RedEye chief executive Mark Patron – one of the founding fathers of the UK direct marketing industry – has quit the firm after more than a decade to set up his own consultancy, Patron Direct.
Having started his career as an engineer, working for Mobil Oil, Patron landed his first job in DM in 1987 at NDL International, when then boss Tony Coad hired him as sales director to work on one of the first lifestyle databases to launch in the UK.
He was once quoted as saying: “My engineering background helped me to appreciate the importance of analytics.
“Good analysts are important: you can have the best analytical software and best data in the world, but without a good analyst it is worthless. Data’s value depends on how intelligently it is used.”
In 1992, NDL bought rival firm CMT and Patron was installed as joint managing director. Parent company VNU then set up Claritas UK by rebranding its other data division MIC and folding both NDL and CMT into the business.
Patron became managing director of the new entity in 1995, and spearheaded the company’s growth into a £30m-plus business, employing 350 people. He left in 1997 to help set up catalogue data firm Abacus Direct as chairman; VNU sold Claritas to Acxiom in 2003 for £23.5m.
Following a spell as a consultant at Transactis and Twenty, Patron joined digital marketing specialist RedEye in 2004, initially as a non-exec director. He took over the chief executive role in 2006.
On LinkedIn, former RBS direct marketing chief Sean Larrangton-White said: “One sometimes hears the phrase, ‘industry figure’ when describing someone of import or influence in a particular industry. Sometimes you may hear the term, ‘industry giant’.
“Often, these accolades are not really earned or deserved. This is not the case with Mark Patron. For a couple of decades now, Mark has consistently been at the forefront of the data and direct marketing industries.
“He has the rare combination of talents: a keen analytical mind of the top order; the ability to separate and dissect the most relevant business issues under scrutiny; the business acumen to know what to do to reduce cost, improve turnover, reduce risk and thereby increase profit; and great interpersonal skills to carry the analysis to the minds of those who need to understand it clearly.”
