I didn’t clearly see the patterns here, I think it’s my dad. I’ve watched him be an entrepreneur in the advertising industry most of my life. I designed and published my first ads in a local newspaper when I was 11 years old with my dad’s help, so I would be biased if I said he didn’t have the greatest impact, even though I mostly look for advice from top industry experts and peers in my work circle these days.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

A few things.  The industry is still too focused on marketing communications rather than the other important areas of the mix. The 4P model is a good start. Also, showing bad advertising is still relatively too cheap. The auction mechanisms and algorithms are a fantastic cure for this problem. 

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

I help emerging artists in branding on a pro-bono basis. I want to help people at the beginning of their careers if I can, because that’s the hardest part of all.  You need to make it with scarce resources and little experience. It feels like I am giving back something I once got from somewhere else. 

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

I would like to be able to name a few big concrete ideas, which I’ve brought and successfully scaled-up to be a critical part of the business. After all, the work is all about contribution and I am always looking for ways to measure that. I’d like to see Boksi.com become a leading platform for custom-made content sourcing. 

Jesse Ketonen, Director of Growth and Operations, Boksi  

Source: MarComm News

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

My career has been wonderfully varied, from playing as a session musician, to working on the launch of the iMac, to working on start-ups as well as established businesses. I have been lucky to work across a variety of sectors and many territories. A constantly changing daily routine has been a luxury of my life. Working with so many great people and in so many boardrooms through the years has led to a great understanding of what makes a business great.

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

I’ve been told – and it resonates well with me –  that I have an ability to cut through the noise and the b*llsh*t to get clearly to the point of something, and then simplify it down into something very useable. I have also been fortunate to have gained a lot of business experience over the years, so being able to add the commercial understanding to what we do is very powerful.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

I don’t think I’ve done it yet, but we have a current project that launches in 2022 that I think is an epic reinvention of something that was great but has lost its sparkle. I have the pleasure of working with an incredible team at 0120 and with them, more often than not what we are currently working on rapidly becomes my favourite piece of work.

But to give an example of our work so far, I would say that the work we did for Robin Gill at Darby’s. While not obviously revolutionary once you understand Robin you would see that he is indeed a visionary man.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

I have always loved John West’s ‘nothing but fish’ campaign from 2000. So brilliantly simple. 

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

I think every company and every piece of work and every person has had an influence but my time at Siegel and Gale straight after Apple taught me everything that a great brand and a great agency should be about.

The former President and CEO of Siegel and Gale, Scott Lermen, taught me that people are more important than companies and if you can get the right people together then you are unstoppable.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

Where to start…?! There’s a revolution coming, we love the wake-up calls and they are coming quicker than even we thought. Covid has accelerated our beliefs but in reality nothing will be like the wakeup call that we will get from global warming.

It’s time for change, there is a better way, I firmly believe that. I thrive on the start-up mentality, and it’s time to leave the dinosaurs in the dust. Toys R Us, Tower Records, Blockbuster, Compaq, General Motors, all of these companies failed to react to changes in the world, technology and customer’s needs. Some have been reborn but others have died for good. Standing still is not an option. Have a vision and start today.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

My only formal training is in music, sailing and cooking! I also have a deep passion for working on new start up brands. My life has always been about the hustle, looking for opportunity and creating businesses around them.

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

I have a very clear plan for the next 5 years and it’s to take a completely different approach to the traditional agency model. I can’t say too much but the idea is to really sit at the top of the food chain.

It’s deeply engrained in me to search out a better way, a new way and to not pause or stop. Our industry has become very servient over the years when in reality we should be at the very start of every new venture.

Jake Mason is CEO and Founder at  0120

Q) Give us a brief insight into your career so far?

After over eight years in customer services it was time for me to shift into marketing. I enjoyed the comms and writing side of my former job and loved the idea of turning this skill to something more creative. I’ve also always been fascinated by brand building and the art of making them truly unique and recognisable. Since the career change, I’ve been lucky enough to  work on two re-brands. 

I’ve worked in a lot of corporate roles across a variety of industries (automotive, healthcare, hospitality), but decided I wanted something a little more rough around the edges where I could really get stuck in. I decided to make the jump to a tech start up and have been part of on demand laundry and dry cleaning service, Laundrapp, since early 2019.

Q) What according to you is the strongest tool in your skill set?

Those years in customer services have been a real asset as I think I’m really able to see things from the point of view of the customer. Working in marketing for a start-up means I’m across a variety of projects, from acquisition and CRM campaigns, to having significant input on the redesign and relaunch of the customer apps and website. Understanding the customer is invaluable in all cases. 

Q) What is your favourite piece of work that you have created? Or a favourite project that you were a part of?

That would have to be the recent Laundrapp brand refresh that we completed with sister agency, Neon. We went from a brand that was safe and, admittedly, forgettable, to one which is bright, punchy and bold – not what you’d usually expect from a dry cleaning business! We launched the new creative in a campaign with Mumsnet in June of this year and the new apps and website will follow in September.

Q) What is your favourite piece of work you wish you had done?

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was way ahead of its time. It launched in 2006, and well over a decade later, we’re still only now starting to see a shift in the way that beauty is being showcased by brands and in the media. It was another watershed moment to see Victoria’s Secret cancel their infamous runway show in 2019. People are looking for realness and inclusivity now more than ever.

Q) Who (if anyone) has been the greatest influence in your career?

My mum has been a huge inspiration. She left school at 16 to work at her local newspaper in a sleepy town in New Zealand, before working as a journalist and moving to Hong Kong to pursue her career in broadcasting. She’s now a global media exec.

Q) What would you change about the industry, if you could?

I would like to see more women and people of colour in senior leadership roles within marketing (and business generally). Without a range of diverse perspectives, we’re going to keep seeing the same story over and over.

Q) Tell us something that people wouldn’t necessarily know about you?

Much of my early life was spent travelling between New Zealand, my home country, and Hong Kong, where I lived and studied for eight years. It was such a privilege to experience and learn from these two wildly different cultures.

Q) Where would you ideally like to be in your career in the next five-years?

I’d like to be heading up the department, working alongside the leadership team within Inc&Co (Laundrapp’s parent company), or, within one of Inc&Co’s sister agencies.  

Angela Freeth is Laundrapp‘ Marketing Campaigns Manager