Marketing Conference
& & Kando Awards 2023
& & Kando Awards 2023
Chief Marketing Officer
Having read Physics at Oxford, Les took an M. Phil. in Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh University. His research there focussed on the use of computer models to study the way human beings process language. In 1987, he joined the Account Planning department at BMP, where he turned his modelling skills to the problem of measuring the effects of advertising. He is currently Head of Effectiveness at adam&eve DDB, and runs DDB Matrix, the network’s econometrics consultancy.
Over the years, Les has worked for a wide range of blue chip clients, including AXA, Barclaycard, Heinz, Nestlé, Phillips, Unilever, Virgin and Volkswagen. He has also played an important part in establishing the agency’s reputation for effectiveness, having won more IPA Advertising Effectiveness Awards than anyone else in the history of the competition.
Since 2001, he has served on the IPA’s Value of Creativity Group, helping to promote effectiveness and evaluation in the wider marketing community. In 2004 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the IPA, in recognition of his services to the advertising industry, and in 2005 he was Convenor of Judges for the IPA Awards.
In 2007, Les Binet and Peter Field published Marketing in the Era of Accountability, a study of the factors that influence marketing effectiveness. Described by The Guardian as “compulsory reading for all serious scholars of marketing”, this research was based on the IPA dataBANK, a database of effectiveness case histories, which Les and Peter helped to design and build for the IPA.
Les is a member of the Wharton Business School’s Global Advisory Board on the Future of Advertising, and a regular columnist for Admap magazine.
Chief Creative Officer
I specialise in applying behavioural science to marketing. In 2018 I set up Astroten, a company that helps brands such as Google, Mondelez, BrewDog and Barclays apply behavioural science to solve their challenges. Astroten offers a mix of services: from consultancy to training.
I'm the author of The Choice Factory, a best-selling book available in 12 languages. The book identifies the 25 behavioural biases most relevant to marketing and their practical applications. It won best sales and marketing book at the 2019 Business Book Awards.
In 2021 I was made an honorary fellow of the IPA and an associate of the Moller Institute, Churchill College, Cambridge University.
My latest book on applying behavioural science to marketing, The Illusion of Choice, will be released on March 28th 2023.