About Scot McKee

Scot McKee is a B2B Brand Consultant who began his career in advertising and marketing aged 11. Whilst his childhood peers were busy learning the lyrics to Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ Scot was recording jingles from TV advertisements. This questionable pastime acquired him few friends, but he persisted nonetheless up to and including the 1980 ‘Dancing Woman’ commercial for Shake ‘n’ Vac. To this day he still, disturbingly, is able to sing the theme song from the advertisement for the children’s bubble bath – Matey.

Scot specialized in Advertising, Marketing and Market Research at college and graduated with distinction but little hope of employment. He worked in the Marketing Department of a large electronics company in Paris before returning to the UK where he interviewed a selection of top UK advertising agencies. He decided that he wasn’t prepared to work for any of them. He worked instead, at a number of regional marketing agencies becoming a Company Director aged 24 and the Managing Director of his own agency a year later.

He followed his then girlfriend (later to become his wife) to the US, “on a hunch,” and became an Account Director for a large marketing consultancy in Boston. It was too cold. So he came home.

On returning to the UK in 1994, Scot founded Birddog – the company that was to become the multi-award winning, top 20 B2B marketing agency. As Managing Director of Birddog, Scot has led global brand strategies and pioneered creative change in B2B organisations of all sizes and market persuasions. His role has been to drag, cajole, entice and coerce marketing professionals kicking and screaming into new ways of thinking and communicating brand value. A controversial speaker, he has addressed marketing conferences including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johnson & Johnson, GeoPost and the IDMF. He has been Chairman of the B2B Marketing Forum and is a regular contributor in the business press. Scot has contributed a monthly column for B2B Marketing Magazine for almost five years.

Most recently, Scot has turned his attention to the relevance and application of B2B brand strategy and creative communications in the digital market. Unlike most self-proclaimed digital ‘gurus,’ Scot has almost zero experience in the digital industry. He sees this as a good thing. With over 25 years marketing agency and brand strategy expertise, Scot feels almost ready to deal with the onslaught of the digital revolution. He is a confirmed Luddite who has been inexplicably drawn towards the digital channel, probably for personal gain. He provides an essential link between the needs of the brand and its online audience. Already a published authority, blogger and industry speaker on the subjects of Creative Brand Strategy, Social Media, Mobile Internet and Digital Channels, he’s looking forward to when the whole digital evolution thing just stops, but isn’t holding his breath.

Away from the office, Scot visits other people’s offices in an advisory capacity as non-executive director. He also supports the industry by mentoring aspiring talent as long as they’re not too good looking. His enthusiasm for guitars is equalled only by his inability to play them and he boasts a collection he hopes his wife will never fully discover. Scot is married with two children and maintains, with a straight face, that they are, “the wind beneath my wings.” He currently divides his time between London, New York, Sydney and Cyberspace.

Email: scotmckee@gmail.com
Follow Scot on Twitter: @ScotMcKee
Connect on LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/scotmckee