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Who

I am an award-winning writer, thinker, and speaker who is passionate about understanding human behaviour, how it works at scale and how to put those insights to work.

I pioneered the use of behavioural science in market research, marketing and especially UK PLC – I was the first to publish the now infamous System 1/System 2 model of the brain that Daniel Kahneman made famous and was the first to challenge the Me-bias of Anglo-American business (we are a We-species at heart), long before Social media was a thing.

I’ve advised all kinds of organisations – from mega-corporations like Unilever, Merck, Experian and DHL/Deutsche Post to NGOs and campaigning groups, like Greenpeace and Humane Society International.

I work across cultures – in Asia, North America, Europe and Latam – and constantly challenge the ‘givens’ – the assumptions that our organisations and our thinking are based on. All too often they turn out not to be as universal as we’d like them to be.

My background lies in advertising and marketing but my work and insights touch just about every category of human behaviour and every function in organisations, explaining the abiding popularity of Myers Briggs to the social technology of the uniform, from unpicking Board Room antics to the strange compulsion we have in creating shrines and pilgrimages to people we’ve never met (Dobby the House Elf is a great example).

The toughest challenges in business today are human-shaped: whether it’s customers, users, colleagues or stakeholders, I help people understand human behaviour better.

Who

What

What

You want change? HERD can help you with lots of familiar change themes like innovation, culture and customer orientation and some new ones based around Mark’s thinking on Time – like how to avoid being blindsided, how to break free of the past and how to stop this darned thing happening again and again…

The right approach matters. Our experience teaches us that process re-engineering can be useful but mostly overpromises and underdelivers (not least because humans are not a technology). While essential, training and development are on their own unlikely to move the dial fast enough to make a commercial difference. And bright ideas from the outside are always rejected by the business because,...they’re not invented here.

Rapid and lasting change can only really come from YOUR people solving the real businesses problems, learning new skills and create new cultural norms all AT THE SAME TIME.

Sure, we’ve got better maps of human behaviour (check the bookshelf) and an archive of better solutions, lots of experience (both good and bad) of successful change programmes but the trick is putting this stuff to work in a fun, engaging and rewarding way.

Please get in touch to find out what HERD can do for you, your colleagues and your challenges

theherdmeister@gmail.com

STUFF

Advertising to the HERD

Big Data, Not Magic Data

Come and Have A Go If You Think You’re HERD Enough

TESTIMONIALS

Mark Earls has dedicated his life’s practice to making sense of the wonderful mess that is human behaviour. I don’t know anyone who knows people like Mark knows people. Over the fifteen years we have known each other and worked together, Mark been a key catalyst for my own thinking and career, both when we work together or I am inspired to put his words of wisdom into practice. He is an inspiration, a dry wit and a true gent.

John V Willshire, Founder of Smithery

When I have a conversation with Mark it feels like I’ve become instantly smarter and more curious about the world than I was 10 minutes before, with a desire to be talking to him next to a roaring fire as we put the world to rights. His books are iconic in our industry and he’s hugely respected but his natural habitat is speaking as he comes alive on stage and pulls in the audience in a way that’s always fresh and exciting. I’m honoured to call him a friend.

Tamara Littleton, CEO and Founder of The Social Element

HERD Is a must. Once you have read it you will understand why Mark Earls is regarded as a marketing guru. And you will feel as though you understand the world a great deal better. And the other reason you have to read it? Everyone else is.

Danny Finkelstein, Journalist, Advisor and Author.

Mark has presented at a fair few of our conferences and he’s one of the very best speakers I’ve ever seen, and I’ve probably seen several thousand over my career. He’s also a brilliant thinker and strategist, and has been involved in many famous marketing initiatives, not least being part of the Unilever/Ogilvy team who created and launched the Dove Real Beauty campaign that propelled the brand to billion-dollar brand status. Kudos Mark and thank you for also being a delightful human being and a great collaborator.

John Kearon, Founder and President of System1

One of the smartest people I know. Particularly his thinking around human behaviour and what makes us tick had a huge influence on my work on Behavioural Economics and it’s impact on consumer insight. An inspiration.

Steve Phillips, CEO at Zappi

Mark is one of those few individuals who can change or channel the way you think. You might disagree with him, but that’s fine, because it’s part of the fun. Along with other thinkers like Robert Heath, Mark’s ideas helped me to formulate my own theories of how brands and ads work, and develop products that tap into emotional and implicit response. What’s ironic though, is that Mark spends a lot of time emphasising the importance of copying in creativity, yet I’ve never met anyone quite like him!

, Founder and CEO at Emotive Insight Consultancy

I met Mark many years ago, he was a visionary leader within the Planning Department at Ogilvy & Mather and I had a brief to ‘bring them into the 21stC.’ We instantly connected and have stayed close ever since. Mark brought ‘behavioural economics’ to Ogilvy with his book, Herd. He was my go-to ‘speaker’ or facilitator for events and workshops, or meeting to discuss all things over coffee or lunch. He was always helping others learn in fun ways and always understanding strategy with great insights into human behaviour. You don’t often come across such an enormous brain, mixed with such kindness, empathy, and support for others.

Nicole Yershon, Founder and CEO at The NY Collective

There is a shortlist of a few people in the world who have changed my worldview and changed my career. There is an even shorter list of those people who have not only changed my worldview, changed my career AND are really smart, great to talk to and are a spectacular writer and presenter/keynoter.

Mark Earls is on that (very) shortlist. Without Mark’s insights, I simply would not have had any forms of the same success or ability to be creative. Mark literally changed the course of my life – albeit, he might not know it!

Colin Lewis, Marketing Guru and Columnist

I first met Mark when he was still at St. Lukes – a wonderful creative thinker, with a voracious appetite for culture, media, books, research, anything and everything means Mark will challenge your thinking, put a new spin on your existing thinking and generally enrich your life in ways that only a superb intellect can.

Cecilia Weckstrom, Head of Marketing Innovation at The LEGO Group

Mark and I created Campaign Underground, an award-winning series of immersive events for Campaign magazine. As host, he effortlessly captured the attention of the audience. Whether leading 250 top marketers to (dance to ) Viva Las Vegas or injecting humour into the proceedings, Mark has a remarkable talent for keeping everyone engaged and entertained. Moreover, his skill in simplifying complex concepts and connecting different themes, while providing insightful narrative throughout the events, was invaluable. (He is) clever without making others feel inferior…a rare and wonderful skill.

Jennie Meynell, Campaign Magazine

Mark and I have done some amazing things together, from client projects to talks and co-authoring our book on creative superpowers. He’s an incredible collaborator, incredibly smart but with the rare extra that he’s also so deeply attuned to people and human behaviour. He helps take the most lofty hypothesis or left field strategic starting point and make it simple. Working with him is not just fruitful, it’s playful, fun and challenging in all the right ways. He’s a brilliant speaker, communicator and inspires those around him. And most of all, as an expert in human behaviour his work works.

Laura Jordan Bambach, Co-founder of SheSays