Simon Dean: Creative Advertising graduate

Figtree is a group of writers, designers, thinkers, dreamers and organisers who help businesses develop and communicate a more distinctive brand personality. Global giants such as France Telecomm and Schnieider Electric plus household names such as Orange, BlackBerry, Disney and Sotherbys are some of the company’s core clients. Established and premium London brands such as Stanhope property developers and Charles Stanley stockbrokers are also part of the company’s client roster.

The agency, which was founded by creative director John Holton and strategy director Simon Myers, works across a broad spectrum of services, including branding, marketing, advertising, media planning and event production.

Simon’s job core job is to come up with new brand strategies for companies wishing to reposition themselves. It involves researching the marketplace and the company strengths in order to find a distinct and creative space for their company to occupy.

“The Falmouth course was effective in bridging the gap between my Sports Science degree and the world of marketing that I now inhabit,” Simon commented. “My current job involves lots of lateral thinking, problem solving, story telling and the presentation of ideas. All of these skills were developed on the Creative Advertising course.” When asked about the benefits of his experience, Simon commented: “I am just as comfortable writing copy and sketching ideas as I am explaining a brand positioning to a board of marketers.”

Simon’s job at Figtree is very diverse. He spends much of his time working alongside designers creating corporate identities born out of brand positionings as well as ‘spreading the word’. When discussing the experience of teamwork that he gained from the course, Simon said “Figtree has close relationships with advertising agencies, web developers, animators, programmers, illustrators and filmmakers. Together we find the best way to communicate the brand message in a compelling way. Working in a creative team at Falmouth provided essential training for this.”

To date Simon has completely rebranded Stanhope, London’s largest property developer, and Charles Stanley, London’s oldest independent stockbroker. He has also completed numerous projects for Orange including work on the ‘Animals’ campaign and is currently working on a new positioning and media plan for mobile information find service 82ASK.

When summing up, he said that “The course was great for developing contacts and Falmouth provided a good working atmosphere in a stimulating environment; it was an essential experience for securing a job in London”.