NatWest Group

Research Consultant

Noggin The Brain People

🧠 Noggin The Brain People 🧠

Sainsbury's Bank

Head of Research, Planning & Brand

Head of Propositions & Innovation

Head of Customer Insight & Innovation

The Marketing Society Scotland

Chair Of Marketing Society Scotland

Heineken UK

Head Of CMI (Consumer & Market Intelligence)

Category Insights Controller

PepsiCo Intl

Consumer Insights For All PepsiCo Portfolio Of Beverage Brands across Western & Eastern Europe

European Consumer & Market Insights Director

PepsiCo

Worked on creating new International Trademarks for PepsiCo to play in exciting growing Asian beverage categories e.g. Healthy Whites (RTD Soymilk/Drinking Yoghurts) in China, India, Vietnam & Thailand.

Asia Regional Innovation Insights Manager

Quorn Foods

Consumer & market insights for the Quorn brand.

Consumer Insight Manager

Procter & Gamble

Consumer & Product Researcher Working In Skin Beauty Care (Oil Of Olay).

Products Research

🧠 Noggin - helping improve the cognitive health of the nation 🧠 | P&G | PepsiCo | Heineken | Sainsbury's |

I have over 25 years of insight, marketing, and innovation leadership experience in FMCG and FS sectors, I know, I don't look THAT old.

I've enjoyed working for some of the world's leading brands in various categories (health & beauty, food & beverages & financial services) and regions, delivering impactful consumer and market intelligence, brand strategy, and product innovation. My time spent working on Oil Of Olay made me my mum's favourite son.

Currently, I'm a research consultant at NatWest Group, where I'm supporting the bank's customer, technology and data-driven approach to enhancing its products and services. 

I'm a co-founder at Noggin The Brain People, on a mission to improve the cognitive health of the nation & founding investor in Gutzy Organic which makes having a healthy, happy gut, fun and easy. Active investor in the technology & health & wellness arena.

I'm a former chair and current fellow of the Marketing Society in Scotland.

Mick Doran

Great opportunity, wrong time.

I've left my role at C&C Group for personal reasons.

I've not fallen out with anyone (at least I don't believe so 🤣 ). 

It's a really exciting time for C&C, a kind & enthusiastic bunch of folks who are working hard on some powerful plans. Watch this space. 

I wish them all the best 🍻  🍷

If you want to understand a nation, look at what its people do in their spare time.

Twenty years ago, 30% of teenagers read for pleasure almost every day.

Today, that number is 14%.

Adults aren’t doing much better. 

We graze on headlines. We skim. We scroll. We consume more words than ever but are we really understanding more? 

I think this is a problem.

Because reading is not just entertainment.

Reading is also maintenance, maintenance four our #noggins

The human brain is a masterpiece of engineering. 

And like any masterpiece, it requires deliberate care…..

…. And reading could provide this in five ways:

1. It strengthens focus. Ten minutes with a book helps trains our attention

2. It helps builds mental stamina. Complex arguments and narratives force the brain to work and grow.

3. It helps reduces stress. Six minutes of reading lowers heart rate and tension faster than a walk.

4. It helps improves memory. Books create neural pathways that digital grazing sometimes cannot.

5. It increases empathy. Reading gives you access to other minds, a potential competitive advantage in life and in leadership.

Across the country, leaders talk about performance, productivity, and potential. 

They invest in tools, programmes, and technology.

Yet potentially the most powerful intervention costs very little …

… Put a book in your hands every day.

If Britain wants sharper thinking, calmer minds, and better decisions, we must restore the habit that built our civilisation.

So I’ll ask you the most important question of the week:

What are you reading and what is it doing for your brain?

#reading #useyoyrnoggin #sundaytimes

No alternative text description for this image

So much of business rewards the reasonable, the compliant, the careful, the incremental.

…which is exactly how you end up average (the curse of the similar)

If you want unforgettable, you have to wander towards the edges.

I’ve just finished Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. 

I shouldn't have judged the book by its cover as I thought it was a 'restaurant book'. 

My good friend David Istier suggested i check it out ( 🙏 )  

It’s actually a how to manual for anyone who serves humans ....

... which is all of us. 

I'd give it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ... see what I did there

some take aways ... 

🧠 The $2 Hot-Dog Moment. Hear the offhand comment. Act on it. Craft a story people will retell. (He literally served street cart hot dogs between Michelin level courses and it became a 'legend'.) 

