Ian Crocombe

Ian is the founder of Deft, the Creative Consultancy for Social Commerce™

Previous to this he was Director of Facebook Creative shop for 5 years, where he led a globally distributed in-house team of Creatives and Strategists who worked on over 10,000 campaigns across ecommerce, gaming, national and global brands. 

As part of his role he led the Creative Shop team responsible for the top 25 priority accounts globally, including digital brands like Amazon & Netflix, traditional brands like Unilever & Nestle as well as transformational brands such as Adidas & L’Oreal. 

A planner by trade, his career as a marketing strategist has been shaped by the rise of digital technology, particularly the Internet. He has held senior planning roles at agencies including WPP, M&C Saatchi and AKQA, where he has worked with clients including DHL, Boots, MINI and Heineken.

He has worked client side at American Express as the Vice President of Innovation, co-ordinating an international lab program to develop new products and services. Ian is on the advisory board for Creative Equals and the Victoria & Albert Museum. He enjoys teaching and has been the course leader for the Advertising Masters of Communication at IED Madrid and has taught various digital modules at London Business School and Hyperisland. Ian has served as a European Effectiveness Awards (Effies) judge and spoken on the Cannes Effectiveness stage on the topic of mobile advertising.