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Luke Nathans Managing Director, Asia Pacific Iris Experience
		Education: Advertising Federation of Australia Graduate Trainee Macquarie University, Sydney Australia Bachelor of Arts – Environmental Science Books Reading: Enchantment – Guy Kawasaki The Finkler Question -  Howard Jacobson		Favorite Quote: "If I asked my customers what they want, they simply would have said a faster horse." Henry Ford.  Relationship Status:  Married with a new little boy Jasper. I dare to ask age:  Old enough.

Insprational Figures: 
I tend not to look too far back for inspiration – I prefer to be and rather keep being inspired with by what's going on around me. The two most inspirational figures that I've come across lately have both been in the art world - The French street artist JR and the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. What I find inspirational about what they do, is they create things of amazing beauty in places of severe hardship. They create experiences that don’t just entertain and engage, but bring attention and value to those who need it most. They have perfected what we as marketers must strive to do - create currency through ideas that go well beyond a financial transaction.

Short bio of career path:
I first got into the industry because I could wear trainers to work. Since then I've worked in a number of countries and agencies. The brief has always been entrepreneurial and creative, I haven't cared about the discipline, so I've kind of worked in them all, from advertising (Ogilvy & Mather, Belgiovane Williams Mackay), through direct (OgilvyOne), sales promotion & shopper marketing (G2), branding (The One Centre)  to digital (TBWA Tequila UK). I also misspent much of my youth (and later years) running underground club nights and music events. Pretty much all of this experience has led me to iris, where I do all of the above and still wear trainers.

Define your leadership style and the feel of the agency:
Empower others. Support people and let them go for it.

Toughest challenge overcome in your career?
Any meeting that goes over two hours long and involves spreadsheets. I'm serious, has anything good ever come out of that?.

Favorite assignment completed to date?
That's a hard one to answer as they've all had their good and bad moments.  For me, it's all about creating something new, creating places and spaces that people have never experienced before, regardless of the medium. I also love the immediacy of creating branded experiences. You don't need to wait for the brand tracking or quant data to come in - you can see the enjoyment on the punters’ faces.

Your vision of where we will all be in 10 years (non-apocalyptic):
Transparency is the new marketing; I think everyone can see it coming. In an ever-changing, hyper-connected world, brands can no longer afford to under-deliver to consumers. If they do, it only takes a click to empower a community. Brands will need to provide real value in the utility they offer, but also in the way they communicate to consumers. Essentially, this is a good thing as it will lead to a framework of respect and 'weed out' the unscrupulous, or those only out to make a quick profit.

The emphasis on this 'value exchange' can only mean good things for the industry. It means agencies will have to shift from creating worthless chatter to things of value.

Why do clients choose your agency and how have you been able to maintain such long relationships? 
We go beyond the obvious to create extraordinary ideas that bring cultural and commercial value

Advice for those entering into the space from college?
Don’t become a specialist, at this moment the industry is too focused on disciplines. It's smothering diversity and creative thought. Try your hand at anything and everything that takes your fancy, have fun and don't be afraid to fail. The best people in this industry have had some spectacular f*** ups, but that's why they’re now the best.

Advice to the smaller agency owners in this tough economic climate?           
It comes back to the value equation again: offer something that they can't do without and you will always succeed. Offer them half-truths and you will get nowhere.

How do you use and define experiential methodology?
A few years ago, we did a study with the London School of Economics to understand the value of experiences, the role they play in our lives and how brands can best harness them. We then turned that into a methodology, which influences all our work today. I'm only too happy to share the study, if anyone wants to get in touch.