🧠 The 95/5 Rule. Run 95% tight; invest 5% in magic, i.e. gestures that feel wildly personal and wildly disproportionate in impact. 

🧠 One-size-fits-one. Ditch the template. Treat the person, not the persona. (At Eleven Madison Park they even had “Dreamweavers” scanning for clues to create bespoke moments.) 

🧠 Finish strong. People don’t remember the process; they remember the last inch, the sign-off, the handover, the thank-you. 

🧠 Language builds culture. Swap process words for care words. Words become habits; habits become experiences. 

Also listen Jon Evans’ Uncensored CMO episode with Guidara . It's a cracking listen. Bravo Jon 👏 

I like to keep notes on the books I read, this was filled with such sage advice I had to share (see images)

SO what you gonna steal ...
• Adding a “5% line” to your budget.
• Keep a running “clues” page for every client/important relationship.
• End every project with a really memorable finish.

Have you read it, or listened to Jon's podcast? 

Choose to be in the hospitality business ... what do you think 🍽️👇

#unreasonablehospitality #useyournoggin #service #hospitality #innovation #selfdevelopment

Most people look after their phones better than their 🧠

Please remember that sometimes feeling better doesn’t start with a big life overhaul.

It could be a simple glass of water.

A ten-minute walk.

A proper night’s sleep.

The tiny choices that gently add up to a life that feels less frantic, more ours.

Heads Up is a book about those choices.

About giving your brain the care it’s been asking for.

Because when your head works, the rest of life gets easier.

#HeadsUp #useyournoggin #brainwealth #braincare #energy

“Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” So said Oscar Wilde


As we enter the weekend I’m excited to start Simply More by Cynthia Erivo

It’s been described as a book for anyone who’s ever been told they’re “too much”.

But I can’t help but think that really means to Be less of yourself so other can feel more at ease.

But being yourself takes courage.

Because when you shrink, your work shrinks with you and When you show up fully, the work gets better and …. 

…. So do you

Have a great weekend 

#SimplyMore #useyournoggin #lifelessons #wicked

Not often these roles come up. 
Worth checking out. 
A passionate team and working with Cara Chambers to shape the future of the function.
#insights #useyournoggin #newjob

View Danielle Stavrakis O'Brien’s profile

🌟 We are hiring: Director of Consumer & Market Insight at C&C Group!

Are you passionate about turning data into actionable insights that shape strategy and drive growth? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where your expertise influences big decisions? If so, this is your opportunity to make a real impact.

As Director of Consumer & Market Insight, you will: 
✅Lead the development of consumer and market intelligence across our iconic brands. 
✅Drive data-led strategies that put customers at the heart of everything we do. 
✅Collaborate with senior leaders to shape the future of our business.

Why join us? 
✅Work with some of the most recognised names in the drinks industry. 
✅Be part of a culture that values innovation, collaboration, and growth. 
✅Enjoy a role where your insights truly matter.

📍 Location:  London, Glasgow or Dublin (hybrid) 
🔗 Apply now: https://lnkd.in/e2n42DQ7

Cara Chambers

Open article: C&C Group: Director of Consumer and Market Insight by careers.candcgroupplc.com

C&C Group: Director of Consumer and Market Insight

If you want to understand the true state of the AI revolution, don’t listen to the optimists or the sceptics.

Look at Nvidia’s numbers. They never lie.

And they just announced guidance of $65 billion for the next quarter.

Wall Street expected $62 billion.

The world’s biggest organisations are still investing heavily in AI.

The AI race is still accelerating it seems, not slowing.

#nvidia #useyournoggins #ai #bubbles

For the days you want to feel switched on, not hanging on…..


#OOMPH

Noggin The Brain People ❤️ 🧠 ❤️

Have funds, will invest 


Someone once said to me that If uncertainty is uncomfortable, quantum computing is… well character-building.

Quantum is getting interesting by the day 

#quantumcomputing #useyournoggins #ai #investing

How do you choose what to read next?

A review?

A friend’s suggestion?

A quote that hits you at exactly the right moment?

The older I get, the more I realise my reading list is less about genres and more about conversations.

It might be a throwaway comment over coffee....

... or a book spotted on someone’s desk. (I'm very nosy!)

It could be a passing recommendation in a meeting or ...

