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David Clarke
EY Customer & Digital Strategy Leader, Partner at EY
Miami, FL, United States
As Global CxO for PwC, I lead the vision of Experience Consulting and our 40+ global centers. I'm an x-agency CEO that plays chief marketing, strategy, product, innovation and digital officer. I believe that a company’s evolving experience is it's transformation and most valuable asset.
I’m fixated on unifying creatives, consultants and technologists as only together will we solve important problems. To make this jargon real, I co-created PwC Experience Consulting and the BXT methodology, our ideas to execution platform.
What I have been up to:
- Designing/executing a meaningful way for a dispersed global workforce to stay in love with the leading technology company.
- Digitally orchestrated a guest/associate journey to elevate the value of the leading hospitality company’s experience.
- Reimagined a loyalty program that actually creates loyalty for the best fast casual restaurant company.
- Building a PwC adopt + learn enterprise product.
I enjoy finding talent, jumping into trenches, nurturing start-ups and architecting our centers. I’m a keynote speaker, contributing editor for Strategy+Business, and have been featured in Forbes, WSJ, NYT, Bloomberg, Mashable, Fast Co., AdAge and AdWeek. PwC is the world's largest consulting firm, #3 largest Global Agency Network(AdAge), and named a leader in Digital; Transformation, Strategy, Operations, and Customer/Brand Engagement by Gartner and IDC.
In 1997, I co-founded/CEO of BGT, the largest & best;) digital agency (PwC acquired). I’m a culture fanatic and most proud of our PwC/BGT AdAge ‘Best Place to Work”; 2010, 2011(#2), 2012(#15), 2015(#6), 2016(#4), 2017 & 2018(#7).
2018: Adweek's Power List, Disruptive Thinker Award Lynn U.
2015: JA - Business Hall of Fame
2014: Top 100 Power Leader, SFBJ
2012: Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, E&Y / Top 100 Power Leader, SFBJ
2011: Top 25 Digital Leader & Innovator, iMedia / Entrepreneur of the Year & Ultimate CEO, SFBJ
2010: 20 Under 40, Miami Herald
Twitter: @dlclarke
David Clarke
Points
Academic
5
Author
30
Influencer
55
Speaker
10
Entrepreneur
15
Total
115
Points based upon Thinkers360 patent-pending algorithm.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Digital Disruption
27 Article/Blogs
Stop Dropping the Baton during Business Transitions
Strategy+Business
January 10, 2019
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Someone has a brilliant idea or comes up with an innovation that has transformative potential. Everyone gets excited. And in the end, the product that comes out is…mediocre. Somehow, in the journey from idea to execution, as the project was handed off from one function to another and then handed off again, the wattage of this extremely bright idea dimmed to a flicker. And everyone wonders why.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Business Strategy
PwC, a top place for creatives, too? Yes, really
LinkedIn
January 09, 2019
To borrow a line from the Talking Heads, you may ask yourself, how did PwC get here--to the seventh spot on Ad Age’s top places to work list?
PwC certainly sticks out on a list of more familiar creative names. But, it doesn’t surprise me to see our team there at Number 7 on the list. The steps we’ve taken offer a glimpse into how to take any workplace (let alone a 164-year-old company) and turn it into a place people find exciting, meaningful and fulfilling--group by group across the firm, be it in audit, consulting, assurance or in our Experience Centers where years ago we were presented with an opportunity: attract the best creative talent and build an organization that allowed them to thrive… inside a Big Four firm. They said it couldn’t be done--that everyone would be worse off, no matter what we did. “They” were wrong.
How to turn negative people into positive drivers
LinkedIn
December 06, 2018
I’d say I’m a pretty motivated guy by nature, but do you want to know what’s really driven me over my nearly 33-year career? It’s all the people who have told me “no.”
I've had plenty of co-workers who have said out loud, for all to hear, that an idea of mine would never fly. More than one boss has torn up a plan I spent hours working on. And yes, even clients have given me the side-eye after meetings. These “nos” weren’t always because the ideas were bad or even because they were the wrong approach. Often, the negative reactions come from people who seem to be natural-born naysayers, or who are stuck with their own ideas and approach, or who--gasp--have always done things some other way.
