David has spent his career at the leading edge of insight and consumer marketing. He has published widely in the area and is a frequent conference speaker. Prior to creating Happen he was a Partner at Synectics for 8 years and Managing Director of Synectics’ European and International business for 3 years. During this time he led the development of 5 offices and created significant advances in the Synectics methodology, particularly in the area of insight-led innovation.

Prior to Synectics he spent three years at Coca-Cola GB, joining as a Planner on brand Coke and later leading the Brand Planning team. In his early career he was a consultant at The Planning Business working on a wide range of consumer insight, modelling and new product development projects.

During his career David has worked on over 50% of the world’s leading brands and has helped create several hundred million pounds of incremental value for his clients. He has recently worked on projects for Arla Foods, Bacardi, Coca-Cola, Dexion Capital, IMI Plc, Hed Kandi, Marks & Spencer, Ministry of Sound, Nestle, Norwich Union, Orange, Reckitt Benckiser and Shell.

David’s real passion is insight-led innovation and he has been associated with some outstanding launches and campaigns. He also works with leadership teams from some of the world’s most admired organisations on innovation vision, strategy and the leadership of change.
David is a first class honours graduate and has a PhD in Consumer Behaviour from Cranfield School of Management. He is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Outside work his interests have ranged from rebuilding old Land Rovers to D-Jing.

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