You have joined Dow Goodfolk with 20+ years of marketing and sales experience under your belt – now you’ve gone rogue to move agency side, what’s been the most surprising thing you’ve found about working here?
To be honest, while I knew Dow Goodfolk's reputation well, and had worked with Annie and Greg in the 1990’s when working for DB, I was slightly taken aback with the sheer number of well-known NZ brands that Dow has worked with over the last 25 years. To have so much experience and knowledge in the business is a bit staggering, but ultimately was one of the key drivers for me making the move.
Having worked with many different industries, what do you see as being the biggest challenges facing many of today’s businesses?
The disruption facing the world today across all business channels is the most obvious challenge. Just think about the last ten years – whether it's Apple’s product disruption, Spotify’s or Uber’s business model disruption, or 4G/5G which has and will continue to disrupt the communication space. This combined with the pace of change and the speed at which companies like Amazon, Facebook or Google have grown is frightening. So in this always-on world, an obvious challenge is how do you take a long term view on investing in your brand and an everyday view on how you interact and engage with your customers.
… and because we know you love problem-solving, what do you see as some of the big opportunities in brand that can help push a business onto the winner’s podium?
I’m a big believer in investing in your brand, and for me it all starts with finding your ‘Why.’ That single-minded unique heart of your brand that becomes the platform for all your brand activity. If you can get that right, your business is ahead of the game.
Speaking of winning, we know you are a bit of a sports fan. Is there any sports personality or team that you’d love to work with on their brand?
I have always loved Nike. That a company which basically grew from a cohort of athletes in Oregon, can grow into, and continue to be, such a massive global business is pretty inspiring.
When you’re not meeting with clients, or in the office planning world domination, what do you like to do to pass the time?
Definitely spending time with my family. With two young children who are 10 and 7, they take up much of my spare time. But I’m also active playing tennis and football year round. And we live next door to Westhaven and the Viaduct, so most mornings you can find me walking around there with my headphones on listening to Joe Rogan or RNZ.
Good things come in threes. What three attributes do you think are the most important to be a successful GM in a creative services business?
Our business like most others is about people, so the relationships you build outside the business and how you support and mentor the team inside the business. So listening, empowering and empathy come to mind pretty quickly.
We’ve seen you zipping around on a scooter to avoid the Auckland traffic, but what would be your dream mode of transport?
That’s it. My Vespa 300cc GTS.
Rumour has it your wife has a skincare business. What’s your daily routine and your top skincare tips to keep looking young?
I’m afraid I missed that boat many, many moons ago. There is no way back!