Still don’t believe experience is everything? Read this.
LinkedIn
November 14, 2018
Experience. It’s not just a differentiator. It’s everything to customers, to employees, to companies. You know it. I know it.
Except… 35% of people who answered PwC’s 2018 Global Digital IQ survey don’t agree that customer experience is critical to business performance and about the same number say customer experience isn’t a critical part of their digital transformation.
If you truly believe this, you might as well turn off the lights, usher everyone out of the building and lock the door behind you. Your business is unlikely to survive this wrong-headed thinking. Experience is a massive asset. It might be your number one asset. It’s hard to quantify at the start, but when you do it right, people will pay up to 16% more for what you’re selling. And on the flipside, one-third of people will walk away from a product or service they love after just one bad experience.
Redefiners Are Doing Digital Right
Strategy+Business
November 13, 2018
Companies that have the digital aspiration of fundamentally changing their operating model can face disruption head-on.
A version of this article appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of strategy+business.
A decade ago, being a digital company often meant simply adopting and using IT, or setting up a website, or tacking a “.com” to the end of the name.
Today, being digital, like being online itself, is an all-consuming experience. It means having a mind-set that embraces constant innovation, flat decision making, and the integration of the right types of technology into all phases of the business. It means developing a workforce and culture that hone the types of relationships, behaviors, and skills that speed innovation and bolster experience — and the bottom line.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Business Strategy
5 ways to love your job again (and claw back your time)
LinkedIn
October 15, 2018
Feeling a little blasé about work these days? Wish you could get back the drive that got you to where you are today? After years of pushing yourself and helping your bosses and employers succeed, it’s normal to feel a little less enthused, a little less creative, a little less excited about coming into the office every day.
Are you humble enough? Probably not
LinkedIn
September 26, 2018
When was the last time you admitted a mistake to your team or they felt comfortable giving you honest feedback about how you’re leading? Can’t recall? Doing these things when you’re the boss requires a strong dose of humility. But too few leaders display it.
I was a hot head in my younger years. I’ve thrown a stapler or two at walls. It stemmed from frustration that my vision wasn’t being executed on--couldn’t everyone read my mind? I had my wake-up moment a few years ago. I launched into a tirade toward someone in my group and, at the pinnacle of my fit, a fellow partner stopped the meeting, pulled me out and humbled me. I apologized in front of the group and learned a valuable lesson I’ve tried to live every day since.
Special Isn’t What You Think
Strategy+Business
September 21, 2018
News flash: You’re not as special as you think. Your brand is probably not as special as you think. Indeed, it might be quite ordinary. Forgettable, even.
Maybe you sell an interesting product or run a tight ship. On a personal level, you might even be a great person to work for, the living embodiment of your company’s truly compelling mission. But if all companies were as special as the people running them thought they were, then we’d have many more Apples, Teslas, and Starbuckses in the world. These companies offer customers such a holistic relationship that they transcend regular business; they sell an experience, an aspiration, a lifestyle.
You’ve Been Escalated: A Guide to Instigating Change
LinkedIn
July 24, 2018
The road to success is often paved with passion, conviction, and a healthy dose of doing the right thing for your business — even if that means taking some risks. In other words, it’s often good to be a master disruptor within your company. It’s also more fun to live your corporate life that way, speaking out on behalf of the creativity of the enterprise, feeling pride in making change, and having a strong point of view. You put your reputation on the line, but your days go by in a much more interesting way than if you simply focused on your own self-preservation. And you have the satisfaction of seeing your efforts, along with those of your other disruptor colleagues, come to fruition: a healthier enterprise, more compelling products and services, and maybe even a better world.
