Rory Sutherland Kent, UK

Originally described as the worst graduate trainee that Ogilvy & Mather had ever hired, Rory Sutherland steadily rose through the ranks to become Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, Executive Creative Director of OgilvyOne London and one of the most followed men in marketing.

With his working life bridging an advertising revolution, Rory believes it is now time for business to reconsider the attention it pays to new insights in psychology in the development and promotion of new products and services.

In particular, he believes that the two sources of assumptions about consumer behaviour – market research and microeconomics – are often woefully misleading, and need to be considered in the light of newly abundant behavioural data and new findings in behavioural economics.

Previously, he was the President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) – the first ‘creative’ in the role. He also served as Chair of the Judges for the Direct Jury at Cannes and has spoken at TED Global. He is a trustee of the Benjamin Franklin House in London and a Patron of Rochester Cathedral.

A classicist originally, in 2012, Rory received an Honorary Fellowship award from the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) for his outstanding contribution to the direct and digital marketing profession; he has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Brunel University.

A champion of behavioural economics and an early adopter of new technologies, Rory is also known for his humorous take on the bizarre and sometimes wonderful world of advertising and what makes it tick. He contributes regularly to The Spectator, Market Leader, Impact and Wired. He is the author of two books, Best-seller ‘Alchemy: The surprising Power of Ideas which don’t make Sense’ and ‘The Wiki Man’.