“Marketing is not fully understood by business leaders” Jeremy Duncan, Partner and Brand Strategy Director, Reggie London and IoD Marketing Chair

My dream was to be an artist, but my A level was a disaster, so I pursued my second love, politics. A degree in international politics from Keele taught me a lot about diplomacy which has been useful in my long career in the creative industries.

Like many students at the time, I answered a recruitment advert looking for ‘dynamic graduates’ and found myself selling advertising space for Reed Publishing. After a short stint on a computer magazine, I moved onto glossy magazine publisher Condé Nast as circulation manager across a range of coffee table titles.

This was the 80’s when Condé Nast was hugely influential. I was exposed to creative people and powerful advertising agencies. Women were leading the charge with Tina Brown breaking down barriers at Tatler, and Anna Wintour driving Vogue into a new era. It was all very ‘Devil Wears Prada’.

I loved the fast-paced nature of this world and learned a great deal. I had two very different mentors at the time. One old-fashioned English gentleman and a brash American. They taught me how to get things done in very different ways, but I always felt supported.  They gave me freedom, respect and trust, and I hope I have managed to instil the same feelings in my teams.

I remained a frustrated creative so when the job stopped being fun, I took a break. After getting married, I travelled across India, China and Southeast Asia. When I returned I co-founded Radius, a graphic design agency specialising in packaging and corporate accounts. My commercial and sales experience contributed to our success and through the 90’s and 00’s we worked with major retailers, charities, and the government. I loved the diversity and immersing ourselves in these different worlds. As the industry went through a tremendous change, my business partner and I decided to split amicably.

I met my next business partner at the school gates, a fellow dad. We run Reggie London together (named after fictional character Reggie Perrin) and think of ourselves as an old school creative couple. We’re a boutique agency based at Somerset House and pride ourselves on delivering strategic thinking – informed by our years of experience – alongside our inventiveness.

When I was looking for networking opportunities to grow the business and had grown tired of other creative membership organisations which seemed to be more about socialising than networking, I asked myself “where would my dad go?” The answer was the IoD, so I gave it a whirl. I thought it might be a bit fuddy-duddy but was pleasantly surprised. Networking at the IoD isn’t about selling, it is about getting to know people and thinking about how we can help each other.

During the pandemic, my business was hit hard so I had time to get more involved with the IoD pandemic webinar programme advising on marketing communications. This opportunity gave me a new lease of life as well as the chance to learn new skills and make amazing connections.

In 2023 we set up an IoD Marketing Communications Special Interest Group (SIG) which I am delighted to have instigated. Marketing is often the first budget to be cut when times get tough, and yet marketing and communications is critical to business success. It is not fully understood by business leaders and our goal is to educate the 20,000+ business leaders who make up the IoD and to provide a natural home for creative professionals in the membership. I believe passionately that creative roles should be recognised at board director level and our goal is to make that happen.