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John enters the world
Smartly dressed - aged 6
All ship shape and Bristol fashion in the Naval Cadet Corps - aged 16
Corporate Klue - 1980s |
28.11.43 - 01.02.03 John was born in London, the son of Douglas and Jean. He is survived by his wife Sylvia, sister Linda and son Danny. As a child growing up in the leafy streets of Chiswick his adventures were in the hills of Chiswick House Grounds opposite the family home. Schooled at Kings College in Wimbledon, he excelled at modern languages, but in spite of a scholarship to Cambridge headed into the world of marketing management. John was a classically trained marketing man with 35 years experience in marketing, communications and media. He held posts in the private and public sectors and brought with him an energetic and unconventional approach that became his trademark. In his commercial career he had various management roles initially with US corporates after training at Lever Brothers and later Glendinning. Along the corporate road he imported spices from America, clothing from Africa and foods into Europe before moving into the world of advertising. Many in the marketing industry will remember him as the director of London Transport's advertising business where he pioneered research on the underground that allowed marketers to truly understand their audience, raising profits and additional funds for the network. Following his management of Dolphin Outdoor advertising he took over the industry's trade body - the Outdoor Advertising Association which he ran for many years. In his spare time his own business consultancy, Eureka, helped many young firms get themselves onto an even footing and in the latter years he was able to spend more time with his wife Sylvia. When retirement from the commercial world came he moved into Community Service, working at day centres, creative writing and theatre classes, English language teaching and community project management. Among the dozens of projects one he was most proud of was a Book of Poetry sponsored by The National trust that he published in 2002 with writers from across Hackney, before he started up writing groups in several other areas. At work he prided himself on being a strategist and a lateral thinker with a creative mind. Working with people at all levels, and recently particularly with homeless and under-privileged. John was a natural facilitator and is greatly missed by all those who worked on the projects he was part of. His passions included sailing and writing, horse riding and restaurants, classical music and walking his dogs Sophie, Fred and Katie. Prepared using notes from a short autobiography written in January a few weeks before he died. The following story appeared on the Brand Republic website on Friday 7th February 2003.
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