Biography

Short bio

Peter Fisk is a global thought leader – author, futurist, speaker – whose career was forged in a superconductivity lab, accelerated by managing supersonic brands, shaped by working with some of the world’s best companies in Europe, North America and Asia, evolved by leading a digital start-up, and formalised as CEO of the world’s largest marketing network.

He works with business leaders to reimagine their markets and strategies for a better future. He brings together the best in strategy and innovation, brand and customer thinking to drive smarter, sustainable growth.

Peter leads GeniusWorks, an innovative business accelerator, based in London, and is professor of leadership, strategy and innovation at IE Business School in Madrid, where he is responsible for executive programs. He also works independently and with other business schools. He was Thinkers50 Global Director, founded and hosts the annual European Business Forum, and publishes the monthly ”Fast Leader” magazine.

He has over 30 years of practical business experience, working with over 300 companies and 55 countries … from Adidas’ growth into new markets to Asahi’s consumer-centric innovation, Cartier’s redefined luxury and Coca Cola’s growth strategy, McKinsey’s leadership development to Microsoft’s new approach to strategic innovation, P&G’s direct to consumer strategy and Pfizer’s future scanning, Santander’s future bank vision and Sompo’s digitally-minded leaders, Takeda’s patient-centric healthcare and Tata’s growth as a global business.

Peter’s first book “Marketing Genius” fused the brains of Einstein and Picasso to ask how would they do business today, and was translated into 35 languages. His next 8 books explore the renaissance creativity of Leonardo da Vinci, in “Creative Genius”, how to innovate with purpose for positive impact, in “People Planet Profit”, and learning from the world’s most innovative companies, in “Gamechangers”.

His new book “Business Recoded” challenges leaders to have the courage to create a better future, harnessing the opportunities of a post-pandemic world, through 7 shifts built on deep dives with 49 of the world’s most inspiring business leaders today. It is shortlisted for CMI Business Book of the Year 2021, and was reviewed by the Financial Times with “Wow. The book you have to read now”.

Email: peterfisk@peterfisk.com

Long bio

Peter Fisk is a global thought leader in leadership and strategy, innovation and marketing. He is a bestselling author, expert consultant and keynote speaker, helping business leaders to develop innovative strategies for business and brands.

He is a thinker, advisor and practical entrepreneur. He is Professor of Leadership, Strategy, and Innovation at IE Business School, one of the world’s top ranked business schools, whilst also founder and CEO of GeniusWorks, a boutique consulting firm, helping clients around the world to make sense of fast-changing markets, and find new ways to think, compete and win.

He was Director of Thinkers50 Global which brings together the best ideas in business by working with the world’s top academics and business leaders, and hosts the European Business Forum each year. He also features on the Thinkers 50 “Guru Radar” as one of the world’s top business experts.

Having trained as a nuclear physicist, Peter moved to managing brands like Concorde at British Airways, helping Microsoft to adopt a value-based marketing model, and Virgin to launch into new markets. He has worked in every sector and region of the world. As CEO of the world’s largest marketing organisation, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, he became a global authority on what’s best and next in business and markets.

Finding his own space, he founded GeniusWorks, with offices in London and Istanbul. He works with businesses in every sector, food to fashion, skincare to stock exchanges – brands as diverse as Aeroflot and Coca Cola, DSM and GSK, Mars and M&S, Philosophy and Red Bull, Sabre and Santander, Tata and Turkcell, Virgin and Visa, Vodafone and Yapi Kredi – to think bigger and smarter, develop innovative strategies, bolder brands, and accelerate growth.

Peter’s new book “Business Recoded” will be launched in 2020, exploring how to recode business for a world of new challenges, opportunities and progress. It seeks to inspire leaders with the courage to reimagine their businesses, to create a better future.

His bestselling “Gamechangers: Are you ready to change the world?” explores the next generation of brands, shaking up markets, innovating and winning in new ways. Based on 100 global case studies, it explores the challenges of new markets, changing customers, brand building, new business models, real-time marketing, harnessing social media, inspiring leadership and positive impact. It has been nominated for MT Business Book of the Year.

Other books include “Marketing Genius” explores the left and right-brain challenges of success, and is translated into 35 languages. It was followed by five others – “Business Genius” on leadership and strategy, “Customer Genius” on building a customer-centric business, “People Planet Profit” on sustainable innovation – and most recently “Creative Genius” defining what it takes to be Leonardo da Vinci in the 21st Century.

Growing up in rural Northumberland, in the north of England, Peter has a love of running that has taken him from a youthful mile champion to still running every day, 30 years later. He now lives in Teddington, to the west of London, surrounded by the Royal Parks of King Henry VI and his hunting deer. He is married with two teenage daughters, who keep him real and in touch with the Snapchat, Netflix lifestyles of Gen Z.

Inspired by his first job in the airline world, he loves to travel far and wide, indulge in Asian food, together with a very cold Sauvignon Blanc. His favourite brands range from Ashmei running gear to Rapha cycle club, Paul Smith’s fashion design and House Café in Istanbul, New York’s MOMA to New Zealand’s great Moa Beer. And not forgetting, of course, Apple and Nespresso, Nike and Tesla!

