Bio

I have worked in the branding, communications, design and research fields for 25 years. Over that time, I’ve held business leadership roles including CEO Australia for Edelman (the world’s largest PR consultancy), MD Australia for Designworks (a leading Australasian multi-disciplinary design firm), MD Australia for The Leading Edge Most (a respected international research and strategy boutique), and variety of roles over 12 years with FutureBrand (a global brand consultancy), including Strategy Director, Managing Director of Australia and Singapore, and Chief Growth Officer, Asia-Pacific. I originally trained and qualified as a lawyer at Monash, also have an Arts degree with a philosophy major and postgraduate qualifications in marketing from RMIT. For several years I was as an Adjunct Professor to the School of Design at Swinburne University. I’ve provided expert evidence on brand in high profile trademark litigation, regularly judge the Effies (Australian Advertising Effectiveness Awards) and the Australian Good Design Awards, and have judged the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards. Some of my milestone projects include the rebranding of Swinburne University in the 90s (the first of 10 unis I’ve now worked with and my first taste of big branding projects), the branding of BHP Billiton, the branding of Australia for Tourism Australia, brand strategy for Crown Melbourne, a major segmentation and portfolio strategy for Westpac’s retail banks and work with Telstra. My “special subjects” include country and destination branding, professional and financial services, education, retail, sports and design thinking. I have a professional interest in cultural insights and cognitive psychology, and personal interests in motorbikes, food, sci-fi and crime fiction.