Philip Davies

President, EMEA, Leadership, based in London

Among Philip Davies’s influences is Formula One Grand Prix champion Niki Lauda, who said the secret of his success was “to win going as slowly as possible.” It’s a striking statement which perfectly encapsulates Philip’s approach to branding: produce extraordinary results through meticulous attention to detail and sound, methodical thinking. His appetite for an array of seemingly disparate things—sports, space exploration, writers from George Orwell to Dorothy Parker—gives him a richly layered perspective as he works to create a central brand idea that’s the perfect distillation of an organization’s many facets.

Philip’s broad international experience spans journalism and advertising as well as brand consulting, where he gained a reputation for leading teams in creating simple, pervasive ideas that allow brands to perform and compete. He comes to us from Dragon Rouge, where he served as managing director of Business Brands. Before Dragon Rouge he was hired at Barclays to help evolve the bank’s brand strategy over a four-month period. Philip ended up serving as the company’s global head of Identity for four years, developing the “Fluent in Finance” positioning, and his strategic legacy continues to resonate throughout the organization.

Philip has developed positioning strategies, communications campaigns and identities for a wide variety of entrepreneurs and agencies. He worked on the merger between TUI Tourism in Germany and First Choice, which resulted in TUI Travel PLC, the world’s biggest leisure travel company. He led brand positioning development for global mining corporation Rio Tinto and advised asset manager Legg Mason on its international brand development as well as developing positioning for NetJets in Europe and a new hotel concept for the Swire Group. Philip also launched Renault’s Formula 1 car, consulted for McKinsey & Company and helped guide consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, Killik & Co stockbrokers and the international food service giant Compass Group with their brand positioning.