Ahead of the Future Leaders Event Noggins, Narratives & Navigating What’s Next in Marketing, we had a chat with Mick Doran CMI Director at C&C Group, co-founder of Noggin The Brain People and a Fellow of The Marketing Society.
What first inspired you to pursue a career in marketing, and how has your perspective on the industry evolved over the years?
Having studied Toxicology, I’ll admit I wasn’t too aware of marketing as a career path. I was recruited by Procter & Gamble to work in Product Research for their Skin Beauty Care business. Our team’s job was all about deep consumer understanding and translating people’s needs into technical direction so our scientists could create products of superior quality that genuinely met those needs.
We worked hand in hand with the marketing team to communicate the benefits of our products and build the strength of our brands. P&G invested heavily in its people and, like every truly consumer-centric organisation I’ve worked with since, had a globally consistent approach to marketing best practice.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that not every organisation takes the same passionate approach to developing people and marketing capability. Without that foundation, teams can struggle to truly understand consumers and that’s where the risk lies. Marketing becomes fragmented: some focus on content, some on promotions, others on digital execution all valuable, but not necessarily strategic.
It’s no wonder our more commercially minded colleagues sometimes challenge the value of marketing when what they see feels tactical rather than transformational.
As an industry, we need to articulate more clearly how the art and science of marketing can drive growth. At its best, marketing aligns consumer understanding, commercial ambition, and creativity to create genuine win–win outcomes for consumers, customers, and the business alike.
Looking back, what’s one early career moment — brilliant or disastrous — that taught you a lasting lesson?
Picture the scene.
A very large round table in Geneva. Around it our most senior company executives, top bankers, consultants, and our international CEO guiding discussions. I was probably the most junior person in the room, invited as a thank you for helping with the market and brand due diligence ahead of acquiring the biggest juice business in Russia. I wasn’t there to speak, just to observe. Still, I had all my numbers, just in case. Moments before the session, our European President, a great guy called Ramon, pulled me aside to check one thing: how was the juice category performing in Russia? A straightforward question. I wanted to be exact down to the decimal point and hesitated for a second. Normally relaxed, he pressed me: “Forget the detail, is it growing or declining?” I replied quickly: “It’s growing.” That was all he needed.
The meeting began, and it was fascinating to watch as PepsiCo agreed to buy that juice company for $1.4bn, with another $350m in the years ahead. Later that day, Ramon came over and said something that’s stuck with me ever since: he didn’t care whether the number was up 2.6% or 3%. He just needed clarity, was it up or down?
I’ve told this story many times because it taught me something important about communication and leadership. You’ve always got to think about your stakeholders; what they need from you in that moment and pitch your response accordingly. Do the hard work, but when the time comes, give people the essence and the “so what.”
Be useful. Be clear. And know your audience.
For what it’s worth, Ramon did well for himself. I was delighted when I saw he’d become CEO of PepsiCo a few years ago
You’ll be speaking about the importance of building the right culture. What does that mean in practice, and why is it such a powerful growth strategy?
I like to quote Tom Peters when talking about culture. He famously suggested that his entire 50-year consultancy career and 18 business books could be summed up in six words: ‘Hard is soft and soft is hard.’ His point is that organisations usually focus on the so-called hard metrics; profitability, market share, margins etc all important, but they’re really output metrics. What actually drives those outputs are the so-called softer ones: culture, engagement, communication, leadership and learning.
In practice, culture is the operating system of an organisation. It’s what shapes how people behave when no one’s watching, how decisions get made under pressure, and how teams respond when things go wrong. You can have the best strategy in the world, but if the culture doesn’t support it, you’re running on sand.
In any team, whether that’s in sport or business the ones that communicate clearly, trust each other, and feel safe to challenge and learn are the ones that win most often. The right culture can turn purpose into action, and values into habits.
It’s also one of the strongest magnets for talent. People want to work where they feel part of something that matters, where ideas are heard, and where success is shared. That’s why culture isn’t a ‘soft’ nice-to-have; it’s one of the hardest, most powerful growth strategies a business can invest in. And it’s why organisations like the Marketing Society are right to celebrate Employer Brands, because culture done well doesn’t just build great workplaces, it builds great businesses.
Which book or idea has most influenced the way you think about leadership or business?
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl has had a lasting impact on how I think about leadership and life in general, to be honest. The central idea of the book is that while we can’t always control our circumstances, we can always choose how we respond to them. Between stimulus and response, Frankl reminds us, there is a space and in that space lies our power to choose, and our freedom.
In business, as in life, things rarely go perfectly to plan. Markets shift, strategies change, teams face setbacks. What defines great leaders isn’t their ability to avoid challenge, but how they respond to it. Do they react, or do they pause to reflect, listen, and choose their response with intention?
That idea has stayed with me throughout my career. Leadership, to me, is less about control and more about composure about staying consistent when the environment is unpredictable. It’s also about helping others find meaning in their work, especially when things get tough.
Frankl wrote his book as an inmate in Auschwitz, yet his insight applies powerfully in our everyday world of business. We can’t always choose what happens, but we can always choose how we show up. And that, in the end, is the true mark of leadership.
What skills or mindsets will be most critical for the next generation of marketing leaders?
I think the next generation of marketing leaders will need to be both emotionally intelligent and adaptable. The world they’re stepping into is faster, and perhaps even more complex than ever so the ability to stay curious, learn quickly, and forge meaningful connections will matter more than any single technical skill. Toffler said it best when he said that the ‘illiterate of the 21st century will not be those folks who can’t read or write. The illiterate will be those who can’t learn, unlearn and relearn’.
The fact is that the best marketers have always been students of people; understanding not just what consumers do, but why. That curiosity about human behaviour, culture and context will be the foundation of everything else. With technology, AI and data transforming every aspect of our industry, leaders will need to be comfortable operating in ambiguity, with testing, learning, unlearning, and evolving constantly. Future marketing leaders will also need to bring people together, across functions, across geographies, and increasingly across disciplines. The ability to listen, to translate complexity into clarity, and to build shared purpose will be key.
And as we look around at the world today I think a strong moral compass will set them future leaders apart. Consumers and employees alike are holding businesses and brands to higher standards of integrity, inclusivity and authenticity. The marketers who thrive will be the ones who understand that brand building isn’t just about what you sell, but how you behave.
