With experience spanning 30 years, 40 countries, and 50 brands, Alexei Orlov has made life his business and business his life as a seasoned leader in Global Marketing. A proven specialist in global brand strategy, marketing deployment, and operational change management, Alexei’s passionate and dynamic leadership has been a driving force throughout his career. Alexei Orlov is Founder and Global CEO of mtm choice worldwide, a boutique network of skilled practitioners specialising in high-precision brand activation and media optimisation. Bolstered by market-enabling technologies, mtm agencies seek to help brands excel at the “moments that matter” for their customers and consumers. Take a look at his interview with IdeaMensch here!

1. An
Interview
with
Alexei
Orlov
"I believe rules are made to be broken,
whilst ideas are feed to growth."

2. With experience spanning 30 years, 40
countries, and 50 brands,
Alexei Orlov has made life his business and business his life as a
seasoned leader in Global Marketing. A proven specialist in global
brand strategy, marketing deployment, and operational change
management, Alexei’s passionate and dynamic leadership has been a
driving force throughout his career.

3. Alexei Orlov is Founder and Global CEO
of mtm choice worldwide,
a boutique network of skilled practitioners specialising in high-
precision brand activation and media optimisation. Bolstered by
market-enabling technologies, mtm agencies seek to help brands
excel at the “moments that matter” for their customers and
consumers. The company, which initially raised $30 million, has
completed two acquisitions and will be closing a third in July 2018.
mtm is currently in negotiations to complete a further $50 million of
funding to support additional top-tier acquisitions in 2018.

4. Prior to mtm,
Alexei Orlov served as Senior Advisor to the CEO & Chairman of DAS,
an international division of Omnicom Group. Prior to DAS, he served
as Global CEO of RAPP where he oversaw a dramatic turnaround,
attracting new business and leadership talent through a successful
rebranding initiative.

5. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of
Volkswagen Group China,
Alexei Orlov was responsible for the overall marketing and brand
positioning for the Volkswagen Brands portfolio across Greater China
and ASEAN. Alexei was jointly responsible for the commercial
excellence of the company’s significant regional business as a core
member of Volkswagen’s executive team.

6. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of
Volkswagen Group China,
Alexei Orlov was responsible for the overall marketing and brand
positioning for the Volkswagen Brands portfolio across Greater China
and ASEAN. Alexei was jointly responsible for the commercial
excellence of the company’s significant regional business as a core
member of Volkswagen’s executive team.

7. Alexei served the digital specialist
agency Wunderman
for eight years as President (Europe), then as Global COO and finally
as Executive Vice-Chairman (Worldwide). He also served as the
Global Strategic Lead for WPP’s automotive business, where he co-
led agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, Wunderman, Mindshare, Y&R
and JWT on their work for Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, and
Volvo.

8. Prior, Alexei was Global Brand
Communications Director for Volvo Cars
and Marketing Director of Volvo UK, at the time the second-largest
national sales company for the Volvo Corporation. Alexei was the
youngest executive to be appointed to a director position at Avon,
where he served as Marketing Director of Avon Cosmetics Retail
(Europe). At the beginning of his career he was a founding member of
the highly-successful Paperchase Retail Group, igniting in him a
passion for brand stewardship that carries on to this day.

9. Alexei Orlov has been the recipient of
numerous prestigious awards and
honors.
In 2012 and 2013, Alexei was awarded CMO of the Year / ASEAN by
the World Brand Congress. In 2013, Alexei and his team at Proximity
received a Cannes Gold Lion Award for their work creating the
People’s Car Project, the largest automotive social media platform
with 28 million users and 108 million YouKu followers. Alexei was also
invited to be one of the top keynote speakers at the highly-acclaimed
Global Brand Forum in 2013.

10. Where did the idea for mtm
choice come from?

11. To be honest, I have been talking
about the “moments that matter” for
about five years now. In fact, I
always say to clients who listen: “If it
does not matter to those who
matter for your business, then it will
not matter, and nor will your
business.” Choice is the reward, and
people like us will talk about us and
recommend us. The certain and
defining proof is whether they
choose your business above and
beyond others. And so mtm choice
became our name to remind us that
everything we do must have
profound relevance for a changing
world and marketplace.

12. What does your typical day
look like and how do you
make it productive?

13. Since my teens, I have only ever
needed about four to five hours of
sleep. I have a lot of time, therefore,
to pause and think. That being said, I
like to leave room to be
spontaneous — but to do that I
always mark the one absolute
priority of the day and pursue it. I
also believe in creating a list based
on what’s most needed and working
my way down. I often don’t finish it,
but it carries over. They key is to
share the list and allow others to
take possession and responsibility.
There is great value in letting go.
Letting others know you trust them
breeds togetherness and
momentum.

