“A Brand is a Promise.”
01
The idea
Once dubbed “The James Bond of Marketing”, Ian has pioneered breakthrough thinking on the role of CRM and CSR (ESG) in marketing, and on “responsible brands”.
He was a founding Director of The Medinge Group, a global brand think-tank, and has written or contributed to many books and published works. Two of the books he co-authored are Beyond Branding and Securing the Business Benefits of Globalisation.
His chapter in Beyond Branding (Kogan Page, 2003) is called “Anthropology and the Brand”. It argues that the study of how people live together explains much of how brands work across societies and cultures. John Caswell of Group Partners wrote a chapter for the same book.
02
A career in technology and brand
Ian started out as a Computer Scientist and went on to hold senior marketing roles in several major technology companies, then moved into leading businesses and chairing their boards. He has also given independent strategy advice to many companies inside and outside the technology industry.
- Hewlett Packard
Director of Global Brand Strategy for Hewlett Packard (HP Invent) in California.
- Unisys
Senior Corporate Vice-President of Unisys Corporation.
- Uffindell
CEO of Uffindell, a medium-sized brand consulting company.
- BCS
Deputy Group CEO, responsible for the relaunch of BCS as The Chartered Institute for IT.
- Team GB
As a non-executive adviser to the British Olympic Association he carried out a complete business transformation that led to the strategy for Team GB.
- 2013 and 2014
Joined DCD Group, the data centre information business, as a non-executive director in January 2013 and became its chairman in July 2014. He chaired it for three years.
- Romonet
Chairman of Romonet Ltd, a software and services company in the data centre analytics market.
- Today
Sits on the board as Growth Director of Dedicated Computing LLC, a US technology company owned by McNally Capital. He also chairs a marketing services company in the UK and consults on business sales. Pro bono charity work sits alongside both.
03
The practitioner professor
Ian is a Visiting Professor at Cranfield and External Examiner for its Masters in Management and Masters in Management Leadership. Before that he sat for five years on the advisory board of Cranfield's MSc Strategic Marketing programme, then served a full term as its External Examiner.
He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Birmingham in Dubai. Earlier he was a Visiting Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics and a global subject specialist reviewer for Harvard Business School Press. He has guest lectured at Manchester and Reading Business Schools and at the Management Institute de Paris, and sat on the Advisory Board of Henley Business School.
A graduate of IMD in Lausanne, he lectures and writes on business and brand strategy, leadership, corporate politics, reputation and customer management.
- Visiting ProfessorCranfield School of Management
- Visiting LecturerUniversity of Birmingham, Dubai
- External ExaminerMasters in Management, Cranfield
- GraduateIMD, Lausanne
04
Boards and the City
Ian has been a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors since 2005 and took office as its Master in January 2024. He is a Freeman of the City of London.
He sits on the Advisory Board of Echo Research and is Board Special Adviser for Engagement and Reputation to HABS Schools. He is on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Brand Management and the Global Academic Liaison Board of the CMO Council.
He has chaired the Technology Industry Business Leaders Group for The Marketing Society and the Conference Board's European Council on Customer Strategy. He is a Fellow of the CIM, the RSA, the IoD and the BCS.