Quite Early One Morning was conceived, literally, when I woke quite early one morning to the sound of the dawn chorus and I thought, “Hey, let’s do this”. Coincidentally, the opening words of a Dylan Thomas short story are “Quite early one morning”. Click to read it or listen to it. It evokes and captures the essence of what I set out to achieve. Ideas and stories, yes, but also new dawns and possibilities, optimism and a belief that anything is possible.
I am a strategy consultant with more than 30 years’ experience in advertising, marketing communications, design and branding. I have worked both agency and client side, including FCB, Publicis, Lintas, Wolff Olins, NatWest, Legal & General and Hutchison Whampoa. In 1992, I co-founded the multi-award winning design business, Johnson Banks. I have also collaborated on projects with other award-winning agencies, in particular Neon.
My diversity covers automotive, telecomms, broadcasting, professional and financial services, trade organisations and property to airlines, tourism, beauty, food and drink, arts and museums and even celebrity brands.
I have advised on all aspects of brand strategy (creation, refresh and repositioning), brand architecture and portfolios, brand identity, engagement, communications and implementation, as well as brand guardianship and management.
I was a key member of the team involved in the Oi (mobile telecommunications) project, which was recognised as the most successful ever mobile phone network launch. It won the Grand Jury as well as Corporate Identity prize at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2003. Throughout my career, other projects I have led have been D&AD or DBA nominees or winners. Strutting the red carpet is not a major motivation of mine, but it is rather satisfying that, on the odd occasion, recognition is forthcoming!
Professional Services: TNS, Kantar Worldpanel, The Futures Company
Trade Organisations: The Goldsmiths’ Company, The Goldsmiths’ Centre
Property: 1Varna, Midori
Food & Drink: Van Den Burgh, Diageo, The Macallan
Health & Beauty: Boots, Superdrug, Adam and Eve Skincare
Entertainment: AOL, Astro
Automotive: Renault, Toyota, Mazda, General Motors (including Saab, Vauxhall, Opel and Cadillac), Goodyear
Telecommunications: BT, Oi, Maxis, Three
Financial Services: Barclays, NatWest, Legal & General, Icesave
Medical Research: Amersham Plc, Amersham Health, Amersham Biosciences
Tourism & Airlines: Seychelles Tourist Board, Japan Airlines
Arts & Museums: V&A Museum, Royal Opera House, Dance East
Sport and Leisure: Rushmoor Royals & Stockport Metro swimming clubs
Celebrities: Catherine Zeta Jones
Manufacturing: Airbus Industries
Before founding Quite Early One Morning, I had the fortune to work and collaborate with some of the most talented and creative people you could hope to meet. These people remain special and some have become very good friends, too. They are my partners in crime when a project requires a complementary team of experts to deliver different elements or to take creative leadership in contributing to and bringing to life the strategy and thinking. In particular, I would like to thank Dana Robertson at Neon who has been so helpful in making this website a reality. Dana, you are a star!
