Future Focus with Kurt Jacobs

Future Focus: Kurt Jacobs

 1. What was your career path to becoming Head of Public Relations at Marketing Birmingham? It was rather unplanned. I came to Birmingham in 1994 to work on The Post’s business desk, under the tutelage of the legendary John Duckers, and rose to become deputy business editor, specialising in media. I was headhunted to become editor of the marketing magazine of Adline – now The Drum – before working as a freelance journalist and PR writer. I joined Insider in late 1995 magazine, becoming editor after a year or so.

 2. What made you want to get involved in Marketing Birmingham? It was an opportunity too good to miss. I loved working in journalism –leaving Insider was the hardest professional decision I’ve ever had to make – but the chance of becoming a spokesman for one of Europe’s greatest cities was too much to refuse. I’ve been writing about Birmingham for 15 years, particularly marketing and PR, so it’s a chance to do things I’ve been preaching for years.

 3. How important do you feel it is for us to have an organisation like Marketing Birmingham promoting the city to outsiders? Vital. Birmingham sells itself – once you get people here. The reputation of the city has improved enormously over the past few years as a centre for business, food, the arts, academia – the list goes on. With developments like the NEC and Brindleyplace Birmingham created the model for modern urban regeneration and opportunity. The problem with Birmingham is an abundance of choice and opportunity – how do you market the potentials of a million people and what they have to offer? We have to be selective and focussed in our aims.

 4. What impact has the recession had on marketing the city?  If anything it’s increased the importance of marketing. The recession has hurt us, as it has every other city, and we have to look at how we win and retain business, and that means continuing to develop Birmingham as a globally-recognised and respected brand. Fortunately Birmingham’s public and private sectors have become astute in recognising the value of effective marketing and the importance of working as a team. 

 5. What benefits do you think Birmingham offers for graduates and young professionals? I’ve worked in a number of places and Birmingham is the most meritocratic of them all. The great thing about Birmingham is that it embraces anyone that embraces it, and that goes for young professionals. Many senior executives in the professions are dedicated to bringing their younger staff on – they really want them to succeed.

 6. Although the UK has an ageing population, Birmingham is one of Europe’s youngest cities, how important do you think this is for the future of the city? This is possibly Birmingham’s greatest single asset but one we don’t yet make enough of. There’s a saying that Berlin is the history of 20^th century Europe in a single city, I believe this is Birmingham’s role in the 21^st – the city that embodies youth, cultural diversity, regeneration, communications. Birmingham is providing the template that other European cities will have to follow, and is doing it rather well.

 7. Birmingham Future nurtures the next generation of leaders – how important is the role of young professionals in shaping the city and do you think we are granted a big enough voice in decision-making in Birmingham? Young professionals do have a big say in the city’s decision making. I’ve been at a lot of important meetings where, for someone in their mid-40s, it’s glaringly obvious I’m the oldest person in the room.  It’s notable that while Birmingham has a huge array of networking organisations they tend to be inclusive and facilitating rather than exclusive old boys’ networks.

 8. Whilst at Midlands Business Insider, you pioneered the ’42 Under 42’ Awards; what characteristics did you look for in these candidates? As we said on the entry forms for 42 Under 42 it’s impossible to define star quality – but you know it when you see it. Some candidates’ careers simply leapt off the page. The difficulty of judging was that the quality of entries was consistently so high, but the range was so wide. How do you compare someone who has steered a third generation family firm with an entrepreneur who has a commercial and revolutionary idea?

 9. What are your favourite things about Birmingham? In no particular order: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Jewellery Quarter, St Philip’s Square, Black Sabbath, The Electric Cinema, Steel Pulse, Hudson’s Coffee House, Bull Ring Indoor Market, The Queen’s Arms on Newhall Street, The Edwardian Tea Room, Cannon Hill Park.

 10. Villa or City? Um, neither I’m afraid. For my sins it’s Welsh rugby – it’s the non-Birmingham indulgence I allow myself.