Weekender - mad.co.uk, October 8 2004

DMC’s MD is interviewed about how he fits the rest of his life in with his work as an expert in online viral and buzz marketing.

With clients such as Virgin Mobile, Xbox and Mazda, Justin Kirby, MD of online viral and buzz marketing experts Digital Media Communications (DMC), is an expert in his field. So how does the rest of his life fit in? We contacted him to find out

It’s the weekend, how do you feel?.

Until very recently it would normally take until the middle of Saturday afternoon before I would be able to answer this question. Now, my baby daughter means that the answer tends to be ‘knackered’, which is probably the same as before but I’m just aware of it a lot earlier.

What’s your perfect Friday night drink?

Bacardi, Bacardi, Bacardi and go on another Bacardi.

Do you ever work on weekends?

I don’t really have a structured working week. Sometimes I work weekends and sometimes I don’t work during the week at all and simply go kite surfing or wake boarding. Sorry, I was just daydreaming and have realised I’m not living a Jamie Oliver lifestyle. As owner/manager it’s difficult to keep work and the rest of my life compartmentalised.

How do you feel about it?

Anyone who knows me or has met me will know that I’m passionate about what I do work-wise, so I have no problem with working at the weekend or until the early hours during the week. My wife however takes a very different view.

What’s your favourite weekend activity?

Now that I’m a new dad it’s catching up on sleep, but it used to be going out and visiting friends, or getting out of London - particularly if there was a chance to do some sailing.

If you could choose anyone in the whole world to spend the weekend with, who would it be and why?

My daughter, my wife and her parents. My wife never met her mother who sadly died when she was two. Her father was killed a few years ago in motorbike accident. It would be fantastic for them to see what happened to their daughter and how she is now a proud parent herself.

Sadly, this is highly unlikely to happen, so meeting fellow members of the Cognitive Dissidents group I belong to would be a close second. I always relish the chance to meet face-to-face with the various practitioners and academics from around the world who belong to this group, to engage in constructive debate about Viral/Buzz/Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing or ‘network-enhanced word of mouth’ as we call it at the Viral & Buzz Marketing Association (VBMA).

Where would you go?

I’ve moved around a lot in my life with education, work and holidays, so I can’t say there’s one particular place I’d prefer to be over any other. It’s the company that’s important for me, not the location. Having said that I always gravitate back towards London where I was born and most of my large growing family live.

If it’s meeting up with the Cognitive Dissidents crew then it would have to be at Ad:Tech in New York. Of course, my wife would come as well to show off our daughter to her friends and relatives over there.