Paul Bennett
Paul Bennett is Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer of IDEO, a world leader in human-centred and design-led innovation. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Intel, Oxfam, Nestlé, Numico and Vodafone. Nominated by business leaders globally as one of the world’s most innovative companies, IDEO employs over 500 staff in eight locations worldwide.
Paul has worn many hats at IDEO; he has created the company’s largest global practice, Consumer Experience Design, managed the San Francisco and London locations, helped establish IDEO’s presence in China, and founded and led the New York office. In June 2008, Paul moved from New York to London to assume a new and additional European role.
As Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer, Paul works with clients, partners and colleagues to bring to market consumer-centric, commercially successful, socially significant new businesses, products, services and experiences. He is responsible for content excellence across IDEO, and is active in developing and publishing new thinking in the field of human-centered and design-led innovation.
Paul is a sought-after spokesperson, writer and speaker. He is an ambassador of the C&binet, a not-for-profit network, founded by the UK government, to link the international creative and business communities, demonstrate the economic power of creativity and help shape the world’s creative economy. His thought leadership has been featured in The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, BBC Radio 4, Marketing Week, Brand Week, Ad Age, blogs and websites. He is regularly invited to speak at events including high profile forums as The World Economic Forum, TED Global, The AOL CEO Conference, American Express Luxury Summit and Tokyo Midtown Opening.
A keen educator, Paul has taught and coached students from FIT’s (Fashion Institute of Technology, New York) Executive Beauty and Fragrance Marketing programme and Capstone Project; Columbia Business School; Stanford University; and the Royal College of Art.
Prior to joining IDEO in 2001, Paul co-founded the pioneering brand design business, nickandpaul, in New York, where his clients included Coca-Cola, Ford, Johnson & Johnson and Unilever.
Topics Paul speaks on:
- Branded Experiences
- Consumer Experience Design
- Design Thinking
- Entertainment & Media
Speaking engagements:
November 2009, "How could luxury brands get better at innovation?" Luxury Briefing, London, UK, keynote
October 2009, "What is YOUR dream for Dubai?" TEDx Dubai (Watch a video of the talk here)
May 2008, Interviewed on Survival of the Fastest, YouTube in partnership with London Business School, the Daily Telegraph and Google.
View the video clips here:
“The importance of asking the right questions”
“What will winning organisations look like in 18 months' time?”
“How do business leaders prepare for the upturn?”
May 2009, Interviewed by Egill Helgason, the host of the Icelandic TV show "Silfur Egils," RÚV TV
View the interview in three parts: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
April 2009, "Thoughtless Communication Relinquishing Control," ADC Kongress Summit, Berlin
November 2007, workshop host, IDEA Conference
November 2006, IDEA Conference
July 2005, “Small Matters,” TEDGlobal
June 2005, “Improving the Customer Experience,” Retail Forum
June 2005, “Innovating with Diversity,” Copenhagen Business School
Published works:
December 2009, “The Biggest Idea Might be Learning to Think Small,” Financial Times
December 2008, "Creativity and the Rise of Optimism," C&binet
March 2008, “Lessons from Sao Paulo’s Streets: How vandals, savers, cyclists, and salarymen are informing the design process,” Adweek.com
June 2007, “When Fact Trumps Fiction,” Adage.com
April 2007, Paul Bennett: Design is in the Details, TEDTalks
December 2006, “Most Memorable Ads of 2006,” Businessweek.com
December 2006, “The Era of the Personal Ad,” Businessweek.com
June 2006, “Time for Some Buzz-Kill,” Businessweek.com
May 2006, Q&A about the value of creating emotional connections in design, design-emotion.com
February 2005, Quoted in “Breakthrough Ideas,” Harvard Business Review