Five ways to live the future--right now. Part 3: Plug-in, tune out
LinkedIn
June 19, 2018
We're living in the attention economy. Notifications inundate personal screens and workspaces -- and working from home can't save you from the onslaught of distractions anymore. This sole fact combined with clear trends on increased phone and web usage and decreased attention spans point to one thing: expect your time to become only more difficult to manage as IoT rises in prevalence each day and notifications multiply. To live in the future, we have to find our focus now. This applies to absolutely everyone - even CEOs find the lure of social media, online games, and other web distractions too tantalizing to ignore.
Five ways to live the future--right now. Part 2: Blockchain, blockchain everywhere, but now what?
LinkedIn
May 31, 2018
Get (More) Curious About Blockchain
For many, blockchain immediately signals thoughts of Bitcoin as it is the underlying technology behind the rising and falling cryptocurrency. But it’s important to understand it at a deeper level: blockchain itself is a decentralized ledger. When applied to Bitcoin - or other cryptocurrencies - it represents a list of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network that allows people to transfer value across the Internet without the need for a middle man like a local bank.
But cryptocurrencies are just the first and most popular application of the Blockchain technology. It has tremendous potential. For instance, the idea of “Smart Contracts” -- cryptographically enforced and lawyerless agreements that can be built on the Blockchain -- is quickly gaining momentum. There’s also the potential for your personal identity to be captured on the Blockchain, potentially solving problems of identity fraud. Maybe you’re already paying for things with cryptocurrency, but do you really understand how blockchain works? Start by learning the grounding principles here.
Five ways to live the future right now⎯ Part 1
LinkedIn
May 23, 2018
So much good comes from being open to the new and freeing yourself from the way things have always been done: bigger ideas, better tools and more meaningful ways of working. But for many of us, and for our teams, there’s already a constant pressure to handle change. Anything new can easily become a source of anxiety, something to be avoided.
It doesn’t have to be. Like anything, we are less afraid of what becomes familiar.
Start by dismantling the buzzwords--like Blockchain, bots, AI, VR, data analytics. Turn them from inaccessible mumbo jumbo to something real. What do they actually mean for me as I go about my life and work? How can I use them in my daily life (before they change how I work)?
You don’t need to be a computer science expert to master this new future. Over the next five weeks, I’ll share five everyday efforts will push your team (and you) to start upskilling yourself outside the office and start living in the future, now.
There’s a formula for getting customer experience right. It’s probably not the one you’re using
LinkedIn
March 27, 2018
What are you spending your experience dollars on? Advertising? Marketing? Slick design and technology? All of the above? How much are you spending on your employees’ experience?
Is that crickets I hear?
It’s time to get smarter. The most important element of customer experience is employee experience. Get it right and you’ll get the broader elements of experience right--convenience, speed, friendly service, a feeling of connection and seamlessness that your customers demand. It’s worth getting right. PwC’s Future of Customer Experience Survey found that people will pay for it--with price premiums of up to 16%.
Is your world changing, or are you changing the world?
LinkedIn
February 20, 2018
The world is changing and getting dynamically more complex. But are your ideals and way of working changing with it?
Too often, we bucket our challenges into cozy, but false antidotes to help ensure we behave a certain way. We say, “Business isn't personal.” That may be true when the robots take over. Executives demand, “Do more with less.” Maybe, if you allow people to focus on less. Then there’s my least favorite business cliché, “Choose between fast, cheap or good.” I'm guessing some crafty consultant invented that magical philosophy at the turn of century, and it has been haunting businesses ever since. Old-school rhetoric produces wrong answers and justifies bad behavior.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation, Future of Work
They Said It Couldn’t be Done: When Creatives and a Big 4 Collide
LinkedIn
December 19, 2017
When we were presented with an opportunity to change a 150+ year old business model and create a new kind of digital model, the risk that it might not succeed was part of the excitement. The more the skeptics from the agency and consulting worlds said it wouldn’t work, the more we were driven to make it a reality. Could a Big 4 attract and retain top creative talent into a global consultancy? Some insisted that bringing the resources of a Fortune 100 to cutting edge digital creative talent was impossible. And they were certain that whatever we built, it would never survive let alone become greater than its parts.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Marketing
A Manual for Self-Disruption
linkedin
October 18, 2017
Did ride-sharing apps kill the taxi business? Or did the taxi industry disrupt itself by consistently offering users a lousy experience at a high price and refusing to innovate?
