For\nsome people, “home” means the same house, in the same town since the\nday they were born, but not Fiona. For\nher, “home” means everything from Borneo to rural Scotland. As a result of these diverse childhood\nexperiences, Fiona was immersed in a wide range of different communities as she\nwas growing up. This sparked a\nfascination with what brings us together, what sets us apart and those deep\nhuman truths that cut across geographies, times and cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During\nthese travels, she was inspired and captivated by TV advertising and how these\n30-second films became a shortcut into culture, products and the lifestyles\nthat people aspired to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They were extremely handy when you needed a quick master class in what was cool and what was not,”<\/em> she explains.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n These\nwere clearly important life lessons. In\nAsia, Fi learned that condensed milk was best eaten poured onto a slice of\nbread, and in Australia when you eat a meat pie you put the ketchup in the hole\nin the middle! These and other local\nidiosyncrasies sparked a lifelong fascination for brands, connections and\nstorytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fast\nforward to the present, and Fi now has almost two decades of experience in creative\nbrand strategy and consultancy behind her, including an impressive eight years\nat AMV BBDO where she progressed from research assistant to board account\nplanner. She is a highly experienced\nqualitative researcher with a love of lateral thinking. Fiona’s passion lies in applying this lateral\nthinking creatively to tackle thorny strategic problems and innovation\nchallenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Collide insight with brands and smart creative thinking and you get into really exciting territory. There is nothing quite like that triumphant mental click as insight and opportunity align!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s\na proposition that has paid dividends and Fi has worked on a rich portfolio of\nbrands including Sainsbury’s, Rimmel, Mars, Unilever and PepsiCo, guiding them\nthrough the ever-changing world of marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Brand experience is no longer advertising and a box on a shelf – it is a fully transparent, values-driven full-on immersive experience.\u00a0 This is second nature to new or start-up brands, but an exciting and challenging opportunity for established global brands.\u00a0 People want solutions from brands that share their values and demonstrate characteristics they share or admire.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nwhat is it about marketing in 2019 that keeps her excited and engaged?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The\nnew focus on proactive and transparent values and behaviours – human to human\ninteraction. Brands need to know what\nthey stand for, being super clear and open about their strengths and\nweaknesses. It means ditching\ntraditional personas and \u2018core consumer’ speak – marketing has become personal. We interact with people, not consumers. It is now about interpersonal relationships,\nnot transactional manipulation. It is\ntime to start really focusing on the values and character strengths a brand and\na person have in common.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\nnow joins Brand Genetics as a Director of Strategy and she’s pretty excited\nabout it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I already knew Tom [Ellis] and Cliff [Fawcett] and I had always admired the unique combination of \u2018smart and heart\u2019 that Brand Genetics bring to their work.\u00a0 Smart thinking and happy people is both what Brand Genetics does, and how it does it.\u00a0 The positive human-centred philosophy is completely in line with my passions and perspective. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nshe’s already made a big impact in a short time, having successfully run\nprojects for Panasonic and Durex. But\nFi’s ambitions go beyond simply delivering client delight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I want to further our human-centred approach through both on- and off-line insight, and deepen our strategic input into our clients\u2019 business.\u00a0 Brand Genetics wants to continue bringing the latest positive psychology into its tools and techniques.\u00a0 Ultimately, I want to help our clients to grow their business by bringing positive happiness and fulfilment to the people their brands serve.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For some people, “home” means the same house, in the same town since the day they were born, but not Fiona. For her, “home” means everything from Borneo to rural Scotland. As a result of these diverse childhood experiences, Fiona was immersed in a wide range of different communities as she was growing up. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[151,283,192],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-forward-thinking","tag-human","tag-management","tag-strategy"],"yoast_head":"\n