Nathan L.'s Linkedin Analytics

I fell into advertising 22 years ago because I wanted to get into TV. I was a naïve young man who knew nothing about the world of work. Like many graduates I had a degree but had no idea what to do with it. I’m a forever student of marketing and after more than two decades of successes, and some failures, I’ve learnt some hard but valuable lessons. Here goes: Not spending time understanding your customers is a slow death in any marketing role. Thinking marketing is an exact science will lead you into all sorts of trouble. The answer is hard to find and often unexpected, so don’t just look in all the obvious places. Standard display advertising is and always has been useless. Digital ads aren’t good at driving awareness, don’t be fooled by fake impression stats, they are almost always meaningless. The power of TV advertising is great if you’re measuring it correctly but it is becoming a dying channel, especially for the youngsters. Attribution modelling is so often a waste of time and energy. Building useful marketing funnels is much harder than you might think. Invest in your own PR from a young age, I wish I had. Some companies think marketing is a tap you switch on and off, avoid working for them. Proving the value of brand building to a CFO is the hardest job in the world. Get out of ‘digital marketing’ early and learn your craft at a big brand, I wish I had. Take that interview with Google when you’re young, it will open doors at any company, I wish I had. Get comfortable with opacity, marketing isn’t a straight line. Accept you’re not good at every marketing skill and hire in people who aren’t like you. Keep learning your craft, never stop. Always wait to hire good people no matter how difficult things get. Building a small or new brand is 10 times harder than managing an established one. Work for a company with a mission you believe in, I have. I could go on and on but if you’ve got to this point why not follow or connect with me :) I also live with my partner Terry in London and we have very recently had a baby as a co-parent. I enjoy reading, cooking, working out and eating out, a lot. I started meditating 2 years ago and I recommend it to everyone. I have 96 things on my bucket list, I ticked off 6 last year and am planning to do the same this year.