As a youngster, Tom wanted to become one of three things: an investigative journalist, an actor or a playwright. He is glad that now, as a strategist, he managed to fulfill these three childhood aspirations in one job.
A former MTV marketing manager, amateur DJ and stand-up comedian, he entered the industry fray after winning a copywriting contest and spent five years at boutique agency Duval Guillaume in Brussels as a strategic planner and strategy director.
He was head of strategy and managing partner at Publicis Brussels from 2009 to 2014 before joining FCB. Tom is the driving force behind Brand Bedrock, People&Patterns, and Monday Muse, the network’s monthly inspiration sessions for planners around the world.
The EVP of global strategy at FCB since exactly ten years now, combines creativity and cultural curiosity to drive results. His 20 years of experience as a planner taught him to evolve from “Why?” as his go-to question, to “Why not?”, which for him has sharpened his role to inspire clients and colleagues to great work.
Born in the bilingual and multi-cultural capital of Europe, Brussels, Tom is adept at understanding preferences and diverse constituencies, and has worked on several cross-market assignments, from the far East to the far West, including Clorox, Skoda, Prudential, GSK and ABInBev. He was the lead planner in campaigns that gathered over 20 Cannes Lions and 8 Effie Awards, including a Euro Effie, and once on a blue Monday, he won a Cannes Lion as a copywriter
When he is not with his friends or family, this sultan of silliness and dad of two sons and a dog, likes to reboot and reroot in the company of trees.
MEMBERSHIP: Global Creative Council