Michael Birkin (executive)

Not to be confused with Air Commodore Michael Birkin

Michael Birkin
Alma materUniversity College, London
OccupationCEo, chairman
EmployerThe kyu unit of Hakuhodo DY Holdings (ja)
Known forDeveloping concept of brand valuation, leading global agency groups

Michael Birkin (born 1958) is an English global marketing executive, notable for his role in developing the concept of brand valuation as well as for his involvement in global marketing operations. He began his career at Interbrand in 1987, later working at Omnicom Group and Acer Inc. He founded his own marketing services company, Red Peak Group, in 2010. He currently serves as CEO of kyu, the strategic operating unit of Hakuhodo DY Holdings.

Background

Michael Birkin was born in England in 1958.[1] Birkin's father, Sir Derek Birkin, was CEO of Rio Tinto Zinc, a mining company.[2][3][4] After attending Marlborough College, Birkin went on to study law at University College London.[5][6] He was a nationally-ranked squash player and played on the Junior England Squad.[2][5][7]

In his spare time, Birkin pursues an interest in Renaissance art from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.[8]

Career

Early career

In his early career, Birkin was trained as an accountant,[2][5] working for PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1981 to 1984.[9] Later, he took a role as PA and protégé to Sir Mark Weinberg, chairman of Hambro Life Assurance, now Zurich Insurance Group.[5][9][10] While handling the project to change the name of Hambro Life (to Allied Dunbar) he met John Murphy, the founder of Novamark and Interbrand who consulted on the project.[9][11]

Interbrand

In 1987, Birkin joined executive chairman Murphy at the new Interbrand Group, where he began as group chief executive.[5][9][12] He held this role at Interbrand from 1987 to 1995, during which time he took a leading role in developing the concept of brand valuation and became well known as an expert in the field.[2][9][12] He was a contributor for the book Understanding Brands, published in 1991.[13][14][15]

Under the leadership of Murphy and Birkin, Interbrand grew from an international company with 25 employees to a global marketing consultancy.[2][12][16]

Omnicom

In December 1993, Omnicom Group's Diversified Agency Services (DAS) acquired Interbrand, and Birkin joined Omnicom.[17] At Omnicom, he quickly rose up through the organisation,[18] becoming European managing director of DAS in 1995,[9][19] followed by international president of DAS in 1997, and worldwide president of DAS in 1999.[19] In 2005, Birkin took on the role of president and CEO of Asia Pacific for Omnicom.[19][20][21] His role in Asia was focused on helping Omnicom's agencies capitalise on potential opportunities in the region.[22][23] In particular, he worked to promote Omnicom's services within Asia,[23] which was the company's fastest-growing market in 2005.[24][25]

Birkin's final roles at Omnicom were vice-chairman of Omnicom Group and CEO of Omnicom Asia-Pacific, which he held simultaneously.[26] In 2009, he stepped down from both roles.[26]

Red Peak Group and RPMC

Upon leaving Omnicom, Birkin acquired a 70% stake in RPMC, taking a majority position in the company.[26][27] He then launched Red Peak Group, a global marketing services firm, in February 2010.[28] RMPC became part of Red Peak Group, which also comprises Red Peak Branding.[28]

Initially, Birkin fulfilled the role of chief strategist of Red Peak Group in addition to leading the company. He currently serves as chairman of Red Peak Group.[29][30]

Acer

Birkin was hired as Taiwan-based Acer Inc.'s chief marketing officer in 2012.[31] This was Birkin's first client-side position, helping the company shift its focus from manufacturing to marketing. Specifically, he joined the company to build Acer's marketing and brand building capabilities with the goal of using consumer insights to drive product development.[31] While holding the role he retained his position as chairman of Red Peak.[31] Birkin left Acer in May 2014.[29][32]

kyu

In 2014, Birkin's Red Peak Group was acquired by advertising and marketing company Hakuhodo DY Holdings (ja),[29] the second largest advertising company in Japan.[33][34] Advertising Age ranks Hakuhodo DY Holdings among the world's top ten agency companies.[35] Following the acquisition in 2014, Birkin was named CEO of kyu,[33] a new endeavour Hakuhodo DY Holdings called a strategic operating group.[36][37] In kyu's first year, Birkin acquired American company Digital Kitchen[38][39][40] and Montreal's Sid Lee[40][41] to form a global group of creative agencies with several specialisations.[29][41] To date the kyu collective includes C2 International, Digital Kitchen, IDEO, Red Peak Group, Sid Lee, SYPartners, BEworks, and most recently Kepler Group.[29][40][42][43][44]

gollark: Send him our most deadly weapon:a *strongly worded letter*.
gollark: There are so many trademark violations in that sentence.
gollark: Trademark license too.
gollark: What, when, why.
gollark: Also say, have, has.

