Shepherd: Live in Fourways, Johannesburg, work in many places around the world – headquartered in Johannesburg, but wherever I’m needed – and I always blend play with working and living, so the same places!
Shepherd: Professionally the development of many top, international brands. Personally, I was once a competition skydiver, did the Camel Cape to Cairo and climbed Kilimanjaro.
Shepherd: From being a photocopier sales rep through television, journalism, publishing, radio broadcasting, and advertising to specialist brand strategy, design and film-making. A wild, wild ride!
Shepherd: My kids (who can simultaneously become my least favourite things – but that’s teenagers for you), gin, wine, preparing and enjoying great and interesting food, my home, cars, my career and living in South Africa.
Shepherd: It’s all about the constant attention on staying relevant, so by its nature reinvents itself frequently. That means it never gets tired or dull – there’s always new stuff to learn.
Shepherd: Always good coffee at the start, always a GnT at the end. Everything in between is unexpected!
Shepherd: My MacBook and my gift of the gab!
Shepherd: A brand that is getting it bang-on is NetFlorist. Their messaging is relevant, compelling, memorable and enjoyable. They are doing a great job of combining simplicity and consistency, and their brand extensions work excellently. Over and above this, the experience of the brand (certainly mine and many people I have spoken to) aligns brilliantly with the promise.
Shepherd: Creating a real and meaningful industry body that is genuinely interested in working together to create knowledge and value, and to advance overall perception of the discipline.
Shepherd: Apart from a brilliant collection of very forward-thinking and brave clients around the world, I’m still trying to complete a book called The Restaurant Toilet – a collection of thoughts about considering every facet of the brand experience.
Shepherd: Big data is a current buzzword, and like all of them, makes its users feel intelligent and informed. Very few people can actually give you a meaningful explanation! Authenticity is the one I like best right now, because people want authentic brands and real experiences.
Shepherd: In the shower in the morning.
Shepherd: I can sing all the words to the 1980’s Kellerprinz ad and all the words to the Cheers theme.
Shepherd: Technophile, unless you are asking my know-it-all kids, in which case I’m a dinosaur!
Shepherd: About 100 selfies of my son – who doesn’t want to consume his own memory, and is too lazy to delete the ones he takes on mine – an enviable collection of great music, and some extremely hard-to-get cell phone numbers (including some eye-popping ones!)
Simple as that. Be sure to follow both Brand Alive Group and Brand Film Co on Facebook and follow Shepherd on Twitter or email him on moc.puorgeviladnarb@ofni.
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.