Mark Tomblin

Founder

TAXI

Mark has worked widely in and around the communications industry in many different environments, from small start-ups to large network shops, from a boutique research consultancy to a digital advertising agency. He has extensive experience of working with a great variety of clients, large and small, public, private and not-for-profit.

The common thread – if indeed there is one – is his love of solving problems in interesting and sometimes unconventional ways. Cursed with a brain that loves puzzling things through (and never quite seems to sleep), it was small wonder that he eventually found his natural home in planning.

Mark also has a keen entrepreneurial side to his character, as shown by the fact that he has been involved in creating two agencies from the ground up. This taught him the profoundest respect for anybody who starts their own business – as well as many entirely unforeseen skills in the areas of photocopier repair and IT systems.

He was until November 2012 the Head of Planning for the Leo Burnett Group in London, where he led a large and varied team of 38 planners who between them provided a complete range of planning services to the six companies that made up the group. His ambition was simple: to make them the best planning team in London. In the prestigious biennial 2012 IPA advertising effectiveness awards, his team won two of the coveted gold awards – an unprecedented level of success for the agency in the more than 30-year history of the competition.

In January 2013, Mark moved from the UK to join TAXI Canada as Head of Planning for the Toronto operations. Six months later he was promoted to Chief Strategy Officer for the TAXI network, in which role he oversees the planning output for the entire TAXI group, as well as leading the network’s thinking about brands and the people who use them.

Speaking at: Dissecting data: a marketing plan’s most powerful tool