I fear 3 things:
- That my 2 kids, my wife or my mum become ashamed of what I do
- That bad advertising and intrusive marketing lead my industry to be one of the most hated ever
- Flying
This may explain why I try to educate big brands, startups, small business and young people on how to earn trust from consumers since 2000, in France, but also the UK and all over Europe.
I created my first website in 2000, developed my first CMS in 2002, founded my first web agency in 2004 (which still exists) and another one in 2009 (which still exists after been acquired).
I am not a web developer, nor a strategic planner, nor a project manager, nor a marketer, nor a salesman despite the fact that in the last 23 years I have held all these positions at companies like Google, Nurun, NetBooster and for clients like Lacoste, AXA, Thales, Accor Hotels, ING Direct or Havas, in France and in the UK.
In fact, I am proud not to be a specialist.
I am currently helping brands accelerate their digital transformation at haigo, the third company I have created.
I like to make things come alive, to be an idea editor.
I believe that the best marketing strategy is a great product, and that a great product is designed around users and data analysis, which means it constantly evolves.
I like to challenge the business model of good ideas.
Since 2010, I co lead the Design Thinking Academy at HEC Paris. In this 3 weeks intensive bootcamp program, we make students from HEC, 42, Strate College, ISCOM or Epitech build a startup from scratch. I teach them how to attract the good users, make them stay and reach profitability via a mix of ecosystem analysis, growth hacking and inbound marketing (yes, I like buzzwords too).
Every month, I drink a couple of beers with some young digital workers at CQTM, they were kind enough to let me speak at their events, and I took the opportunity to ask my mum for forgiveness or to point out that no PPT can save the world.
I am also doing pro bono consulting for various startups.
I like to understand how things work, to build stuff and see how it goes
Maybe I fell in love with the Internet because I was able to find answers to a lot of my questions by myself.
In addition to my work related activities, I also like to learn and try a lot of different stuff.
I have recorded several LPs (including one with a former producer of Alain Bashung), played live music in front of thousands of people, done lightshows for bands like Pony Pony Run Run, been edited for one of my short stories and had a conversation on Twitter that led to a series of blog posts that were published by a newspaper in 2009.
Oh, and I am writing a novel about being 25 and single in Paris.
Another nice project I have is to get married with my wonderful partner, the mother of my 2 lovely kids.
> Follow me on Twitter or read my (old) blog
When I have the occasion, I still play bass, guitar, ukulele, piano, drums or bugle. I still know how to do electronic stuff with Reason and one day, I will learn to play the violin.
For my 40s I want to spend a week with my old music buddies to create and record a new LP.
> Listen to some of my music on Deezer (OKay, I shall switch to Soundcloud one day).
He usually shows up during QPR or Equipe de France football games.
This said, I am terrible at playing football, but if you want to go for a run, just ping me.
I live in Paris, and as I am French, I can't refuse a breakfast, a lunch or a beer after work.
As I said I like to help, so feel free to contact me to talk about a project related to marketing and digital.
My email: guewen dot loussouarn at gmail dot com
My phone number: +33 7 83 02 34 60
The very nice picture above was shot by my brother in law and the nice flat UI colors can be found here.
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