- Drayton Bird
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Drayton Bird was born in 1936 near Liverpool, UK. His father ran a pub and he credits this with his lifelong interest in people.
In November 2003 the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton Bird one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing, other names included Kotler, Peters and Levitt.
Advertising legend the late David Ogilvy said he "knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world. His book about it is pure gold. His speeches are not only informative, but hilariously funny."
Campaign Magazine named him one of the 50 most important individuals in UK advertising during the previous 25 years UK magazine Direct Response said his impact on UK direct marketing was "unlikely to be matched by any other individual" In 1994 he was named one of the first six Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing; In 1997 he was voted Educator of the Year. In May 2001 the British Direct Marketing Association placed him on their Roll of Honour. In December 2003, most of the readers of Precision Marketing magazine voted him leading direct marketing personality in the last 15 years.
He has worked with many of the world’s leading brands, including American Express, British Airways, Deutsche Post, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Philips, The Royal Mail, Unilever and Visa. He has also worked with major advertising agency groups, including Y & R, JWT, FCB and Leo Burnett.
Business schools, universities and management consultants he has worked with include Columbia University Business School, New York, INSEAD, The London Business School, ESIC (Madrid), IPADE (Mexico City), IPADE (Lima), Cap Gemini, McKinsey and A. T. Kearney.
In 1977, with two partners, he set up Trenear-Harvey, Bird & Watson, which became the UK’s largest DM agency and which he sold in l984 to Ogilvy and Mather. As international Vice-Chairman and Creative Director, he helped O & M Direct become the world's largest direct marketing agency network, and was elected to the worldwide Ogilvy Group board.
He now runs Drayton Bird Associates, and works on direct marketing and other marketing matters. He has interests in five other firms in the UK and Asia.
David Ogilvy, who he worked with while at O&M Direct said of him, "Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone else in the world."
Books
His book, "Commonsense Direct and Interactive Marketing" (1982) ISBN 0-7494-4760-5 is in its fifth edition. Published by Kogan Page in 13 languages, it is the best-selling British work on the subject.
He has also written "How to Write Sales Letters That Sell!" ISBN 0-7494-1431-6 also published by Kogan Page in 1994, reprinted 4 times.
"Marketing Insights and Outrages" ISBN 0-7494-3215-2 is a collection of columns from "Marketing Magazine" a UK publication.
He has written over 1,000 columns for magazines in Europe, Australia, India, the UK and Malaysia
He also published a novel, which has sunk without trace.
Companies and Associations
- Drayton Bird Associates website This is the website of his direct marketing agency.
- The European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing This is the website of the Marketing Business school founded by Drayton Bird and his partner Marta Caricato
- Drayton Bird's Commonsense Marketing This is his online marketing education website.
- Brandscape Drayton Bird is chairman of Brandscape.
News and Articles
- An recent article in The UK Daily Telegraph quotes "the Drayton Bird Principle" Jan 2010
- Drayton Bird article on the lessons on-line marketers must learn from direct marketing
- Here are the results of a Google News Archive search listing over 190 articles
Categories: 1936 births | Academics of the London Business School | Living people | Direct marketing | Copywriters
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