A Manual for Self-Disruption
Strategy+Business
September 06, 2017
Did ride-sharing apps kill the taxi business? Or did the taxi industry disrupt itself by consistently offering users a lousy experience at a high price and refusing to innovate?
These aren’t merely academic or semantic questions. Today, many companies find themselves competing with businesses whose primary purpose is not simply to take a small amount of market share, but to completely upend their industry and obliterate incumbents’ raisons d’être. And when confronted with such an existential threat, leaders spend too much time and budget trying to keep up with, or stay ahead of, their traditional competitors. A tip: If you need your competitors to alert you that taking your customers for granted will crush your margins, it might be too late. Often, other companies’ faster adoption of emerging technology is a symptom of complacency within your organization.
The Nine Traits of Highly Effective CMOs
linkedin
August 22, 2017
Blame it on the pace of change: A new study cited by the Wall Street Journal shows the average tenure of a chief marketing officer of a major brand is only 42 months — shorter than the typical life span of a goldfish. In fact, the field is changing so rapidly that many simply find it tough to keep up.
The Nine Traits of Highly Effective CMOs
Strategy+Business
June 01, 2017
Blame it on the pace of change: A new study cited by the Wall Street Journal shows the average tenure of a chief marketing officer of a major brand is only 42 months — shorter than the typical life span of a goldfish. In fact, the field is changing so rapidly that many simply find it tough to keep up.
Why is the turnover rate for chief marketing officers so many times higher than that of most other C-suite jobs, including the CEO? Customer expectations are evolving at a rapid clip and entire industry segments are cropping up — or dying off — overnight. Marketing, sales, data, digital, and technology now move quickly on paths that are intertwined and often erratic. A CMO must stay in the vanguard of this evolution and steer her or his company in whatever direction the industry is headed next.
Reimagining cool to make tomorrow.
linkedin
May 22, 2017
I got schooled a couple weeks ago. I watched Nick Haas, PwC Creative Director, and our team in a workshop with a client and was amazed at the true collaboration in the room. Ideas were flowing, and regardless of title or position, people were freely debating and teaming. But that’s not what struck me. What struck me was that there was a genuine alignment in their purpose. Every comment, every argument, every idea… they were all meant to move the conversation forward to the same goal with no reservation or politicking. It was a reminder that, to bring out each individual’s best, the client and vendor relationship must be additive of one another.
Are Today’s CEOs Tomorrow’s Early Adopters?
linkedin
May 02, 2017
Imagine paying $3,995 for a cell phone. Someone did on March 13, 1984. That person shelled out what was then a quarter of the typical American’s salary to acquire one of the first handheld cellular phones to hit the market, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X.
What is your company's biggest asset? And who owns it?
linkedin
November 15, 2016
We have found so many ways to express how we feel to judge every micro-moment during our physical and digital lives. But what are we really judging? Are we judging a car that gets good mileage or how it makes us feel? The restaurant with the best burger, or the environment it is served in? The phone with a 12-megapixel camera or the one that it is a status symbol?
Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation, Marketing
Your Success is Based on Execution, Not Implementation.
linkedin
September 13, 2016
Ever play baseball? When you’re up at bat, you won’t do anything but bunt if you stop your swing short as soon as you hit the ball. You’ve got to swing through it, increasing your momentum past the point of contact, in order to knock it out of the park.
5 Questions to Consider When Building Your Living Team Space
linkedin
August 10, 2016
How can you actually create your own ideal “living” and agile team space? How can you start fostering creativity and gain a competitive edge? It’s helpful to start with the following 5 critical questions. The answers you develop to these questions will prevent you from wandering into bad decisions or back to the comfortable, but boring, workspaces of before.
Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (E&Y)
E&Y
June 14, 2012
2012: Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, E&Y
An independent judging panel has selected 30 business leaders as finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Florida awards. These finalists and the Lifetime Achievement Award recipients will be honored at a black-tie awards gala banquet on Thursday, June 14 at the Hilton Orlando. Congratulations to this outstanding group of entrepreneurs!
Junior Achievement of South Florida - Business Hall of Fame
Junior Achievement of South Florida
March 21, 2015
Junior Achievement of South Florida honored four laureates at its 35th annual Business Hall of Fame celebration.They were David Clarke, PwC, Digital Services; Steve Hudson, Hudson Capital Group; Ginger Martin, American National Bank; and Frank Sacco, Memorial Healthcare System. Junior Achievement also awarded Gale Butler, executive director of Friends of Birch State Park, with the first Melissa Aiello Character Award, given in honor of Junior Achievement of South Florida CEO and President Melissa Aiello, who passed away in November.
Insights from PwC’s Digital IQ Survey: An Interview with David Clarke, Global Chief Experience Officer, PwC US
Thinkers360
April 05, 2019
While most executives recognize digital transformation is an ongoing multi-year journey, many organizations are still not as far along as they would like. There’s also a growing digital divide between digital leaders and the rest of the pack in terms of financial performance achieved via their transformations.
Management consultancy PwC has been running their Digital IQ Survey for over 10 years and their 11th annual survey polled thousands of business, experience and technology executives in over 60 countries to explore how the top financial performers are gaining and extending their competitive edge.
We caught up with David Clarke, Global Chief Experience Officer, PwC US, to discuss some of the key findings and insights from the global research in the areas of digital experience, disruption, leadership and workforce and his recommendations for executives.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Innovation
The Future Of Customer Experience: People Plus Technology
Forbes
May 14, 2018
There are often two camps when it comes to customer experience: those who think automation and technology is the future, and those who think humans will still perform every task. However, perhaps the most likely scenario is one championed by David Clarke, Global CxO & Experience Consulting Leader, Digital Principal at PwC, who believes future success in customer experience comes from a combination of people plus technology.
Join Thinkers360 for free! Are you a Reader/Writer, Thought Leader/Influencer (looking to increase your earnings), or an Enterprise User (looking to work with experts)?
Disruptive Thinker Award
Stop Dropping the Baton during Business Transitions
PwC, a top place for creatives, too? Yes, really
How to turn negative people into positive drivers
Still don’t believe experience is everything? Read this.
Redefiners Are Doing Digital Right
5 ways to love your job again (and claw back your time)
Are you humble enough? Probably not
Special Isn’t What You Think
You’ve Been Escalated: A Guide to Instigating Change
Five ways to live the future--right now. Part 3: Plug-in, tune out
Five ways to live the future--right now. Part 2: Blockchain, blockchain everywhere, but now what?
Five ways to live the future right now⎯ Part 1
There’s a formula for getting customer experience right. It’s probably not the one you’re using
Is your world changing, or are you changing the world?
They Said It Couldn’t be Done: When Creatives and a Big 4 Collide
A Manual for Self-Disruption
A Manual for Self-Disruption
The Nine Traits of Highly Effective CMOs
The Nine Traits of Highly Effective CMOs
Reimagining cool to make tomorrow.
Are Today’s CEOs Tomorrow’s Early Adopters?
The Serious Business of Sandboxes
What is your company's biggest asset? And who owns it?
Your Success is Based on Execution, Not Implementation.
Top 100 Power Leader (SFBJ)
Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (E&Y)
2010: 20 Under 40, Miami Herald
Adweek’s 2018 Power List: 100 Cutting-Edge CEOs in Marketing, Media, Branding and Tech
Junior Achievement of South Florida - Business Hall of Fame
Keynote at Lynn University 2nd Annual Business Symposium
Insights from PwC’s Digital IQ Survey: An Interview with David Clarke, Global Chief Experience Officer, PwC US
The Future Of Customer Experience: People Plus Technology
