Drayton Bird

Drayton Bird FIDM FRSA is a British marketing expert and public speaker.

David Ogilvy said of him “Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world."^[1]

Bird has worked with major advertising agencies including Y & R, JWT, FCB and Leo Burnett and was a founding member of the Superbrands Council.^[2] Starting as a journalist he became a copywriter, and after becoming creative director of a leading London advertising agency quit to go into business on his own.

With two partners he set up what became Britain’s largest direct marketing agency which he sold to Ogilvy and Mather,^[3] where he became Vice Chairman and worldwide creative director of what is now OgilvyOne and was elected to the Ogilvy Group Board.

His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing,^[4] out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has written 4 other marketing books, including How to write a sales letter that sells, now in its 3rd edition, and well over 1,000 columns for publications around the world. In 2007 he founded the European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing.^[5]

Drayton’s standing has long been widely recognised. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, was one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing^[6] and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India.

He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York^[7] and Early To Rise in Florida.

References