Scott Bedbury

Biography

Scott Bedbury established himself as one of the most successful marketing and business development executives by helping take two of the world`s iconic brands, Nike and Starbucks, to global leadership positions. Since leaving the corporate side he has served as a strategic advisor to dozens of Fortune 500 brands and startups, published A New Brand World, and spoken in more than 20 countries on creativity, leadership, corporate culture, brand positioning and marketing innovation.

Bedbury joined Nike in 1987 as it Worldwide Advertising Director where he collaborated with a small Portland agency, agency Wieden and Kennedy, to create the "Just Do It" campaign. The brand repositioning strategy -- to move beyond an exclusive, aspirational sports brand for young male athletes to a more ageless, inclusive, inspirational sports and fitness brand -- has proved to be one of Nike`s greatest strategic achievements.

In a few short years Nike moved from a distant #3 to world leader and set new standards for brand positioning, communication, promotion and product innovation. Today, Nike is one of the world`s most respected and valued brands with a market cap of more than $40 billion US.

In 1995 Bedbury left Nike to help another small but promising company with global aspirations. When he became Chief Marketing Officer for Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle the brand had only a few hundred stores in 14 US markets. Armed with a $2.5 million dollar marketing budget, he and his small team set out to redefine and redesign one of the oldest commodities on earth as an experience, rather than just a cup of coffee, and take the brand around the world.

Without the help of traditional advertising, Bedbury and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz worked to create a strong global brand a different way -- one person, one cup, one store at a time -- and to deliver the best possible brand experience for both customers and employees. Starbucks pioneered what is now considered "experiential marketing" and has become a corporate role model for its approach to social responsibility and the treatment of employees.

At the heart of the Starbucks repositioning was to redesign its cafe as a warm and inviting "Third Place" for millions every day between home and work. Bedbury teamed up with Wright Massey, a former Disney Imagineering creative director, to develop one of the most imitated visual brand languages in the decades. A small team of the Northwest`s best independent graphic artists, writers, musicologists, production experts, and art directors were assembled in 1995 to create the coffee house of the 21st century.

Perhaps Starbucks` greatest challenge was to preserve its unique core values, internal culture and high employee loyalty in the face of meteoric growth. Store openings increased from two stores a week to three stores per day within three years. Today, Starbucks has 17,000 stores across 40 countries and serves10 millions customers each day while maintaining one of the strongest brand cultures of any industry. Starbuck`s market cap in 2010 was more than $24 billion US.

In 1998 Bedbury left Starbucks to establish Brandstream, an international brand development firm. Consulting and speaking clients include P&G, Coca-Cola, Google, Corona, NASA, Facebook, Microsoft, Russian Standard, Visa, Kaiser Permanente, Tellme Networks, General Motors, South Africa Breweries, the US Navy, Starwood Hotels, Nokia, T-mobile, UniCredit, Groupo Modelo (Corona), Volkswagen AG, Mars, and Mattel.

Bedbury is a graduate of the University or Oregon School of Journalism and Communication (SJAC) where he has received the Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Achievement awards. He currently serves on the SJAC Advancement Council. Scott is also a recipient of the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. He currently lives in Seattle Washington where he is working on his next book.

Publications

A New Brand World

Written by Brandstream founder Scott Bedbury and published in March 2002 by Viking Press, A New Brand World is a departure from most business books. It provides entertaining, in the trenches experiences inside Nike and Starbucks, as well as Scott`s experiences as an advertising executive and brand development consultant.

Titles

Building Great Brands

In a hyper competitive world awash with brand that have shrinking points of difference and a rapidly evolving marketing communication and brand positioning toolbox, to be competitive -- or win -- will take more than doing one or two things well. In fact, everything matters when building a great brand.

That has been the experience of Scott Bedbury, former marketing executive for Nike and Starbucks and an advisor to brand leaders around the world for more than a decade. In his presentation he will review the best tools, tips and methods that can be applied to most any brand -- be it a fledgling start-up or a multi-billion dollar global juggernaut -- in what has become the most transparent, disrupted yet dynamic period in business history.

Bedbury will share some of his greatest achievements and the most embarrassing mistakes that all can learn from. Be prepared to learn and laugh as he shows us how some of the greatest and often challenged companies on earth have thrived in the face of adversity, fierce competition and the unique challenges of building a brand for the ages.