Episode show notes
“Marketing, arguably more so than other categories, needs to be seen as an investment for growth, not a cost to be cut.”
There’s a boldness that roles in Nike, Danone and Reckitt would give anyone, and Stuart Dunk has funnelled that boldness into a business that’s now over 3 years strong.
Stuart’s specialism is in marketing procurement, an area which he believes to lean further towards value over cost than almost any other category.
Having experienced landmark roles in huge brands, and now growing his business, Don’t Forget to Look, his experience makes for a fascinating perspective on the marketing procurement landscape in this week’s Talent Talks.
This episode of Talent Talks covers:
- Stuart’s work on London 2012 and subsequent career with Nike, Reckitt & Danone
- How to increase engagement with procurement through intuitive buying processes
- Stakeholder management being a near-universal skill
- Marketing’s status as an investment in growth
- Attracting and retaining marketing procurement talent
- How Stuart used the confidence of prior roles to start his own business as a ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’
Episode highlights
“One of the nice things about those really big organisations like Danone, Nike or Reckitt, is that they would also have a tech procurement team. So what you end up with is a cross-functional procurement organisation delivering a big project. ” – 11:15 – Stuart Dunk
“Marketing, arguably more so than other categories, needs to be seen as an investment for growth, not a cost to be cut.” – 14:20 – Stuart Dunk
“The battle for talent is bigger than ever, because people are not afraid to leave, people are not afraid to go freelance or to start their own thing. So big companies who want to maintain the best full time employees, their talent strategy just has to be so good.” – 22:35 – Stuart Dunk
“My capability wasn’t that different between my roles at Nike and Danone, but it gave me confidence having both under my belt.” – 31:30 – Stuart Dunk
“The poacher turned gamekeeper thing, I try not to make it a central theme. I’m not there to help them get one over on the brands. I’m there to help them increase capability and confidence in how they engage brands and how they sell.” – 36:05 – Stuart Dunk
“I see more marketing procurement people coming into jobs with more brand and agency experience. That’ll be a huge help for the credibility of the functions they join.” – 38:10 – Stuart Dunk
Links & references
Stuart Dunk, Founder & MD of Don’t Forget to Look – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-dunk-b4b80110/
Don’t Forget to Look – https://www.linkedin.com/company/dont-forget-to-look/ https://www.dontforgettolook.com/
Martin Smith, Founder & Director of Talent Drive – https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsmith2009/
