For the love of Twitter – Boss of The Marketing Store quits to pursue career in social media
The founder and Asia Pacific President of brand activation agency The Marketing Store is quitting the traditional marketing world to pursue his new passion of social media.
Doug Chapman will leave the company he founded 21 years ago – whose major clients include McDonald’s, Uncle Toby’s, Nestle, NineMSN and Bundaberg – in a week’s time.
Chapman has been one of the driving forces behind the recently launched Social Media Club Sydney, which in terms of attendance is currently the biggest chapter of the organisation in the world.
The Marketing Store is now a global agency, with 800 employees in 12 offices across five continents. It was bought by the HAVI Group in 1998.
Chapman told Mumbrella: “I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing yet, but it will involve social media. I think I can put it in a way that clients can understand.”
Appropriately, he announced his departure by Tweet, blog and email. In the message, he said:
“All good things must come to an end and for me, my time at The Marketing Store is over. It’s time to move on and begin a new career before it’s too late. For those who know me well, they know that I have developed a great passion for Social Media over the past year and I have become quite a convert to Twitter and all those other Web 2.0 opportunities. I feel there is no time like the present to find my place in this exciting new age of digital marketing.
“That having been said, this has been the hardest decision of my life, to give up something that has occupied my every waking moment for the past 21 years. Very few people are given the opportunity to experience the excitement of building a successful business, then selling it and being given the privilege of staying on and doing it again in foreign lands. I will always be grateful to the team at HAVI for their continued support throughout my career.”
Chapman recently found himself on the sofa with Mel and Kochie on Sunrise after The Marketing Store’s adventures with a mystery cereal-stealing intruder was reported by Mumbrella and picked up by the mainstream press.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Thanks for the kind words.
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Doug looks far too old to do a Gen Y thing like that!
Good on him and good luck bro.
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I have a lot of respect for those with the balls to make a fresh start in the face of easy, comfortable stability.
Zac have some respect for your elders, you young whippersnappers love to stir!
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smart move… 🙂
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Zac your comments are getting tired.
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Good luck Doug 🙂
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Best of luck Doug, I know you bring an excellent mix of traditional marketing know-how and genuine passion for social media to the discussion.
Cheers
Laurel @SilkCharm
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Good luck, I hope it work out with your new venture.
P.S. love the SMC
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Gee Doug
You’ll have to join PHGC soon!
good luck it’s good to see the good guys have a win!
Paul
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