This Is What I Do: Simon Stanforth, Starcom MediaVest Group

What does your job involve?
Directing the group's research - in terms of substantiating the group's planning proposition, client-specific research, development of proprietary research applications, and our Emerging Spaces research programme. A recent focus has been the development of spaceID, a new application of the existing technique semiometrie. SpaceID enables us to segment brands in a category by their customers' emotional profiles, then identify potential areas of untapped emotion for the brand and finally identify the media content with the highest affinity to this desired value territory.

What qualifications and experience do you need?
The best qualification is an innate ability to understand people and
an irrepressible desire to decode what makes people tick. Anyone
can do research, but those who are able to make it actionable are the best qualified.

How do you spend a typical day?
There isn't a typical day and that's one reason why I love my job.

What's the best thing about your job?
A combination of my colleagues and the fact I'm lucky enough to be a researcher in the middle of the greatest media revolution to date. A particular passion of mine is understanding human emotions and values. Ultimately, we buy brands that reflect our own existing or inspirational values. Our emotions and beliefs determine our purchase behaviour. If we can understand these, then we will communicate more effectively with our consumers.
 
What's it like working at SMG?
It's an exciting time: there's a real momentum since the launch of Space for Ideas and a recent big pitch win.

What keeps you awake at night?
Seagulls.

Who helped you get where you are?
First, the great team of people I work with. Of my former colleagues, Mark Cranmer, and, more recently, Richard Hartell and Stewart Easterbrook have been my greatest influences. Outside media, Jane Tomlinson.

Who do you aspire to be like?
No one in particular, but I would like to look a little less like Monty Burns from The Simpsons.

*    Got an interesting job ? E-mail harriet.dennys@haymarket.com