In discussion: Paul Evans on the transition from corporate to consultancy, back-to-basics marketing and what’s in store for 2025

In our latest episode of Life in Digital, we spoke to Paul Evans, Fractional CMO and Founder of SixtyForty Marketing, about his career journey, taking a more holistic view of the marketing function, and his hopes for the industry in 2025.

The path to consultancy

Having spent more than 20 years at the forefront of media and marketing functions for some of the world’s best known names - including Nike, Xbox, Vodafone, to name but a few - and moved from UK to EMEA to global roles, Paul’s corporate career achievements would take some beating. 

Applying this experience through his own marketing consultancy business, launched in 2019, he says: “I would always consider myself a marketer first and foremost. Even as a media specialist, you know marketing is the function you ultimately serve and the capability you bring to the table.”

Paul goes on to explain that pivoting his career and founding SixtyForty Marketing was a decision driven by a desire to “get back to problem-solving; to improve the way that marketing works within the ad-tech and media services industry.” 

With a background as impressive and varied as Paul’s, no-one could doubt his ability to do just that. In fact, his achievements were recognised this year when he won Campaign UK’s 40 over 40.

The need to get ‘back to basics’ with marketing 

All too often, Paul tells us, marketing is viewed simply as the communications strand behind a business. However it is “something that's broader than just just PR, events and social media concentration,” and he believes in the need to look beyond this and go back to its roots to make marketing “more accountable, and more trusted at a senior level, to really reflect that it has a role to play across multiple dimensions.” 

This means firmly establishing the marketing function and performance in terms of business KPIs - product market fit, pricing and commercial models, distribution strategy - in order to realise its full value.

And while humble in his abilities, Paul knows he has the skills to help companies elevate their marketing to these levels: “I’m no oracle of truth on the unicorn solution for businesses, but I'm good at working with people to make those businesses better.”

What’s in store for the media industry in 2025?

Recognising the many significant trends that have dominated the industry in recent years - ecosystem and supply chain transparency, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, AI, programmatic curation, first-party data identifiers as a means to move beyond the third-party cookie - Paul is hopeful that we are able to manifest positive change, in the long term, from each hot topic before moving on to the next. 

As he explains “while they may come in and out of favour, they are all incredibly important, and so you hope they're embraced and embedded within the business before they start to diminish.”

For Paul, genuine inclusion in the workplace is paramount. With neurodiversity a topic of particular relevance to his family, he has expended much effort in raising the profile of autism by championing diversity of thought. As he tells us, “I think the ambition of being able to create the conditions for people to be successful in their roles is what we should be aiming for - for everybody, regardless of background, gender, ethnicity and neurodiversity.” 

In addition, Paul’s hopes for the next year extend to a more concerted effort by the industry as a whole to embrace responsibility. He elaborates on this idea: “I think we all know intrinsically what are the right things to do for this industry in terms of privacy, consent, sustainability, brand safety, and fraud.” While not predicting that the industry will act on this knowledge, it is his sincere hope for the year ahead that it will. 

To find out more about Paul’s career and work, as well his thoughts on curation, continuous learning and the importance for businesses of finding their own ‘clear water’, listen to the full story here.

You can find the full episode and more on our Life in Digital podcast. To find out more about Paul and SixtyForty Marketing, click here.