Austin McGhie

Austin McGhie is the President of the Strategy Group at Sterling Brands. Since he joined Stering Brands in 2002 he has overseen the more than doubling in size of the strategy practice. Austin s an active, working strategist and he is also responsible for the quality of all the strategic output for Sterling Brands. Prior to joining Sterling Brands, Austin was CEO of Young & Rubicam, San Francisco and before that CEO of creatively acclaimed agency Cole and Weber in Seattle. Earlier he had worked his way up the packaged goods ladder to become Regional Director: Sales & Marketing for Kellogg’s Australasia.

His recent book, Brand is a Four Letter Word draws on his 30-year career working with some of world’s best-known brands, including Disney, ESPN, Nike, Google, Visa, Expedia, Best Buy, Microsoft, Anheuser-Busch, Abbott and YouTube. In it he tackles the strategic essence of positioning and creating differentiated advantage. He deftly weaves the positioning discussion throughout the book with a series of real-life anecdotes to deliver a crisp, clear view of what it means to build a brand.