Cathal Gillen

Author

Co-Founder and Head of Strategy

Profile

Cathal is Co-Founder and Head of Strategy at Distinctive BAT. His focus is on helping brands achieve greater levels of distinctiveness. With experience spanning client-side roles in marketing and insights, as well as positions in creative and digital agencies, Cathal takes a pragmatic approach to transforming data and insights into actionable strategies.

His global marketing experience includes working with renowned brands such as Hendrick’s Gin, Tullamore D.E.W., and Glenfiddich during his time at William Grant & Sons as Global Marketing Effectiveness Manager. This background equips him with a deep understanding of the internal and external challenges brands face in pursuing distinctiveness across markets. Cathal leverages this expertise in both client engagements and public research, driving meaningful outcomes for the brands he works with.

With 20 years experience in marketing, Cathal feels old, however all this experience adds up in helping his clients succeed. Before his working life, Cathal achieved a BSc in Marketing from TUDublin and is originally from Sligo on the west coast of Ireland.

Featured Research

The DNA Of
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The Latest From Cathal Gillen

Owning A Colour, Difficult But Possible

Owning a colour while difficult is not impossible. We look at how the franchise Barbie owns pink.

Using Celebrities Or Influencers To Improve Distinctiveness Levels

Our tips in using influencers to improve your distinctiveness levels.

Connecting the Long & Short with Distinctive Brand Assets

Connecting disparate marketing activity using Distinctive Brand Assets.

The 6 Most Common Distinctive Brand Asset Research Mistakes

Here are six of the most common mistakes in Distinctive Brand Asset research.

Kia And The Fundamental Role Of Your Logo

Kia or KN? We look at the legibility issues of the new Kia logo, and the fundamental role of a logo.

Who Is The Most Distinctive Christmas Character In U.K. Retail?

We were intrigued to understand how Christmas characters were performing from a distinctiveness perspective

The Distinctive Serve – A Brand Growth Multiplier

While alcohol brands have pulled different levers over the years to be top of mind for the bar call, one lever which has proven to work time and time again is the distinctive serve.