Carat Conversations: Nick Sperrin, Global Client President
Nick Sperrin is Global Client President at Carat. Having worked within International Media for over fifteen years, his career has taken him from being sponsored by Glaxo Smith Kline and studying Applied Biology, to leading the Global Diageo account.
We caught up with him earlier this week to learn more about his experience within the industry and what it is that makes him tick.
How did you get into media? Can you give us a brief overview of your career?
My first job in the industry was with WCRS, after initially studying Applied Biology at college. After 2 years there, I moved to Publicis Group where I worked for another 2 years in planning and buying. Both agencies were known for their ‘creative’ product, not media, so I was able to learn how the overall communications process worked and how media was becoming more and more important in a complex market.
After those four years, there was an opportunity to move to a media independent called BBJ, where we started off with one client and grew the company to 35 clients over 10 years. It was a fantastic experience and really taught me the importance of putting clients first. I moved to Carat from there, as I was leading the Walt Disney Business in the UK, and there was an opportunity to apply that local experience and way of working to the global relationship we wanted to build with this client. Being part of a bigger operation was a huge pull and having both global and local experience really helped.
What makes Carat special to you?
Carat has always talked about putting the consumer first. It’s surprising how many of our competitors don’t do that. Understanding the consumer; knowing when to talk to them, how to talk to them, whilst knowing what to say, is a precious asset and our clients recognise that. I’ll always remember a client saying to me “the great thing about Carat is, you know more about our consumers than we do” and that’s really great to hear. Carat is known as the agency that achieves things first in the market — it was the first ever media independent — I’m very proud to be associated with it.
Also, we understand how to tell a story about media which both excites and motivates our clients — it’s a huge asset and we need to continue to develop our people’s skill in this area.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome in your role as Global Client President?
I’d say the biggest challenge was certainly when the industry moved from analogue to digital, and how that impacted organising and mobilising client teams, whilst maintaining world class delivery to our clients. We had to make some brave decisions to change radically at the time, so that we could still be at the forefront of the market. There was also a challenge in articulating this digital change to clients, who were relying on us to stay on top of it, and ensure we still delivered. Its been brilliantly exciting though.
Which pitch stands out to you as the best you’ve been involved with?
The one that probably stands out was a pitch that I led for Kellogg’s across EMEA. We had a couple of their markets in Europe, and we spent a year talking to them centrally about the benefits of consolidating. This was risky because they could’ve decided to consolidate with another agency, but they decided to open it up to a pitch and within two months we had won their business for the whole of Europe, which was £250m across 26 countries. Pitches for Walt Disney and Diageo stand out too.
What are the most frequent questions clients are posing to you at the moment?
Not surprisingly, clients ask us a lot about data — but not for the sake of it. They want to move beyond the metrics to understand the behaviours behind the data and how that applies to growing their business. There is a strong desire from clients to understand our capabilities here. Whether that’s about activating digital, interpreting data about consumers or content messaging — it’s the big question. Without exception, the presentations which we perform really well in are where we are clear about the effect of data on their business.
How do you unwind away from work?
Well I have three wonderful children! We’re all sports freaks — one’s at Oxford University, another is going to Sandhurst and the youngest is at St. Andrews. I go to the gym three or four times a week and I run on average twenty kilometres a week. I’m a season ticket holder at Harlequins rugby Club and I’m a massive, massive Liverpool fan. I don’t mind sampling the odd Diageo drink every now and then either… And I absolutely love travelling — I’m off to Japan in a couple of weeks with my wife — I can’t wait
Are there any people, from the industry or not, that have inspired you in their work?
There are probably between five to ten people over my whole career that have really inspired me — they know who they are! They come from both clients and agencies — 3 of them are in our organisation. They have taught me to be more curious about how client business improved my understanding of people and also how to talk to clients — some of the things you really need to know in agency life. Outside of the industry, Kenny Dalglish, Juergen Klopp, and I’ve been hugely inspired by Chris Robshaw at Harlequins. I think another person who should be as inspiring for young people in the future is Anthony Joshua — the way he handles himself is great.
If you could work anywhere else around the world, where would it be?
I think I’d love to work in China, just because it’s so exciting. It’s changing every day, it’s growing every day and clients in that country have an appetite for making fast decisions.
If you could call a client up and say “we’ve cracked X”, what would “X” be?
A.I. It’s already having a huge influence over so much of what we and our clients are doing. It’ll change the way we do business, and have a huge impact on our clients as a result.
