Michael Birkin

Michael Birkin (born 1958) is an English marketing executive, notable for his role in developing the concept of brand valuation as well as for his involvement in marketing operations. He began his career at Interbrand in 1987, later working at Omnicom Group and Acer Inc. He founded his own marketing services company, Red Peak Group, in 2010. He is Chair of kyu, the strategic operating unit of Hakuhodo DY Holdings.

Background Michael Birkin was born in England in 1958. Birkin's father, Sir Derek Birkin, was CEO of Rio Tinto Zinc, a mining company. After attending Marlborough College, where he became a member of council, Birkin went on to study law at University College London. He was a nationally-ranked squash player and played on the Junior England Squad.

In his spare time, Birkin pursues an interest in Renaissance art from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.

Career Early career In his early career, Birkin qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Later, he took a role as PA and protégé to Sir Mark Weinberg, chairman of Hambro Life Assurance, now Zurich Insurance Group. While handling the project to change the name of Hambro Life (to Allied Dunbar) he met John Murphy, the founder of Novamark and Interbrand who consulted on the project.

Interbrand In 1987, Birkin joined executive chairman Murphy at the new Interbrand Group, where he began as group chief executive. He held this role at Interbrand from 1987 to 1995, during which time he took a leading role in developing the concept of brand valuation and became well known as an expert in the field.

Under the leadership of Murphy and Birkin, Interbrand grew from an international company with 25 employees to a global marketing consultancy.

Omnicom In December 1993, Omnicom Group's Diversified Agency Services (DAS) acquired Interbrand, and Birkin joined Omnicom. At Omnicom, he quickly rose up through the organisation, becoming European managing director of DAS in 1995, followed by international president of DAS in 1997, and worldwide president of DAS in 1999. His role in Asia was focused on helping Omnicom's agencies capitalise on potential opportunities in the region. In particular, he worked to promote Omnicom's services within Asia,

Birkin's final roles at Omnicom were vice-chairman of Omnicom Group and CEO of Omnicom Asia-Pacific, which he held simultaneously. In 2009, he stepped down from both roles. He then launched Red Peak Group, a global marketing services firm, in February 2010. RMPC became part of Red Peak Group, which also comprises Red Peak Branding.

Acer Birkin was hired as Taiwan-based Acer Inc.'s chief marketing officer in 2012. This was Birkin's first client-side position, helping the company shift its focus from manufacturing to marketing. Specifically, he joined the company to build Acer's marketing and brand building capabilities with the goal of using consumer insights to drive product development.

kyu In 2014, Birkin's Red Peak Group was acquired by advertising and marketing company Hakuhodo DY Holdings (ja), Advertising Age ranks Hakuhodo DY Holdings among the world's top ten agency companies. Following the acquisition in 2014, Birkin was named CEO of kyu, In kyu's first year, Birkin acquired American company Digital Kitchen and Montreal's Sid Lee to form a global group of creative agencies with several specialisations. To date the kyu collective includes ATÖYLE, BEworks, BIMM, C2, Digital Kitchen, Gehl, Ghost Note, Godfrey Dadich Partners, Haigo, IDEO, Kepler Group, Lexington, Napkyn, Public Digital, RedPeak, Rich Talent Group, Sid Lee, SYPartners, SYLVAIN, Upstatement, and Yard.