Marc Rust – Consequently Creative

**Marc Rust – Consequently Creative** What role can creativity and branding play in driving real business growth? In this episode of the Radical Global Marketing Podcast, Steven Proud is joined by Marc Rust, Managing Director of Consequently Creative, to explore how brand, creativity and storytelling can help businesses navigate transformation, build stronger cultures and ultimately create greater value. Marc's own relationship with marketing started at an early age. Moving to France at nine without speaking French, he found himself drawn to the advertising he saw on the streets, in subway stations and on television. Advertising became a window into both the language and the culture, and sparked a fascination with what Marc describes as the "magic" marketing can create. That fascination eventually developed into a career spanning both the creative and financial worlds, including roles within agencies and major financial institutions. Today, Consequently Creative brings those two worlds together, working particularly closely with private equity firms and their portfolio companies. **Branding through business transformation** A major theme of the conversation is what happens to a brand when a business itself is changing. Marc introduces the idea of **"acquisition turbulence"**, the uncertainty that can spread through an organisation following an acquisition. While the financial case for a deal may be clear, employees can suddenly find themselves questioning what the change means for their roles, their company and its future. Without effective communication, that uncertainty can quickly affect culture and talent retention. Marc argues that this is where branding and marketing have a much bigger role to play than simply communicating a new name or visual identity. By explaining why a company was acquired, celebrating what made it valuable in the first place and creating a clear story about where the combined business is heading, marketing can become an important part of the transformation itself. **In this episode...** Steven and Marc discuss: - Marc's unconventional introduction to marketing and creativity - Why finance and marketing need to work more closely together - The role of brand in private equity and portfolio company growth - How businesses can navigate "acquisition turbulence" - Why internal audiences are critical during periods of transformation - How organisations can uncover and amplify what makes them different - Why creativity can thrive in finance and other highly analytical industries - How storytelling and shared values can help bring different company cultures together - Why brands need to be continually nurtured and evolved - How AI is changing the creative landscape - Why human ingenuity and taste could become even more valuable in an AI-driven world Marc also shares a fascinating example of a technology company facing a significant identity and cultural challenge following an acquisition. Through workshops, listening and storytelling, his team helped uncover the disconnect between how employees viewed the organisation and where the business was actually heading, and helped create a story that people could understand, believe in and get behind. **Don't be lazy with AI** The conversation finishes by turning to a subject no marketing podcast can completely avoid: AI. For Marc, the opportunity isn't simply about using AI to produce more content, more quickly. In fact, he warns against allowing automation to replace thought, creativity and judgement. As AI makes it easier to create work that is technically competent but increasingly predictable, Marc believes there is a growing opportunity for people who can bring genuine ingenuity, originality and human perspective to their work. He uses legendary music producer Rick Rubin to make the point. Rubin's greatest strength isn't technical proficiency, it's his ability to recognise what matters and know what to amplify. In other words, **taste matters**. And in a world where everyone has access to increasingly powerful creative tools, it may matter more than ever.