Remarkable Marketers: Meet Andy Lark

There are some pretty remarkable people in our industry, each offering their own unique perspective to adland.

While we spend so much time learning about our peers’ career highlights, B&T, in partnership with Carat Australia, thought it high time to dig a little deeper, and find out what makes the shining stars of our industry tick and, at times, tock.

So, for the next little while, we will be publishing a series of personal profiles.

Get ready to laugh, cry and be taken on an emotional rollercoaster as we hear more about the industry’s most remarkable marketers.

Former Foxtel CMO Andy Lark: The nautical sketcher

I was actually part of New Zealand’s America’s Cup campaigns that won in 2000 and again in 2017. I wasn’t part of the crew; I was just affiliated with the team doing advising, fundraising and sponsorship. I’ve always loved sailing and when I was a kid I dreamt of being either a sailor or an artist. I love the ocean, I love sailing and I love sitting around drawing and painting. These days, if I weren’t a marketer, I’d be a journalist or writer [Lark has two published books]. There’s not much money in marketing, but probably even less in journalism.

My biggest career disaster was when I was working with a bunch of people and we were trying to launch a new computing brand for Dell. It just never came off and the lesson there is to never assume that the market wants want the market wants. When it comes to marketing, I still think a lot of the old things still work and a lot of the new things are vastly over-hyped to the degree to which they do work.

What motivates me? I try and make a difference. I try and make a difference for marketers. I think we’re an undernourished, underappreciated species as a whole. My other thing is trying to bridge the digital divide; trying to get more people to understand and use technology.

I think when it comes to your job – your work – think, “Chase experiences, not a job.” I think that really resonates for people just starting out in the industry, too.

My favourite brand would have to be [bespoke Australian distiller] Four Pillars Gin. It’s a genius brand in the way they market it. It’s clever and smart. It’s a beautiful brand, it’s an amazing product and the way they build the engagement around the brand with their pig roasts and their marmalades, the way they market it and build exclusivity around it. You get the email saying, “There’s only 200 bottles” and you’re like, “Shit, I better buy two right now.”

The last book I read to the very end was Yuval Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. It’s remarkable and I’d urge anyone to read it. I love watching [Foxtel’s] Selling Houses Australia and the History channel. Yes, it’s a bit embarrassing and, no, I don’t go around telling people about it.

And the worst thing I’ve ever eaten? It would have to be any of the ‘T’ foods – tongue, tripe or testicles. I once ate yak testicles on the Chinese side of the Himalayan Alps, although I thought they were meatballs at the time.

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