... even a book mentioned in another book.
 
But the more I think about it, books travel through people.

And I'm always thinking about how easy it is to let our reading lives get too narrow.

Sometimes we read the same authors.

Or focus on the same types of ideas.

The same worldview, repeated back to us in slightly different language.

Now I appreciate that might be comforting.

But I'm also aware that it's not stretching.

So I’ve been trying to break the #CurseOfTheSimilar & to stay open to being open.

Saying “yes” to books I wouldn’t usually pick up (God, The Science, The Evidence 👀 ) ...

... as well as letting other people’s curiosity redirect mine.

If you’ve read something recently that altered how you think or how you show up, I’d love to hear it. Post it in the comments. Thanks

#books #useyournoggin #curseofthesimilar #selfdevelopment

I’m conscious that everything I consume regarding AI is very ‘west’ centric


Hence I’m excited to widen my lens by reading Machine Decision Is Not Final.

🧠China’s idea of “human-made intelligence” challenges our obsession with the machine as master.

🧠 seemingly there is also a challenge to Western assumptions of intelligence as inherently visible and controllable. intelligence also includes silence, ambiguity & even misdirection.

Guess the future won’t be built from one worldview. Excited to find out.

Anyone else read this? Thoughts? 👇

#ai #useyournoggin #china

'Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor' 
Thich Nhat Hanh

Will Guidara talks about the creation of the 'Deep Breathing Club' (DBC) on P160 of this fantastic book: Unreasonable Hospitality - a must read for anyone in (any) business.

Check out my summary I shared with The Marketing Society Scotland recently.

#unreasonablehospitality #useyournoggin #breathing #stress

View company: The Marketing Society Scotland

📚 Mick's Recommended Reading - Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. Read Mick Doran's review 👉 https://lnkd.in/ez9JEcuA

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The Irony of AI ...


What do you think?

#ai #useyournoggin #thinking

source: great newsletter by Ryan Holiday

‘A man can do what he wants, but he cannot want what he wants’…. Schopenhauer 


Don’t be so hard on yourself, focus on your responses and have a good week 🙌



#freedom #useyournoggin #choices

Your next customer won’t browse.

It’ll just brief. 

Are AI agents 🤖 are about to flip retail on its head.

Not the chatbots you ignore.

Real autonomous shoppers.

They won’t fall for brand stories.

They won’t be swayed by nice packaging.

They won’t “just have a quick look”.

They’ll scan.

Parse.

Optimise.

And buy, or not in milliseconds.

And that means one thing:

Retail is about to become a competition in being understood by machines.

If your product data is vague, the agent won’t pick you.

If your pricing is fuzzy, it won’t trust you.

If your value proposition can’t be verified, you’re out.

While Humans browse, Agents will simply judge.

And who might be the winners? 

Brands that make themselves ‘machine legible’

AI won’t kill retail…

But it might kill retail that isn’t ready for a shopper that never sleeps, never impulse buys, and always reads the small print.

The question isn’t going to be about  “How will consumers shop?”

It will be “How will their agents decide?”

What do you think? 👇

#aiAgents #useyournoggin #retail #cybermonday #blackfriday 

Video source Bloomberg The Opening Trade 1/12

“Galloway stressed when 40% of the S&P 500 is riding on just 10 companies, if they get cut in half, nobody gets out alive.”
😱
#technology #hype #innovation #artificialintelligence

The AI economy is sending me back to my Econ 101-level reasoning. If you need capital for your business, but you can't deliver profits, that just means there's someone else out there who needs the capital more than you do. Maybe those GPUs should be running engineering simulations instead of chatbots. Or maybe the semiconductor foundries should be making more Power11 CPUs so people can move mission-critical workloads to ultra-reliable servers. There are lots of things we could be doing with those resources.

eatbigfish

Partner

TBWA Chiat/Day

Planning Director

Still Price Lintas

Boase Massimi Pollitt

Account Planner

Adam Morgan

The importance of messing around, and other life skills that should be on every school curriculum - a really enjoyable conversation with Nigel Marsh (who is never dull) on Five of My Life. Thanks, Nigel - really enjoyed it.

Partner, eatbigfish: Brand and Marketing Consultant

Open article: Five of My Life by podcasts.apple.com

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The Battle

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Adam Morgan

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Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mick Doran's LinkedIn Performance

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