References
  1. "Michael John Birkin Director Profile". Endole. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  2. Heather Farmbrough (16 July 1987). "Birkin's Brand of Ambition". Financial Times.
  3. Anita van de Vliet (1 October 1994). "UK: The Pit and the Pendulum – RTZ". Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  4. Steve Lohr (2 October 1990). "Talking Business with Sir Derek Birkin of RTZ; Uncertainty Seen in Metal Markets". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  5. David Rowe (17 August 1984). "Hob-Nobbing His Way to a 10m Fortune". Today.
  6. "Michael Birkin". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  7. Squash Rackets Association (1977). Squash Rackets Association Handbook 1976/77. p. 300.
  8. Frank Zeccola (9 September 2009). "New Branding Trends to Watch: Former Omnicom Vice-Chief Birkin Says PR Trumps Others in Driving Brand Value, Points to Mobile and Experiential Marketing as Future Focus". Bulldog Reporter. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  9. Ken Gofton (26 November 1998). "Profile: The collector – Michael Birkin, Global President, Omnicom DAS". Marketing Magazine. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  10. "A Brand New One of USM". London Evening Standard. 17 August 1984.
  11. "Omnicom outlook". Ad News. 6 October 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  12. Geoffrey Foster (1 October 1989). "There's No Accounting for Brands". Haymarket Media Group.
  13. Debjoy Sengupta (23 May 2003). "Infosys Brand Value Up 3.18% In Fy03". Business Standard. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  14. Chuck Pettis (2001). TechnoBrands: How to Create and Use ?Brand Identity? to Market, Advertise and Sell Technology Products. iUniverse. p. 211. ISBN 9781462099573. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  15. Boersma, J.M. and Van Weelden (1991). Understanding Brands. London: Kogan Page. p. 80.
  16. Jane Lewis (7 July 1989). "Cash Injections Sets Interbrand For Flotation". Design Week.
  17. Stuart Elliott (23 December 1993). "The Media Business: Advertising – Addenda; Omnicom Acquires British Brand Expert". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  18. "The Talent Export: The 20 most influential Brits abroad". Campaign. 12 January 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  19. "Birkin Takes Omnicom Asia-Pacific CEO Post". Adweek. 27 January 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  20. "The Succession Stakes". Campaign. 24 March 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  21. Rupal Parekh (31 August 2012). "Michael Birkin Heads Back to Asia to Be Acer's CMO". Advertising Age. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  22. Gary Silverman (14 March 2005). "A place where the subsidiary is king". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  23. Lucy Aitkin (15 April 2005). "The World: Birkin takes on Omnicom's Asian Achilles' heel". Campaign. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  24. "Omnicom will be more visible: Michael Birkin". Money Control. 14 October 2005. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  25. Jiang JingJing (14 June 2006). "Omnicom group pledges 'heavy focus' on China". China Daily. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  26. Noreen O'Leary (30 June 2009). "Love Succeeds Birkin at Omnicom Asia Pacific". Adweek. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  27. Laurie Sullivan (28 August 2009). "Birkin Tells Why He Took 70% Stake in RPMC". MediaPost. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  28. Rupal Parekh (15 February 2010). "Michael Birkin's Startup Red Peak Group Lands Intel". Advertising Age. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  29. "Japan's Hakuhodo Buys Red Peak, SYPartners". The Wall Street Journal. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  30. Alison Ledger (8 January 2015). "RPMC appoints new chief executive". Event Magazine, UK. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  31. Rupal Parekh (31 August 2012). "Michael Birkin Heads Back to Asia to Be Acer's CMO". Advertising Age. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  32. Ronald Tiefenthäler (5 December 2014). "Marketing Director Michael Birkin leaves Acer". Notebook Check. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  33. Mark Williams (25 November 2014). "Why the Cheil and Iris union makes perfect sense, by deal adviser Results International". The Drum. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  34. "Hakuhodo Inc. Company Profile". Yahoo! Business. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  35. "Agency Report 2016 Index". Advertising Age. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  36. Patrick Coffee (6 July 2015). "Japan's kyu Acquires Sid Lee". Adweek. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  37. Steve McClellan (9 May 2014). "Former Omnicom Vice Chairman Birkin Joins Hakuhodo". Mediapost Agency Daily. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  38. Maureen Morrison (9 July 2015). "Hakuhodo's Kyu Prowls the World for 'Maker' Agencies Heavy on 'Doers'". Adweek. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  39. Maureen Morrison (2 June 2015). "Hakuhodo DY Holdings Acquires Digital Kitchen". Advertising Age. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  40. Minda Smiley (6 July 2015). "Japan's Hakuhodo acquires Sid Lee". The Drum. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  41. Drew Hasselback (6 July 2015). "Montreal marketing agency Sid Lee acquired by Japan's Kyu as it seeks to expand in Asia". The Financial Post. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  42. Nathalie Tadena (9 February 2016). "Hakuhodo DY's Kyu Takes Stake in Design Firm IDEO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  43. Nusca, Andrew (9 January 2017). "Exclusive: IDEO Investor Kyu Acquires BEworks, a Behavioral Economics Firm". Fortune. ISSN 0015-8259. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  44. https://adexchanger.com/agencies/kepler-group-acquired-by-marketing-collective-kyu/
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