John
Robertson

ABOUT JOHN

With years of marketing and digital know-how, John provides strategic support for growth businesses.

News Update: John was delighted to accept a position as Chief Marketing Officer of Broker Insights in June 2023. This followed a period as their interim CMO. Prior to that, he had been consulting with the business since the early days of the company’s formation. The role combines his specialisms in the high-growth technology sector and  expansion into the US. He is no longer available for consulting roles with Robertson Collaborate but stays on as a director.

John brings over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing and product management roles. He has been a consultant to high-growth tech companies and SMEs, and his main areas of expertise are go-to-market and customer acquisition strategies for B2B and B2C businesses. Clients have included Chroma Ventures, Broker Insights and Thorntons Law.

With experience in many sectors, he is known for his work in digital, technology, data science and ecommerce companies. Working closely and often facilitating workshop sessions, clients view him as a team player who helps steer companies with his vast array of business experience.

His ecommerce experience ranges from subscription business models to pure-play online retail, and more recently he has overseen significant online growth at Scott Brothers Butchers.

John has also worked in the Scottish tech ecosystem supporting the set-up of The Data Lab, a Scottish Government initiative to capitalise on the rapidly growing data science market. He has also worked on Entrepreneurial Scotland’s digital transformation following the merger of Entrepreneurial Exchange and The Saltire Foundation and with Heriot-Watt University’s and Edinburgh University’s commercialisation teams.

Previous experience

John was previously marketing director at one of the UK’s fastest growing online publishing businesses – Brightsolid. He had responsibility for creating the marketing strategy, including customer acquisition and retention programme and analytics. During his time, revenues increased by almost 400%, and staff numbers grew from 40 to over 200. John was also part of award-winning partnerships, national consumer launches and the first factual ad-funded programme in the UK.

Client Chris van der Kuyl stated, “Having worked with John since 2007, I have strong experience of his superb ability to deliver leadership in strategic marketing and all areas of digital commerce. For businesses looking to grow and transform digitally, John has a rare combination of skills and experience that will undoubtedly deliver results.”

Prior to working in ecommerce, John worked in business-to-business technology for NCR, a Fortune 500 company, in sales, product management and marketing roles. Being earmarked as a “bellwether” employee by the firm’s CEO fuelled John’s drive for success. With his results-driven business experience and digital marketing expertise, John can bring innovative thinking and a fresh perspective to help take your business further.

Non-executive director roles

Until June 2017, John served as a non-executive director on the board of Marketing Edinburgh, the official destination marketing organisation dedicated to promoting Edinburgh to the world. He helped the organisation embrace digital over his nearly five-year tenure. John welcomes roles such as this, where his digital know-how can help organisations develop. In addition, John completed the Dale Carnegie Leadership Training Programme and has a reputation as an engaging leader. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Outside of work

John enjoys sport, playing golf in St Andrews, and he is a lost soul without a cycling Sportif or event to train towards with his teammates, the Newport Massif.  He is always learning something new through good old-fashioned paper books and is a proud patron of Dundee V&A.