Brand Manager of the Week: Mike Harper

Describe yourself in three words.

Energetic. Laid-back. Never inbetween.

What would you be if you weren't a brand manager?

F1 racing driver.

What advice would you give someone starting their marketing career?

Use data to empower you, not bury you. Be brave. Be bold. Use your heart.

What was your first job?

Stockbroker. It's questionable how I got it, given my unhinged performance in the assessment centre.

What's your greatest ambition?

To make a difference.

If you were a brand what would you be and why?

Innocent. No better or worse than the average, but know how to market myself.

What marketing trend is dominating your job?

The need to be seen and heard in a social environment, and the turn from a focus on fat to carbohydrate content in foods.

What hobbies do you have?

Fly fishing, track days and photography.

What is your favourite ever marketing campaign?

Nissan GT-R - Nürburgring viral. Great audience understanding and creative execution on a meagre budget allowed it to really take on the major brands and win the moral high ground.

If you weren't you, who would you be?

According to an answer I once gave in an assessment centre, Russell Crowe. I don't know why I thought that relevant in a stockbroker interview.

What makes you angry?

When I don't deliver as I know I can. (Also, my wife asking me to put the dishwasher on after I'm in bed.)

What is your favourite pub?

The Crown Inn in Betley. Homely and completely unpretentious. Unlike me.

What's your favourite holiday destination?

Maldives, hands down.

If you could get tickets to any event, what would it be?

Monaco Grand Prix – with corporate hospitality.

What have been your best and worst freebies?

Best: diving with great white sharks in South Africa. Worst: a vibrating sex aid from a design firm.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk