Meet Alain Portmann, partner and head of Media and Insights at House of Kaizen,a “work in progress” with an aversion to Powerpoint slides and Native Advertising.

1 – SUMMARISE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS. 

“Work in progress.”

2 – WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO PURSUE A CAREER IN MEDIA AND MARKETING?

“A need to understand and influence peoples’ behaviour – by the age of 14 I knew advertising was the career for me.”

3 – DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL CLIENT.

“Pragmatic, fair, intelligent, ambitious, a challenger brand, working on a global scale in the fitness and tech wearables industry. Under Armour would be ideal. ”

4 – NAME YOUR FAVOURITE EVER CAMPAIGN.

“The 1989 ‘No’ campaign in Chile, which was partly responsible for the end of the Pinochet dictatorship following a plebiscite that led to free elections after 18 years of military rule. The campaign was made into a movie called “No” where actor Gael Garcia Bernal plays the role of ad executive Eugenio García responsible for the idea.”

5 – WHICH AWARD WIN ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF, AND WHY?

“Winning the Best Video Campaign at The Drum’s 2016 Digital Trading Awards for our client Avis Budget Group was the most meaningful because it was a collaborative effort between agency, audience owners and tech providers, and it rose above the polished, shiny but ineffective campaign entries of the large agency groups.”

6 – WHO IS THE BEST INDUSTRY SPEAKER YOU HAVE SEEN?

“Tony Robbins.”

7 – WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM, AND WHY?

“Face to face conversations (technically not a social media platform) because meaningful social communication cannot happen on a screen.”

8 – WHERE IS YOUR IDEAL MEETING VENUE?

“A room with a great view and a large whiteboard to draw out plans and strategies as opposed to going through endless Powerpoint slides.”

9 – WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANT?

“Sketch Lecture Room.”

10 – WHAT IS HOT IN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA AND MARKETING, AND WHAT IS NOT?

“Hot: Wearable Tech. Not Hot: Mobile phones.”

11 – WHICH INDUSTRY BUZZWORD WOULD YOU BAN?

“Native Advertising (nothing more than sponsored content distributed at scale).”

12 – WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?

“Coaching and passing on my knowledge to the new generation.”

13 – FINALLY, WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE OF YOUR LIFE?

“Benicio del Toro.”