We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Peter Kuhn, oakpool advisory board member, advertising industry veteran, and all-around Renaissance man. Over the past 25+ years, Peter has held executive roles at Aquent, Tag, Adstream [Now Extreme Reach], and most recently at Oliver (Acquired by The Brandtech Group), where he held several positions, including CEO, North America.
We’re lucky to have a man like Peter in our corner. He’s seen the advertising, adTech, and digital marketing industries evolve over the years, scaled agencies with Fortune 500 clients, and from where we’re sitting, he’s done all of this while staying true to himself.
Peter is also an avid sailor, fly fisherman, and amateur bartender – all of which he does on a level comparable to the results that he and his teams have produced for brands like Unilever, Molson Coors, Marriott, Microsoft, Addidas, Paypal, and Bayer over the years.
1. You ran OLIVER North America as CEO, managed massive teams, worked with some of the biggest brands in the world. So what is it about oakpool that got your attention?
As with any business it comes down to the people. I have seen well-funded, well “tooled” agencies fail because they are more worried about awards and building their brand than they are about being market-oriented and customer-focused. oakpool leadership is passionate about client success. Sleeves up, minds sharp- heart in the right place. This combined with their obsession for using the newest tech available gives me great confidence that oakpool will deliver the client results that will ensure their success.
2. You’ve watched the traditional agency model up close for over 25 years. What did you start seeing that told you things needed to change?
For years there has been available data, but very few agencies knew how to interpret and activate that data, nor did they have the tools to deploy the learning if they did get the data correct. For years the joke ( credited to the retailer John Wannamaker ) was “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”- Well now we know what is wasted and what works. And… we can adapt the “wasted” portion in real time to put it to work. Now that intelligence is in place, agencies can focus on the task- brand building, reach, awareness, path to purchase etc. But as we see time and time again, the old guard does not adopt the new tech as readily as they should- this is why nimble tech-native agencies like oakpool will thrive.
3. A big part of your career was helping brands build marketing capability in-house. Now you’re advising oakpool, which is bringing that kind of capability through oakpool.ai. How do those two things connect for you?
I think many of the same challenges will always exist- such as spreading spend across brand-building vs. tactical call-to-action moments. But now oakpool.ai can help marketers do more targeted content, more personalization, and more timely and relevant communications to engage in a much more meaningful manner. So the connection is that the old problems have not gone away- but the solutions are different than they used to be. Change management is also something that has always been on the mind of a CMO- how do I get my marketers to utilize the tools that exist to increase their impact? AI is not the first tech in a CMO’s world, but the good ones will understand how to ensure their marketers embrace and leverage the tools and that they don’t default to the “easy, comfortable way.”
4. Where do you see the agency world heading over the next five years, and where does oakpool need to be to take advantage of that?
For starters it will be the most radically innovative time in the history of our industry. Moores law is dead. What we could do a year ago compared to 6 months ago compared to last week is change that would have usually taken a decade. oakpool needs to constantly assess and select the very best tools out there for their clients. Enterprise clients don’t have the ability to adapt quickly and adopt new tech without months of procurement, legal, and IT. oakpool can be the aggregator and adopter of the best tech and deliver it with the best service and human-in-the-loop intelligence
5. You’re living in the Bahamas now and doing conservation work there. How has that shift changed the way you think about the work you choose to take on?
Two things come to mind. Firstly, on an island, you don’t waste anything. Everything is very expensive, so you must be focused on your spend, and when you make that purchase, you maximize it. Waste has always annoyed me- and for most of my career I saw some clients who were not focused on reducing waste. There was a little big-budget spray and pray at times, and the time and money wasted on not being focused was shocking.
Secondly, I have been coming here for 42 years and have been involved in many civic organizations and charities. The Bahamas has only been independent for 53 years, and it has taken a generation or two for Bahamians to embrace that independence and begin to act like entrepreneurs- I am seeing solar companies, water management companies, high-tech grow houses, botanical spirits brands, etc. etc. It is an incredibly exciting time. Our future is now, and I am thrilled to lend my experience to many of these founders.
After nearly three decades of working on large budgets for large global brands that have been bought, sold, IPOd etc time and time again the founder story is the “history of the brand.” And for years I have worked on positioning the “history” of a bank , auto manufacturer, spirit, etc etc.
I am more interested in helping brands write the future. I love meeting and working with founders. The drive, passion, bravery, and vision inspire me. They are not simply an employee working towards a performance bonus- they are building their future and their legacy. Founders who count every stitch, taste every batch, stress-test every product are such a refreshing change to the classically trained marketer who comes with a playbook.
6. What’s the thing you most want to help oakpool get right, and what would it mean to you personally if you got there?
I’ll go back to my answer to question 1. The people. I want to help oakpool keep an eye on the people and the culture. In my KPI’s over my career it is what I was best at. Building teams and cultures that were kind, caring, driven, curious, inclusive, and highly customer-focused. The innovative minds at oakpool will always be smarter and better at leveraging the current tech… but none of that matters unless it is leveraged by a highly motivated team. I have spoken with several employees, and the culture is very strong. Even interns get formalized briefings and coaching from the founders. People feel as though they are a part of something special…and they are. The trick is how do you take that special feeling and scale it. In my last 10 years, I took a team from 3 people in an apartment to over 800 managing 38 clients all by looking after the people. Fun fact – one of the oakpool founders (Alex Ford) interned for me about 15 years ago, and I must have done something right to get invited to help oakpool achieve the heights they are destined to reach.
Thank you, Peter, for sharing your thoughts and your time with us today. We look forward to continuing to scale oakpool with you in our corner.
