2005 INDUCTEE
SCHULICH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, YORK UNIVERSITY
I believe that being customer- and consumer-centered in business is the foundation for achieving business success inproviding goods and services that are of benefit to those customers and consumers. I found this profoundly democraticand humbling. Arrogance and missteps in business come from either ignoring this or in believing that the businessperson is in some way superior to the customer.”
Dr. Alan Middleton was born and educated in London, England, Alan Middleton graduated from the London University with a B.Sc. Honours Sociology.
He began his career at J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in London. He subsequently moved to Toronto and ultimately assumed the role of President at JWT subsidiary Enterprise Advertising and JWT Japan before being appointed Executive Vice President and a Board Director of the worldwide company.
After leaving JWT, Alan earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration specializing in marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business. He served initially as assistant professor of Marketing and Associate Director International Executive Development at Schulich, he later assumed the role of Executive Director, Division of Executive Development. Currently, Alan serves as a marketing consultant for a range of clients including Bell Canada, Manulife Financial, Molson International, Pfizer Warner-Lambert and Quaker Canada.
“Marketing requires discipline, creativity, and accountability. It is a tough blend to get right. We have too often seen creativity for its own sake with no impact on results, we have too often seen discipline overwhelm a creative spark, and very rarely has marketing accepted responsibility for measurable business results.”
Alan has worked successfully with an enormous range of marketing and advertising professionals in a career which has seen his insightful and practical analysis adopted by professional marketers and students of the profession.
Alan is a co-founder of the Canadian Advertising Success Stories (‘Cassies’). He has also published several written works including “Advertising Works” co-authored with John Dalla Costa and the report on “Improving Marketing Communications Organizational Effectiveness” for the Association of Canadian Advertisers.
