Mark Sears, Founder of Them Big Oak Trees gave an inspiring talk on going solo. Mark spent 13 years at Virgin group where he oversaw the strategic direction of the Virgin brand and provided brand support for the 200 established Virgin businesses globally by championing the special culture that makes Virgin unique. 18 months ago Mark decided to fly solo. He now works with brands and entrepreneurs helping them focus on growing purposeful brands that change things, for good. His unique take on brand building uses the principle of fieldwork to explore how natural systems and processes can provide the inspiration for growing future-proofed meaningful brands. Mark explained why he decided to leave a dream job to follow his passion and how you can grow your brand around the things that inspire you most.

2. Trees in a woodland
share a root system
When one tree is nutritionally
deprived the other trees share
nutrients to ensure the whole
system remains healthy

3. 60 million customers worldwide
Revenue of £11bn in 2011
SECTORS
45,000 employees
Transport and
Travel Renewables
Health
Brand Money
Communica5ons
Leisure and
Entertainment
COMPANIES
#1 Most Admired Brand in the UK

4. Run For The Hills

5. • Business as usual is broken
• The new change narratives leave me cold
• We need to balance our hi-tech and hi-nature lives
• Nature needs to become part of the zeitgeist
• I want more time in my two favourite creative mediums

8. Find Your Ecological Niche

10. Apply The 900
Year Rule

11. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

12. Never Underestimate the Power of Play

13. If I only scrape a living,
at least it’s a living worth scraping.
If there’s no future in it, at least it’s a present
worth remembering
Mickey Smith.
The Dark Side Of The Lens

14. thembigoaktrees.com
@searsio
mark@thembigoaktrees.com