In the first of a regular series, profiling people in our industry who have had amazing careers, we look at a man who started as a “rookie” journalist, straight out of high school in Queensland, Australia, and who now lives and works in New York as the CMO of one of the World’s greatest law firms.
I’ll take Manhattan
It’s been a little over three years since David McClune left Australia, completing a 14 year stint with leading national law firm Allens, to take up CMO at global powerhouse Shearman & Sterling in New York.
Professionally, he’s enjoying the challenges of a truly global role. Shearman operates in 22 countries with a global marketing team of just over 70. At the time of this interview, the UK Brexit result was a week old.
“You don’t tend to think of that sort of thing – how could you? – when you contemplate a move overseas. But when it comes along, it really reinforces that you are truly working in a global organisation with cross border issues. A Brexit event really brings that home,” David said.
“There are internal and external implications – for our staff (we have more than 50 languages spoken in our firm), and for our clients who are in markets with very different levels of maturity. The dynamics and cultures of each market are very different, so the impact of something like Brexit can be complicated for us and our clients.”
Taking the role has its personal rewards. David has started training for the New York Marathon – figuring he may as well do this one if he’s ever going to do one, and he continues to box – something he started in Australia a few years ago.
“Not the biffo kind. I take the subway and go to this divey, dingy gym – a really old school gym. There are no beautiful people there. It’s as it has been for decades, and I train there – occasionally you’ll see Mark Wahlberg training there. Everyone leaves him alone and he does his own thing.” he said.
On reflection, he wishes he’d ‘done the overseas thing’ a bit earlier. His family – partner and two teenage daughters – are now well ensconced in Manhattan: “I couldn’t get the family out of New York now. I took this job for the challenge of something new, for sure, but I’ve always factored in the family dynamic – what might be a great opportunity for the family.”
But it was not an opportunity he envisaged when his adult working life was beginning as a rookie journalist on Queensland’s Gold Coast, fresh out of high school.
That first job was in the old tradition of print reporters – where learning to be a proficient all-rounder: early news, politics, local government, sport, police – was necessary, as well as valued. This led to work with a PR agency which was ultimately bought by ad giant George Patterson Bates (now GPYR), followed by a move into politics with a position as Press Secretary to the then Queensland Health and Family Services Minister.
From there it was a move across state lines to Sydney, where David worked for the NSW Transport and Tourism Minister including advising on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Bid, and then with the organisation that was the predecessor to Tourism Australia. It was here that he had significant exposure to assessing approaches to international markets and how to position within them; at this time, it was Australia’s key markets for inbound tourism – the UK, Japan, USA and New Zealand.
He returned to Queensland and to take up the role of Chief of Staff for the Health Minister, before the opportunity to switch career tracks came up.
“I loved my stint as a political adviser. I was at a point, though, in that last appointment where I could really make a difference. I could contribute fully to policy and strategy that made a difference. It was a dynamic environment and really rewarding.” It was, however, time for a change.
“Having been around politics and government for about 15 years… it could be tiring working to timetables and issues at the whim of an electorate,” he recalls. It was about then that he met partners from Allens’ Brisbane office, and ultimately took the role of Marketing Director, where one of the early significant projects was being involved with the firm through its 2001 merger with the then, Arthur Robinson Hedderwicks.
“I will always cherish my time at Allens. The people I worked with and the team I worked with. We built a world-class marketing and BD team. We were at the forefront of marketing practice in professional services – things like client feedback programs and strategic pricing were just emerging. We were the first to have an in-house pricing function in the marketing team, along with our work on key client relationship management, strategic planning, online strategy, and so on. It was, and still is, a pretty sophisticated team by global standards.”
David particularly valued the mentoring he had from each of the three managing partners of the firm during his time there (Ian McGill, Tom Poulton and Michal Rose), and added: “They all strongly backed the firm’s ongoing investment in BD and marketing.”
The perspective of distance and time has confirmed David’s view that Australian firms have world-class marketing practices.
“Australian law firms are universally regarded as extremely well managed and progressive in their approach. It’s because, I think, during the 90s it was so very competitive – all of us were fighting hard for a finite group of clients. It really sharpened the management of everything, including the go-to-market strategies,” he said
While his international experience has proved that markets, and cultures, can change elements of the marketing approach, he believes the differences they pose for marketing strategy are not so vast: “Really the way clients operate in the US is exactly the same as in Australia, or London, or wherever. There may be differences of scale, or emphasis on price, but overall, it’s not so different.”
In fact, he urges junior and mid-level marketers in professional services to not be put off by ‘global’ opportunities and to trust their ability to adapt quickly using professional nous: “Never be frightened of overseas markets because you think you don’t understand the market.”
“Younger people I see today really amaze me. They are so socialised and mature at young ages – at 25 or 30. They are generally really aware of the world around them – more than I ever was. My advice to them would be first, be technically proficient – be super, technically, functionally good. Second, have measured ambition – be ambitious, but temper the ambition with strong self-awareness.”
The one thing in his career so far that David considers comes close to a regret would be his time at university; he wishes now he’d taken the time out to immerse himself in the experience instead of completing his first degree part time alongside his first full time job.
“I would have liked, in hindsight, to have done my tertiary studies as a full time student and just have that experience,” he said. He completed his MBA part time as well “It was pretty much a hobby I had for five years” noting that an early idea to study law not long after taking the position at Allens fizzled after one year: “I tried it but soon gave that up – too dull, colourless and boring for me.”
“In hindsight perhaps I should have stayed longer working on Olympic bid, but I don’t regret going back to politics. Sure, there are things in my career I could have done better, but there is not one thing I regret.”
“I was from Southport in Queensland, which was basically a big country town when I was growing up … the image I had then of New York was simplistically one of crime gangs in the Bronx. I never would have thought I’d work on an Olympic bid for Australia; and I never in a million years would have dreamed I’d end up have this kind of role and living in New York,” he said
Do you know someone who has had an inspiring career? Nominate them at sround@seldonrosser.com
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