Whalley co-founded global marketing agency Ilex Content Strategies with Lucia Barbato in 2012 and has been working with start-ups through to billion-dollar businesses almost from day one.
Whalley says: "It isn’t enough to just be innovative and wait to be discovered. There is so much content and communications flooding our minds everyday that you have to communicate innovation effectively or you’ll get lost in the mix."
As a former Capacity editor, Whalley has seen the hype cycle play out many times. He adds: "Having experience of being a journalist and on the ground every day in the carrier business gives me some unique perspective. I know brands and characters from both sides and that helps when we think about how a company should be positioned and how to tell their story."
Ilex relocated offices from West London to Chichester, West Sussex in 2015, trading the busy streets of London for a quiet coastal town. Whalley says, "I walk my kids to school everyday along the canal. The Ilex office is on the same street as the school, which is a huge difference from my days commuting in London."
Although Whalley is located outside the capital, Ilex serves organisations in Singapore and the West Coast of North America and everywhere in between.
He says, "I start my day by checking emails and seeing what has come in overnight. Clients have started using WhatsApp so I may have a few pings from the Middle East right when I get up. I’ll talk to Singapore early and by the end of the day finish with calls with the US and Canada. We follow the sun."
Through his day Whalley will discuss naming a product, edit a whitepaper and review overall brand messaging for upcoming Capacity events. "By mid-afternoon, I’ll put on some vinyl records to keep the energy up. I’ll usually play some Booker T & the MGs or Barrington Levy."
Whalley says, "On the best days, I’ll finish work and the sun will be out. After dinner, my wife and I will take the kids down to the beach for a swim before bed."
