Mentor
Dennis Kerslake
Overview
Dennis Kerslake is an experienced entrepreneur, business leader and mentor whose career spans publicly quoted international groups and high-growth start-ups. With deep roots in the communications industry, he has developed a strong affinity for organisational purpose, employee alignment and customer engagement, and works with leaders on how best to respond to the digital revolution and the pressure it exerts on existing business models.
Dennis began his career as a Graduate Marketing Trainee at Beecham Group (now GlaxoSmithKline) before moving to Courage in new product and trade development roles. He then spent nine successful years as an entrepreneur, founding and growing his own business, which he ultimately sold to Incepta plc, increasing shareholder value eleven-fold. Over the following decade he held Managing Director, CEO and Chair positions within leading global communications groups including Omnicom, Havas and, most recently, Publicis Worldwide, where he had major client responsibilities across more than 40 international markets.
Since 2011 he has focused on coaching and mentoring, and has served as a Board Adviser or Non-Executive Director to a number of media and technology start-ups, helping founders and leadership teams to scale their businesses, refine their propositions and strengthen their governance.
Dennis brings deep cross-sector expertise in:
• Marketing, brand & customer engagement – building brand equity and marketing effectiveness for major clients and high-growth businesses across multiple sectors and markets.
• Communications, media & digital transformation – leading agencies and clients through the impact of digital on business models, customer behaviour and organisational capabilities.
• Entrepreneurship, growth & value creation – founding, scaling and successfully exiting businesses, and advising early-stage companies on strategy, leadership and investor expectations.
• Leadership development, culture & organisation – mentoring senior leaders and teams, designing organisational structures and cultural programmes that align purpose, people and performance.
Dennis was educated at Whitgift School and the University of Exeter (BA Hons in Economics and Politics) and is a qualified Executive Coach (School of Coaching in London). He has profound expertise in building brand equity and marketing effectiveness and believes that his real-life experience in senior leadership roles offers a powerful combination of insight and objectivity which he brings to all mentoring and team assignments. Dennis is skilled in one-to-one mentoring, strategic and team facilitation, organisational structure and cultural programmes, and leadership assessment and development.
PDF Profile
Download PDFMajor Career Roles
Publicis Dialog
Chair
ConnectiD
Chair
Publicis
Global Client Lead
141 Worldwide
Managing Director
Other Career Highlights
Brann Worldwide
Managing Director
The Field
NED
University of Exeter Business School
International Advisory Board
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