#150 Keep The Faith | Product Development

To celebrate his excellent keynote address at our Brewers Congress event in London last month, we return to one of our most listened-to episodes.

David Gluckman was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on 1st November 1938, the day Sea Biscuit and War Admiral fought out the race of the century at Pimlico Park, Baltimore. Educated in Johannesburg, he joined a local advertising agency after university and soon fell in love with the business.

He made the pilgrimage to London in 1961 and worked as an account executive on Procter & Gamble, Kerrygold, Lyons teas and several Unilever accounts. Always a frustrated copywriter, he escaped into product development in 1969, met a man from IDV and his life changed forever.

The author of “That s*it will never sell!” David also helped create Bailey’s Irish Cream. During its time, it has sold billions of bottles across 160 countries with 220 million litres of fresh, Irish cream consumed annually.

You can read more about these in David Gluckman’s compelling autobiography – That Shit Will Never Sell – a book crammed with entertaining anecdotes drawn from over forty years of brand creation in and around the drinks business.

In this podcast, we recount some of those tales and speak to David about the early days of his career in advertising and his advice to keep the faith and how to earn valuable buy-in when doubters pour scorn on your creativity.

We also discuss when to push hard in a pitch and when to ease back and take a critique, why the best ideas are the most simple and obvious, and also his pride in helping create a beverage that is sold across 160 countries with more than 220 millions bottles consumed annually.