Michael Brown

Michael is a founder and long-term managing-director of creative industries businesses. He guided his last venture (MKTG) to become an international marketing organisation with 32 offices in 20 countries. He stepped down in December 2020 to found Asociat www.asociat.co.uk which launched this year. Asociat helps brands to identify and actively address the needs of the communities they serve by forging community partnerships. Michael realised that business can and should be kinder and inclusive after he successfully completed a crowd funding campaign to create and launch, what is thought to be, the world’s first mental health drop-in centre inside a soup-kitchen. A social enterprise he now helps to lead. I Don’t Agree; Michael’s first book, which won GOLD at the Business Book Awards 2021 in the Leadership for the Future category. In a much earlier life, Michael nearly made it in music. As a player/manager for his band he secured not one, but two major recording contracts with Arista and later with MCA. He once featured as a giveaway sticker on the cover of Smash-Hits. His mum still has that sticker on her toilet door.