Godfrey Parkin

Godfrey Parkin is a veteran digital strategist with an international background in consumer behavior, marketing and business development.

He ran the world-wide management services division of A.C. Nielsen, and founded a series of pioneering digital businesses in Zurich, London, Washington DC and Cape Town, in fields as diverse as e-learning, computer game technologies, 3D virtual worlds, Project Management, and digital marketing.

He has worked with clients in more than three dozen countries. His global client list has included government agencies and departments (US Department of Defense, Library of Congress), academic institutions (Georgia Tech, Stanford) and many global corporations (such as Unilever, IBM, DreamWorks, Nomura Bank, American Airlines, Motorola, Ford, American Express, American Honda, Nestlé, Credit Suisse), as well as smaller enterprises and start-ups.

In South Africa, where he is now based, some of the companies that he has worked with include Exclusive Books, Audi, FNB, Media24, TFG, Clicks, Sportscene, Makro, Aqua Online, Random House Penguin, Markham, @Home, Trudon, Foschini, Unisa, DueSouth, Standard Bank, Nimue Skincare International, TotalSports, Virbac, Fabiani, Eskom, WesBank, Hunt Lascaris, The Orion Group, McCann Worldgroup, and Volkswagen.

In a thirty five year career he has worked with some remarkable people, including Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Irvine Laidlaw and HSH Prince Nicolo Boncompagni-Ludovisi. He has been invited to share his expertise and vision with Stan Lee of Marvel on the first Spiderman movie; with the Industrial Light and Magic production design team on The Matrix; and with Larry Conley, head of the Fordstar Satellite Network.

His successes include transforming the culture of A.C. Nielsen in 35 countries; quadrupling the revenues of Credit Suisse’s securities sales teams worldwide; and transforming a small training department into the world’s largest provider of Project Management e-learning in less than a year.

As CEO of Britefire, he now helps companies develop strategies and skills to thrive in disruptive marketplaces. He’s a co-founder of Mindzu, a start-up teaching math in Asia via a social gamified mobile app, and another providing personal safety management in Europe.

Godfrey has published several books on digital business. He’s on the faculty of USB-ED, and hosts the Growth Hackers TV talk show. He’s an Associate of the Centre for Innovative Leadership and principal of the Center for Strategic Innovation. He is a regular contributor to online news media and industry publications, and speaks frequently at conferences on business strategy and future tech.