Peter was described by Business Strategy Journal as “one of the best new business thinkers”. His advice is sought after by business leaders around the world, he adds specialist expertise to key projects, combining new ideas with practical action, inspiration and impact. Helping you to find your own space, to be leaders of change – to be bold, brave and brilliant.

More anecdotes

Peter grew up in the rural countryside of Northern England, a small town called Rothbury, where his first love was to run. From schoolboy one mile champion to long distances, he loved the freedom of the outdoors, of working your body hard, and achieving the best you can be. He continues to run almost 40 years later, maintaining a deep interest in the sport, whilst also applying it to his current work.

He started his business career at British Airways, after an initial foray into the world of nuclear physics. In the airline, he worked across sales and marketing, including development of the Executive Club relationship marketing programme, brands such as Club World and Concorde, and a new business strategy to address the new challenges of globalisation, low cost entrants, and new technologies. Some of the innovations which he worked on included exploring new ways to create flat beds on aircraft (learning from a yacht designer), to improve the airport experience (fast track through baggage and security), and setting up a low-cost airline (Go, as a subsidiary business with a new business model).

He then joined PA Consulting Group, helping some of the world’s leading companies to develop more innovative business strategies and customer-centric businesses. As leader of PA’s global marketing consulting team, he led the creation of market-shaping strategies, the repositioning of brands, and introduction of new products and channels. He led PA’s approach to customer-centric business transformation, and also established the Centre for Customer Excellence, developed a spin-off venture business, Active, and a transformational leadership programme, Mission Possible.

Peter has addressed the key issues in almost every sector, from Silicon Valley to Singapore. Examples of his experience includes introducing a customer-centric change programmes at BT and Orange, value-based marketing framework for Microsoft, the reinvention of food for Marks & Spencer, a new customer strategy for Sainsbury, services strategy for O2, and a new brand strategy for Shell. He helped Virgin enter the financial services market, American Express to embrace new approaches to innovation, Vodafone to enter new international markets, also BT to develop its Marketing Excellence programme and community, Royal Mail to prepare for competitive markets, and Philips transform from product-driven techies to market-shaping innovators.

As CEO of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Peter became recognised as a leading expert and commentator on marketing worldwide. Representing over 60,000 marketers in 130 countries, he challenged existing perceptions of marketing, and championed new practices and standards. He drove significant change in the profession introducing new capabilities and qualifications, supported by a Knowledge Hub, an online learning product, a new journal The Marketer, and the Shape the Agenda thought leadership programme. In particular he encouraged marketers and business leaders to embrace customers and brands as the most important source of long-term shareholder value.

He became a Partner of The Foundation, a customer-centric strategic innovation firm, where he continues to work as Associate Partner, and was also Group Managing Director of Brand Finance, the specialist brand effectiveness and valuation firm. During this time he also wrote the Marketing Society’s Manifesto for Marketing, and an industry wide approach to business reporting of customer and market metrics, called Customer Capital.

Peter’s bestselling book Marketing Genius (Wiley/Capstone, 2006) is currently being translated into 22 different languages. It describes how a more left and right-brain approach to business can achieve extraordinary results – what today’s businesses can learn from Einstein and Picasso, and their modern contemporaries such as Steve Jobs and Philippe Starck.

Business Genius followed (Wiley/Capstone 2008) and explores the challenges of leadership and strategy in turbulent times. He has authored around 40 published papers, is the co-author of The Complete CEO (Wiley/Capstone, 2006) and contributing author to The FT Handbook of Management (Pearson, 2004), Business: The Ultimate Resource. (Bloomsbury 2006).

Customer Genius (Wiley/Capstone, 2009), focuses on how to build a customer-centric business, one that embraces customer insight at the heart of strategic decisions and learns to do business on customer terms – “outside in” – what, when, where and how they want. This is supported by a new range of toolkits, blueprints, and live events.

People Planet Profit (Kogan Page,  2010) describes how to embrace social and environmental issues to drive smarter innovation and profitable growth – to make money by doing the right thing. It was written in collaboration with Diana Verde Nieto (founder of Positive Luxury), Anthony Kleanthous (WWF), Hannah Jones (VP Nike Sustainability) and many others.

In 2017, as Thinkers50 Global Director, Peter founded the European Business Forum, a dynamic coming together of the world’s top academic minds, with Europe’s top business leaders. Peter designs and hosts the event each year, and has been joined on stage by many of the world’s leading thinkers: Michael Porter on shared value, Jim Hagemann Snabe on dreams and details, Alex Osterwalder on Invincible Companies, Rita McGrath on inflection points, Roger Martin on better choices, Marshall Goldsmith on better leadership, Erin Meyer on culture mapping,  and many more. He continues to develop EBF, and the mission to connect new business ideas with practical application, to deliver enlightened business progress.