Meet Alex Marshall, an account director based in London, where he leads the Dacia automotive account and the Four Roses Bourbon brand, among other client projects. Learn more about Alex in this Q&A:
You have a background in marketing strategy, how did you find your way to Vivaldi?
Prior to arriving in London, I was based in Melbourne, Australia. I worked predominantly in advertising agencies; across strategy, creative, production and media. I then consolidated my knowledge by consulting directly with Honda Australia’s Brand and Marketing team.
What drew me to Vivaldi was the opportunity to work right at the intersection between business transformation and marketing communications. Having exposure to and learning from some of the best minds in strategy, creative and innovation had huge appeal.
What skill(s) have you found to be most useful as you’ve navigated your career?
In everything that you do I think you need to have strong interpersonal skills. Furthermore, trust is the cornerstone of any effective working relationship. And finally, delivering what you say you are going to deliver, especially for clients…keeping your promises.
Do you have a “life hack” that you regularly use?
I use timeboxing to help prioritise the tasks in my day. Brain dump all tasks that you want to complete, allocate time to each, and then prioritise.
What types of projects or what type of clients are you most excited to work with?
My recent experience, both in Australia and London has been heavily focussed in the automotive sector.
The category is going through a massive transformation to electric and beyond, which makes the work both interesting and challenging. Generally however, I look forward to projects that require close collaboration between our creative and strategy teams. Watching the great work of our strategists come to life in creative ways is always a thrill.
What advice would you give younger marketers/advertisers?
I think having a degree of randomness in the early stages of your career is something that is highly beneficial. It gives you good versatility and a breadth of skills that can help you later on in life.
It is important to be very good at one or two things, but having breadth in a variety of related fields is a great coup.
What book / podcast would you recommend and why?
- Podcast, Strong Songs, by Kirk Hamilton (because I am obsessed with music)
- Books, The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life, by Boyd Varty (because my Mum grew up in Malawi and went to school in Zimbabwe)
- The Interaction Field by Erich Joachimsthaler…of course 😉
What’s your passion outside of work?
Outside of work I am passionate about wine and viticulture, and am lucky enough to have good friends who have vineyards across the world. I have worked on a harvest at each of their respective vineyards: Mornington Peninsula in Australia, Abruzzo in Italy, and Alsace in France.
Being an Aussie I am also sports obsessed.