Interview Series V1 - Tom Markham

This is the first in a new series interviewing high-profile digital experts on their thoughts around our industry.
First up is Tom Markham, Global Digital Creative Director at Lowe Partners Worldwide.

Q1. What is the number one thing about your job that gets you out of bed in the morning?
The paycheck. (See question 6)
Q2. What are your favorite sites/digi campaigns right now?
Right now I like Goggles, the browser bookmarklet that puts a community-controlled MS Paint over every website. Lots of penises of course, but some cool stuff too. Someone has written “GO KIWI!” all over cricinfo.com which warmed my heart.
Q3. Who is the new kid on the block - the agency/business to watch for the future?
It’s going to be interesting to see if Canvas takes off. That guy Moot has great instincts and could well be the next Zuckerberg. They even look kind of the same.
Q4. What sector would you say is furthest ahead in digital marketing at the moment?
Gaming. If you look at how a company like Valve markets its games and builds communities, it is far ahead of what agencies are doing. The Valve marketing guy recently called ad agencies “pretty close to worthless”. He said: “you’d be shocked by the treatments that have come back [from agencies]. Copycat treatments. Cliche treatments. Treatments that reveal the agency wasn’t listening in the initial meeting” That’s not criticism our industry should brush off. Because eventually all clients will be as clued-up as the these guys and will reach the same conclusion.
Q5. What technology or initiative is most likely to revolutionize Web/mobile marketing?
The proletariat revolution which overthrows the entire bourgeois capitalist world. Either that or smart phone penetration.
Q6. If you could wave your magic wand and change one thing what would it be?
About digital marketing? I’d make it like that Jim Carey movie where no one can lie. There’s too much bullshit in this industry. So no lying about results or effectiveness. No lying to customers. No lying to clients about how easy it all is. No lying on CVs. Then we might get somewhere.
Q7. What’s the biggest mistake people are making in mobile/Web marketing?
The same old one. Confusing the real internet with an illusionary marketing internet full of Consumers who can’t wait to interact and converse with all the Brands in their lives. Or confusing people using mobile devices with Consumers using a Marketing Platform.
Q8. What is the most useful resource site/blog you use?
Reddit.