Kelvyn Gardner, managing director of LIMA UK, is the final media exec to take M&M Global’s Lucky 13 challenge.
1 – Summarise yourself in three words.
“Fair, open-minded, Northern.”
2 – What made you want to pursue a career in media and marketing?
“Every English Lit undergraduate in the 1970s wanted to become the next king of advertising copywriting, me included.”
3 – Describe your ideal client.
“Fair, open-minded, Northern.”
4 – Name your favourite ever campaign.
“Yoplait’s Frubes and Moshi Monsters promotion in 2012, a marriage of a long-established kid-favourite FMCG brand with the hottest licensing property of the day.”
5 – Which award win are you most proud of, and why?
“My Grade 4 Japanese Language Proficiency Certificate. Japanese takes me out of my comfort zone and is an everyday challenge.”
6 – Who is the best industry speaker you have seen?
“Gary Pope of Kids Industries. Not so much a speaker as a conversationalist who draws in his audience for an intimate chat.”
7 – Which is your favourite social media platform, and why?
“Twitter. 140 characters imposes discipline. All the other stuff is either long-winded or entirely frivolous.”
“The figures don’t lie: licensing is red hot. Distinctly cold is late-night TV campaigns for online gaming. A waste of intelligent endeavour on a sorry industry”
8 – Where is your ideal meeting venue?
“The Platinum Club lounge at Warrington Wolves home stadium.”
9 – What is your favourite restaurant?
“Virtually any Ryokan in Japan, but, to name one place it would have to be Bianca in Modena, Italy.”
10 – What is hot in international media and marketing, and what is not?
“The figures don’t lie: licensing is red hot. Distinctly cold is late-night TV campaigns for online gaming. A waste of intelligent endeavour on a sorry industry.”
11 – Which industry buzzword would you ban?
“The use of ‘leverage’ as a verb. Leverage is a noun. Just say ‘lever’ if that’s what you mean.”
12 – Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?
“On a plane from my retirement home on Gozo, still an EU citizen, flying ‘home’ to watch Warrington Wolves play.”
13 – Finally, who would play you in a movie of your life?
“Toby Jones would probably make a good crack at it.”
