For those that know me, they know that I’m pretty positive in all aspects of my life.

Not to say that life is always rosy. It’s definitely not!

But I try to tap into positive energy as best I can.

Part of my approach to life is self-reflection. Looking back over my actions, outputs, and performance to critically assess.

I’m always looking to learn and improve as a human.

Just as I am with my work. I’m always looking for opportunities to help marketers fine tune their approaches, change strategic thinking, and transform to achieve better outcomes.

It’s not just about improvement though, I often take the time to reflect on my time spent. I believe it’s important. Not just running a million miles an hour all the time (which is easy to do in today’s always on world).

So, looking back over the past 12 months, here are my top 12 reflections:

  1. Time

Funnily enough I’ll start with time. One of the biggest observations this year has been virtually everyone I meet has been saying they’re “super busy”, or can’t find time in their diary to do everything that they want to do. I believe it will continue to be the great conundrum in 2025. And I believe it’s one of the biggest areas in life that we all need to try and create some balance with. We all have control over our time. Use it wisely. Carve out time for yourself, your loved ones, and your work. Get out of balance and risk the repercussions. It should be the constant: to make good use of our time before it’s too late.

  1. Reached a major milestone – the 300th marketing advisory project

Both through my company Front Foot marketing conducting customer value analytics and customer strategy work; and with TrinityP3 doing marketing management advisory. I’ve been privileged to have worked with some of the sharpest minds in the industry. Leaders and marketers willing to open up, listen and change. The common thread – trust. Building and earning it. See reflection 5 below to see what my 300th project was.

  1. What was my most interesting project?

I find every project interesting and challenging. Seriously. I do. That’s why I love my work. I tossed up between two, however, to pick one, it was helping position the International Retinoblastoma Consortium (IRBC) with their ground-breaking e-health tool, Depict Health. The IRBC is a not-for-profit for people affected by Retinoblastoma – rare type of eye cancer occurring in young children that develops in the retina. I really enjoyed working with Dr Gallie and her team. More here

  1. Snail mail – it’s dead isn’t it? No, I just achieved a 22:1 ROI with it

I got back into dimensional mail and it was sexy. Let me explain. I was trained in Direct Marketing, way back in the 90s. Testing it against a myriad of other direct response channels: DRTV, magazine inserts, flyers, POS, coupons, sales promotions etc and of course the sexy new kid on the block – email – followed by social media, blogging & influencers. The bottom line was that direct mail was fully measurable. And you lived and died by the response. I learned the art of projecting a return on investment (ROI) and then proving it. I calculated my first multi category ROI for Nestle’s direct to consumer program and showing the Nestle corporate world how a positive ROI could be achieved. The rest was history. Fast forward to a few months ago and the results were equally as impressive with this direct mail program.

  1. Changes spaces from boring to beautiful

Have you heard of artificial flowers? I’m sure you have. But did you know that there is a business created around them that has been running since 2000? Founded by two Aussies and now in over 61 countries. It’s called Floral Image. And we don’t mention the ‘fake’ F-word any more. We talk about Designer Flowers – a monthly service where beautiful designer flower arrangements are brought to businesses and changed out or refreshed monthly. Designed to make office spaces, waiting rooms, and reception areas not only look great, but refresh the feelings of the staff and customers that experience them. It’s a premium service brand that’s changing the way people see the world – both physically and emotionally. It has been wonderful to help evolve Floral Image’s global positioning and start to see the creative expression come to life around the world. A fantastic client to chalk up my 300th advisory project.

