Paul Sinclair has worked for some of the biggest brands in the business. Over a 25-year career, he has been part of the shift from early digital to today’s connected world, seen social media move to the mainstream, and is now navigating the rise of AI.

The chances are, you have something he has marketed in your home – be it a can of Coke, a pair of Adidas trainers, or even a credit card. He turned his hand to everything from entertainment retail to broadband, before landing his current role as Head of Marketing at Tesco Bank, and learned lessons each step along the way. He has adapted and evolved but never lost sight of the foundations he picked up at Bailrigg.

Paul’s (BSc Marketing, 2001, Pendle) journey – both professional and personal (his wife started her studies at Lancaster two years after he did) – would not have been possible without his time at Lancaster.

“My interest in marketing started in my first year,” he recalls. “I went to study geography, but one of the benefits of Lancaster was that you took three subjects in your first year. I took German as a continuation from my previous studies, but I didn't know what to do for the third.

“Someone on my floor in Pendle College mentioned marketing. I’ve always been quite creative, but liked the idea of doing something business-related, so I thought I could give it a shot. So, it was Lancaster that really opened my eyes up to a subject that wasn’t even on my radar. It set me up for a career I’ve loved for the last 25 years.”

As Paul has gone from roles in London to Germany to Manchester and now Edinburgh (to which he commutes via Lancaster – occasionally stopping to snap a selfie on the railway station platform, where his alma mater is name-checked), he has seen every aspect of the marketing game.

It is an industry that has changed immensely in those two-and-a-half decades, but one that retains the core he learned about in lectures and seminars.

“Lancaster gave me the strategy and the foundation for essentially what marketing is built on,” said Paul, who spent much of his time away from learning in the Bailrigg FM radio studios, where he presented, served as Head of Music and Assistant Director, and made many friends for life.

“The pace of marketing and change has certainly been an eye-opener since graduating. Even in recent months, with AI, we're going through a shift again. But Lancaster taught me the grounding, which has stayed with me throughout my career and has served me very well.

“I remember Helen Woodruffe-Burton teaching consumer behaviour. It wasn't really an area that I'd ever had any thought about before, but it’s become the cornerstone of pretty much everything that I do. You can’t be a marketer without understanding your customer. That's what makes a good marketing brief, which in turn leads to brilliant creative work and strong business results.

“Marketing shifts as fast as media and technology, and it can feel like everything is moving faster than ever. But it’s easy to forget that the fundamentals haven’t really changed. The same principles I learned 25 years ago still sit at the heart of it today.”

Paul could not imagine then where his life would take him beyond Lancaster. He joined a marketing agency not long after graduation, cutting his teeth in London and realising he wanted to move client-side, where he could make more decisions and shape strategy. The next step was HMV – a perfect complement to his love of music.

“That’s where I found myself in data-driven marketing, and that became a specialty,” Paul says. “I moved to Coca-Cola to work on CRM and loyalty, and that was the start of two jobs (the second with Adidas) that were digital roles with European and global remits. It was a very different way of working, collaborating across countries and doing things at scale.”

The next step was a head of marketing role with Lloyds Banking Group, followed by becoming Marketing Director at a B-Corp (Zen Internet) – a career highlight as he was in full control of brand and strategy for the first time, finally putting those Lancaster theories into practice some 20 years later. A Chief Marketing Officer role followed before taking his current position at Tesco Bank, part of Barclays.

“From emails and events to TV ads, I’ve probably touched most marketing channels and disciplines,” he says, before remembering another standout moment. “During my time at Coke I worked on the London Olympics, then soon after we launched Share a Coke – the campaign with names on cans. It was borrowed proudly from Australia, and it’s still going today. It was a huge moment for an iconic brand, and an amazing time to be doing digital marketing.”

Despite everything he has achieved, Paul knows that marketing still is not always valued in the way it should be. When asked what he has learned over his career, and what he would pass on to students following behind him, he says: “I’ve learned that marketing is often seen as a nice-to-have or, worse, a cost drag on a business, when in reality it builds better customer experiences and drives growth when it’s done well.

“My advice is to focus on how we communicate what we’re doing – telling the story, explaining why it matters and showing the impact. The numbers matter, of course, but the way we frame them matters just as much. Early in your career you assume marketing is always understood and accepted, but it isn’t, which is exactly why demonstrating its value has never been more important or more rewarding.”

Paul Sinclair (front, third from left) with the Bailrigg FM management team for the 1999/2000 year. The team are standing on a metal staircase outside a building