About
I'm your typical 'ad guy.' My career? Not so typical.
I put this down to insatiable curiosity, a love of a good story, and a mildly unhealthy obsession with doing things differently.
It's led me from LEGO's global agency in Copenhagen, where I helped conceive and build the award-winning Hero Factory IP, to the world's first decentralised virtual world, Decentraland, where I led marketing and brand strategy before anybody had heard of 'the metaverse' (and soon after wished they hadn't).
Along the way I've made award-winning game campaigns for THQ and Deep Silver, devised strategy and creative launches for healthcare clients at DDB Remedy and BBH, and digitally transformed financial brands at Publicis Sapient.
I even wrote a book about Australian pubs once. It wasn't exactly a career choice. Just seemed like a good idea.
Throughout all of my work, two questions have remained constant: "Why does this brand or product exist?" and "What's the most interesting and relevant way to convey that?"
As to how I work — I'm hands-on by choice, not necessity. I love the strategy and I love the craft: actual words, visuals and ideas. I've never been interested in handing these off entirely. The thinking and the making are the same thing.
I'm equally at home in a permanent role with an ambitious, collaborative team, or working freelance on a brief that needs some atypical thinking. Whatever the arrangement, I bring the same level of ownership and craft.
“One thing that has always stood out is Dave’s ability to combine big creative thinking with genuine commercial understanding.
He has a rare knack for taking complex challenges, finding the overlooked opportunity, and turning it into work that is both strategically sharp and creatively compelling. Whether shaping positioning, building brands, or bringing campaigns to life, he’s equally comfortable thinking at the highest level and rolling up his sleeves to make it happen.”
– Liz Corless, Global Head of Marketing, Keyword Studios
“Astute strategic thinking paired with his ability as a narrative storyteller is what makes Dave truly unique. Whether it is story and scriptwriting, IP creation, communications strategy, campaign ideation and development, or brand management, Dave always brings quality thinking and creative to the table.
We have partnered on a number of different projects and he consistently exceeds expectations. It is always a pleasure when we get the opportunity to work together.”
– Jonathan Clark, Senior Executive Producer/Head of Integrated Production, Ayzenberg
“I fully endorse Dave for any work on proposition development, concept development and copywriting.
I had the pleasure of working with Dave on the development of the new somewhereto.com customer proposition and creative assets. We were really pleased with the result and will definitely work with him in the future.”
– Tom Barratt, Business Director, Livity