The people that drive disruptive brands

When it comes to building a disruptive brand, the people behind the scenes determine its success just as much as the product does.

As a result, finding the right talent to drive your business forward is a hugely important task, according to executives from six of the 100 Disruptive Brands, a list of companies blazing a trail in their respective sectors compiled by Marketing Week in partnership with Salesforce.

Of course, it helps if recruits have a successful track record in previous jobs.

“As CEO of my company I spend most of my time on people. We’re looking for people who have proved themselves and moved up in the last couple of projects that they’ve been on, whether it’s big or little business,” Eren Ozagir, CEO of Push Doctor, says.

All the executives also agree that it is crucial for any new talent to possess a particular set of characteristics that fit in with the company’s unique vision.

“They need an understanding and passion for our mission. And that’s probably the most important thing,” says Stephen Rapoport, founder of Pact.

“We look for people who are bold and are prepared to risk failure. They need put the company’s needs ahead of their own, as well as their ego.”

Kirsty Emery, co-founder of Unmade, agrees. “When we’re hiring people, we look for people who are creative and innovative, as they are the two important pillars of values within our company.”

A pioneering spirit is equally as important, as well as a “sense of adventurous experimentation”.

“We need a curiousity, inquisitiveness and a ridiculous amount of get up and go. This is not the kind of business where you quietly settle for a nine to five, work on the same thing and go home again,” James Kirkham, chief strategy officer at Bigballs Media, explains.

“Everyone here has an entrepreneurial spirit, which is something that might be an overused word in something like marketing, but here I’ve never known anything like it. People are continually creating their own ideas.”

Lastly, taking the time to ensure that someone truly understands and fits in with the company’s culture is an absolute must.

As Justin Basini, co-founder and CEO of ClearScore, concludes: “We do lots of interviews and tests, and most people we come across can do the job we’re asking them to do. The key thing for me is that they’re a cultural fit and have similar interests to us. We bring them in and then spend a lot of time in the first 12 weeks during their probation [to ensure] that they are a good fit.”