Poisiton: head of brand creative and digital, Gocompare.com
Date of Birth: 12/05/81
Describes himself as: Ambitious, creative and fun.
Q: What are the biggest marketing challenges you face?
A: The volume and diversity of the data we collect and receive presents us with a huge opportunity, but the challenge lies in making sure we use it in a meaningful way.
Q: What attracted you to marketing as a profession?
A: I’d liked the thought of making ads from a young age, and this interest grew while I was studying marketing at university. It was the creative aspect of marketing that initially whetted my appetite, but I became increasingly attracted to measuring campaign success early in my career, which went hand-in-hand with digital.
Q: Describe your typical day?
A: The duality of my role means there’s no such thing as a typical day. I work with numerous agencies, review creative and analyse data most days. Dealing with Wynne Evans, aka Gio Compario, is a full-time job in itself.
Q: In your view what are the biggest trends impacting your business?
A: Technology, and more specifically the way in which people consume media, is a lot different now compared with a couple of years ago. The difficulty comes in measurability and trying to maximise the opportunity this presents.
Q: Are there any trends or new media platforms you believe are overrated?
A: No, each business has to work out what works best for it and the customers it wants to reach.
Q: How are you changing the media channels you use to better reach your consumers?
A: We operate a test-and-learn approach to ensure we reap the full value of the channels in which we operate. If something isn’t working, we change it.
Q: What are your most admired brands and why?
A: I really like Virgin. It’s innovative, a bit cheeky and highly creative with its messaging. This has resulted in a brand that people aspire to be customers of, which is the dream for any marketer.
Q: What is your most admired piece of advertising or communications and why?
A: Cadbury’s "Gorilla", as it was a big risk and an ad based on pure creativity. It shows the power of creative thinking versus working toward a tightly controlled, specific brief.
Q: What skills do you think are most important to get ahead in marketing today?
A: Foresight, and being able to anticipate trends and take advantage of them, is crucial. The flexibility to change – suddenly, if required – goes hand-in-hand with this.