  1. Fellow propeller-heads unite

This year was big. I conducted 7 martech advisory projects throughout the year. In 2023 it was clear that martech was a mess for most companies. As AI took hold the spotlight was back on martech and data quality. How to make more with less. The bottom line – martech is just an enabler. You need to have clarity on your objectives, unite your teams and channels, prioritise data usage, and develop new ways of working. Otherwise, you’ll be feeling the pangs of frustration. How do you feel about your marketing technology? If you need a shoulder to cry on, then I’m here 😉

  1. Taking the initiative and making a positive impact for people in need

This was extremely rewarding. One of my clients introduced me to Cheryl Sing, the founder of The Laptop Initiative. Cheryl and her team target Corporates to get them to donate spare laptops (around the 3 year mark) that are still in good working order, and have them distributed to people in need – asylum seekers/refugees, women affected by domestic violence, and disadvantaged youth. I loved the concept, and through TrinityP3, we challenged the Australian advertising industry to help. Together, we created a groundswell of interest and prevented hundreds of laptops from going to landfill, and instead, changed people’s life at a very challenging time. If you’re a corporate leader and can donate spare laptops, then please join the list of corporate heroes. click here

  1. Calling all contact centres

Despite the belief that it’s all digital touchpoints these days, contact centres still have a huge part to play in customer engagement. They’re often the heart and soul of customer interaction. But often the break point in terms of team alignment, data flows and customer reporting. We helped put a call out for all relevant contact centres for a client and have thoroughly enjoyed the journey to help them assess the various dimensions. There’s a lot of good work happening in the industry with AI, omnichannel management, issue resolution, learning and development, and security. Touch base if you’re needing to assess your current provider.

  1. Proud of my partnerships

I’m eternally grateful for great partnerships. A huge thank you to Darren Woolley and the TrinityP3 team. We pushed the boundaries this year on adtech, martech, chat bots, AI audio news curation, and more. Bring on 2025. And @Christian Lehmann and his Throttl team. Who curate top 5% experts to help supercharge client success. Proud to be a part of successful growth.

  1. Teamwork is the dreamwork

As above, it’s never about me. It’s always about the “we”. Throughout the year I’ve worked with clients, business analysts and data scientists to assess their customer data. Breaking customers into customer value cohorts based on profit to reveal the 80/20 rule. Identifying purchase patterns and correlations previously unseen; shopping frequency variations; basket repertoires; channel variations and more. Ultimately to measure what matters most – the incremental impact of marketing and return on investment. If you’re not measuring the incremental lift in marketing, then you may be wasting valuable marketing budget. I wish I had a $1 (or 1 bitcoin 😉 for every time that I was referred to as The ROI Guy. Gotta love that.

  1. Pilates, piano and German – now that’s an odd mix

I set myself a goal in January, to keep my mind and body active and try new things, beyond work. I started pilates. I started it due to a hip problem and absolutely love it. I go twice a week – early mornings before work. And it has not only helped me with my middle-aged, male core; but given me a new appreciation of every working muscle group in my body. And I also picked up the piano again – after learning during my primary and high school years. As well as a renewed effort of learning German. Speaking regularly with a great mate of mine – Scotty; and using the app Babbel. In 2025 it’s the Ukulele. Look out – maybe a Xmas 2025 concert!? Bring your ear plugs maybe.

  1. And finally, a well-earned 3-week holiday

Given the volume of work, I needed a break. I took a 3-week switch off with my beautiful life-partner Nicky. It was a magnificent European holiday experiencing a medieval wedding in a castle; visiting family in Belgium and the Netherlands; and spending a week in Ireland. We’ve been raving about Ireland ever since – admittedly we had a week of sunshine, so we’re probably totally skewed in our view. But the people were super friendly and interesting, the food amazing, and the landscape picturesque. But it was the overall service that made the biggest impression on us. There was no attitude, service staff have a ‘can do’ and helpful manner, and they’re not pushy. I highly recommend visiting in and around the Connemara, Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, and everywhere in between.

Well. That’s a wrap.

If you’re still reading after my little self-indulgent reflection, then maybe you can do the same.

How were your last 12 months?

What did you experience?

What did you love?

What did you learn?

Whatever it was, hopefully you can take the time to reflect on your time.

Here’s to a festive end of the year. And wishing you a wonderful 2025 – whatever it may hold.