Focus on Jon Alexander, Brand and Marketing

I work in brand and marketing at the National Trust, and it’s a field I’ve worked in for nearly 10 years now, since leaving university – but only at the Trust for the last 18 months. I came here to make an idea of mine called MyFarm reality, a project where we have handed over the running of a real working farm to the public through the web, and haven’t looked back!
Before joining the Trust I spent most of my career in London advertising agencies, including Fallon where among other things we made the award-winning Sony Bravia ads and Cadbury Gorilla and Eyebrows ads. I also spent some time client-side at Sainsbury’s after working on the Try Something New Today campaign for their agency AMV BBDO, and I lived in Zambia for a year working for a small charity. So I’ve been around a bit!
I think the skills that good marketers and brand thinkers have are incredibly powerful, but I think we tend to abdicate our ethical responsibilities a little too easily. I wanted to work on ideas that could really make a difference in the world, and what better organisation than the National Trust? With 4 million members and 250,000 hectares of land, if you can’t do something here ...
The Trust is a fascinating place to work. It’s everything – an influential campaigning organisation, an important charity and conservation body, a major commercial enterprise, a visitor attraction, a retailer, a restaurant chain ... There is no more diverse organisation going, and the challenges that throws up are incredibly stimulating and the potential impact thrilling.
If I could say anything to someone considering working for the National Trust? I’d say ... Do it. Do it now.
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