14. How do you bring ideas to
life?

15. Trying to get something absolutely
perfect from the outset in business
is an ‘obsession over reality and
pace.’ I believe very much in having
a clear purpose that others can
align to and get going on once we
feel we have enough homework
done. It is important to course
correct as we move towards a goal.
No one can predict every aspect
and every eventuality. The trick is to
know when to slow down to gather
pace, and to be honest and clear at
every step. It is also important to
forgive others as much as you do
yourself; then you will see how
quickly ideas become objective
realities.

16. What’s one trend that really
excites you?

17. The move towards digital and social
AUTHENTICITY. For instance, it is not
good enough to speak of data
protection. It is also important to
ensure that what people are involved
with has its roots in an authentic
product. My view is that we have
allowed ourselves to think that
anything at any time, by anyone, is
just fine. It has made paupers of too
many people with low sensibility and
no sense of responsibility. The rules
and regulations driven by GDPR
(General Data Protections Regulation)
must move into more clearly defined
permissions not just to withstand data
breaches, but to show authentic
substance too.

18. What is one habit of yours
that makes you more
productive as an
entrepreneur?

19. I always question the parameters
thrown at me. I believe rules are made
to be broken, whilst ideas are feed to
growth. I therefore believe in live
conversations and real-time
interaction. People sitting right next to
one another and emailing each other
is an example of digital madness and
protectionism gone mad.

20. What advice would you
give your younger self?

21. Live for yourself first. Then you can be
a better person for others. This is not
about being selfish, but rather
knowing your true self and being
happy within. Only then can you truly
listen to others and shine a better
light yourself.

22. Tell us something that’s
true that almost nobody
agrees with you on?

23. Religion and marriage are simply not
the life-long and loving bonding
agents we made them up to be. We
created them to manage and control
our societies. It’s time to rethink and
interrogate these age-old institutions.

24. As an entrepreneur, what is
the one thing you do over
and over and recommend
everyone else do?

25. Don’t gather people who are as good
as you, find people who are better
and nourish them. And never make
assumptions.

26. What is one strategy that
has helped you grow your
business?

27. Not just identifying a market opportunity,
but seeing how we could be a great
practitioner within it to make a
difference. I know what I want to achieve,
but I leave room to pivot. From directions
in strategy, to financing the operations, to
building my exceptional team, I have
allowed myself to step up, step down,
sprint, walk and sometimes stop to make
fundamental turns that whilst very
difficult at times were absolutely
required. That means accepting that I
don’t always get it right, but also not
allowing myself to be whimsical. There
are lives and reputations at stake in every
business. In the absence of a plan that
makes you feel resolved, pause just a
while longer.

28. What is one failure you had
as an entrepreneur, and
how did you overcome it?

29. I was born impatient, and I have
suffered consequently. I finally
realised I will always be impatient.
But, I have somewhat mastered
now the art of waiting, albeit,
waiting impatiently. Patience is the
ultimate form of power; an energy
that can afford to wait until it
unleashes.

30. What is one business idea
that you’re willing to give
away to our readers?

31. I think someone should create an
insurance company product where
you only pay for the time that you
are physically using your car. It
would cut the cost of insurance
dramatically and, perversely, could
actually increase the levels of
insurance paid. Market penetration
might increase, as it would become
far more cost accessible to so many
who can’t now afford to pay and
take the risk.

32. What is the best $100 you
recently spent? What and
why?

33. It was not $100, but $80. I was
working from the house and four
gardeners worked and worked
through a hot afternoon. I noticed
that their bottles of water were
empty, so I came out and gave
them each a cold bottle and $20 a
piece and thanked them. Their
English was not great, my Spanish
was miserable, but we understood
one another as they stood there
and shyly smiled. They knew that at
this house they were seen and they
mattered. It made me feel happy.
Really happy.

34. What is one piece of
software or a web service
that helps you be
productive? How do you
use it?

35. The BBC News app. I just don’t think
world affairs coverage is very good
in the USA. Sorry, but the world is
not the USA. It’s the tribes of all
people across the globe. To be in
the business I am in and not know
what really is happening in real time
across all spectrums of life and
business is a problem. CNN, take
note!

36. What is the one book that
you recommend our
community should read and
why?

37. “Applied Empathy” by Michael
Ventura. It is a simple and honest
book to read that reminds us about
the obvious that we all too often
forget about. To say you are a
citizen of humankind you have to be
both human…and kind… by having
sensibility and understanding of
others.

38. What is your favorite quote?

39. “Wisdom only comes when we
throw our knowledge away.”