The Marketing Hall of Legends welcomed 10 industry veterans to its illustrious rankings this year. With more than a century of industry experience between them, Marketing stole a few moments with each one, asking them to look back on their careers and examine what brought them success.
David Kincaid, left, and Stéfan Danis
Stefan Danis – Mentor
It takes great people to build successful brands—and a great recruiter to identify great marketers. That’s where Stéfan Danis comes into the picture. Chief talent officer and CEO of Mandrake, Danis has recruited more than 25 marketing agency presidents.
What did you learn as a child that contributed to your career success?
I skipped a grade and went from being top of my class in Grade 5 to bottom in Grade 8. I found myself out of my comfort zone, dealing with failures to meet my expectations and those of my parents. I think I developed coping mechanisms, which included out-working others.
The biggest mistake I ever made that made me a better professional was…
By 2001, in my mid-30s, I was on a roll and even made the cover of Marketing with the headline “The Player.” I mistakenly believed that headline. Wow, was that ever short-lived. I was facing a recession shortly thereafter. I am far humbler today than I was when I was in my mid-30s when the rising economy had my—and most—boats floating higher than they deserved.
The guilty pleasure that makes me a better businessperson is…
I need to disconnect from it all, including family, and I return a better person. I have more than 100 items on my bucket list, some of which is travel, that all help disconnect. Be it helicopter skiing in Alaska, a sabbatical in France in 2012, running desert ultra-marathons or other one-of-a-kind adventure, I usually return happy, humbled and the better for it.
David Kincaid – Enabler
David Kincaid is the managing partner and CEO of strategic brand consultancy Level5 Strategy Group. He was a founding member of Corus Entertainment and before that enjoyed marketing successes at Labatt, including the introduction of the Stella Artois and Alexander Keith brands to Canadian beer drinkers, and was a major player behind its award-winning “Out of the Blue” campaign.
What did you learn as a child that contributed to your career success?
My grandfather passed along many helpful lessons in life. One of them specific to my career was, “To be successful in business, do all you can to die with more friends than employees.”
The guilty pleasure that makes me a better businessperson is…
My love of, interest in and thirst for beer. My years at Labatt taught me many things, but I can’t count the number of negotiations, deals and business friends (see above) made over a cold pint.
The most exciting thing about the industry today is…
the complete transfer of power from brand owners to the consumer/customer. This requires an evolved perspective from the brand management disciplines I started from. Just when you thought you knew what you were doing, everything changes. Cool, eh?
How will the marketing industry change in the next five years?
I hope it stops being defined as a department or function with “marcom” as its primary responsibility and refocuses on an ensemble team of ranging expertise focused on (and measured by) sustainable, profitable growth.
Photography: Mike Ford
This series of Q&As – which also includes Hugh Dow, president of M2 Universal; Bonnie Brooks of Hudson’s Bay Company and many others – originally appeared in the March issue of Marketing. Subscribe today, and be sure to check out the issue on your iPad.
