”“If need be, I will explain something ten times over until I’m sure that the message has gotten across well. That’s the teacher in me.”
It seems as if David Lecouvet has had several lives. In fact, he was not predestined for a career in marketing and communications. “It has been a combination of circumstances”, David begins his story. “I was originally a soldier and a maths teacher. My dream was to become a pilot so I enrolled for the entrance exam of the Royal Military School, which in itself is no easy task.” David passed but, to his great disappointment, never got his pilot’s license. Nevertheless, the three years of military training largely shaped his character. “It was very tough training. A normal school day started at six in the morning and ended at seven in the evening, and during the school holidays we took part in sports”, says David, who certainly has no regrets about his short but impactful army training. “The perseverance and discipline I learnt there served me well in my later career,” he continues.
Since everyone in his family was involved in education, David eventually opted for a more scientific career path. He became a maths teacher. “During the day I would teach and, in the evening, I would do some bookkeeping”, he continues. During his first year as a teacher, a friend suggested that he replace one of her colleagues at Mediabrands who was on maternity leave. “The plan was to do that temporary job during the school holidays and then return to teaching, but 24 years on, I’m still here”, he laughs. But this is far from the end of the story. Another heart-warming anecdote he tells is that the colleague he replaced at the time is still working in the company and that her daughter, whom she was expecting at the time, has since also started working at Mediabrands.
“Things have come full circle. We are like one big family. During her studies, I even gave the child extra lessons in mathematics and I helped her with her thesis.” This is not at all surprising as David indeed makes an impression of being caring and fatherly.
He says he got that paternalistic streak – in the positive sense of the word – from the supermarket chain Colruyt, where he restocked shelves during his studies. “A unique opportunity for a sixteen-year-old and a very good learning experience”, David continues. “I was able to get to know that company from up close. It’s a well-oiled machine, with a solid structure and a real entrepreneurial culture.” Life is full of coincidences, not least because Colruyt is now in the Mediabrands client portfolio. For David, Colruyt is not just another client, it’s a company he will forever feel connected to.
It’s a paradox
In the meantime, David has grown to become Managing Director for Research & Intelligence at Mediabrands, but he took his first steps as an assistant buyer for TV at UM. At the request of the board of directors, he later focused more on marketing. “I helped set up the marketing department. From then on, we really started offering a whole range of services to clients”, he explains. “You should know that at the time, UM was Belgium’s very first media agency. It’s a unique experience to work for such a strong employer that allows you to grow along with them.”
He describes Mediabrands as a paradox: “On the one hand, we belong to a large international group with headquarters in New York; on the other, we remain a typical Belgian company. We work mainly with local partners, with a strong Belgian mindset. Thankfully, I’m given the freedom to work autonomously and make my own decisions, which does not mean that we never have disagreements. But as long as there is respect and trust, there is no need to always be on the same page. That’s the reason why I’m still here. I feel that if management has this level of confidence in me, I must also have the same amount of confidence in my team”.
”“I was originally a soldier and a math teacher. A happy coincidence led me to Mediabrands.”
Jive talker
David is a smooth talker, and when we point this out to him, he confirms it: “As long as I can talk and explain something, I’m in my element. And I prefer to walk back and forth while speaking, accompanied by the necessary hand gestures to reinforce my point. You can imagine how I feel in these Covid times.” He finds it particularly difficult to be limited to video calls and Zoom meetings because of the pandemic. “I miss the live talking. As soon as I start a presentation, there’s usually no stopping me”, he says. Whether he needs to explain something to a client or an employee makes little difference to him. “I switch to a kind of auto-hypnosis mode and, if necessary, I’ll explain something ten times over, but differently every time, until I’m sure that the message has gotten across well and everything has been understood. That is when the teacher in me takes over.” For David, there is no greater satisfaction than seeing his team become better at their jobs. “I love motivating and inspiring people, it’s second nature to me. My team members don’t hesitate to ask for my help and advice when they have a problem.” The fact that he has always been able to work with highly motivated and passionate people fills him with gratitude. “With teams like these, you can move mountains”, he affirms.
What drives David in his job is the ‘why’. He explains it as follows: “The reason why we do something is crucial to me. I want everyone who works with me to have a good understanding of what we are doing, and why we do things the way we do them.” He likes to illustrate this with the story of the American astronomer and inventor Samuel Pierpont Langley. “In the 1900s, Langley received a whopping $50,000 from the US government to build the first airplane. He never succeeded, unlike the Wright brothers, who were only simple bicycle makers. Yet they successfully completed the first motorized flight. And do you know why they succeeded and not Professor Langley?”, David asks. No idea. We’re learning here too.
“They were born entrepreneurs and their biggest dream was to fly, whereas for Langley, it was all about prestige. He wanted to get his name in the papers. That makes all the difference.”
We can imagine that a passionate personality like David is equally passionate about his hobbies. “That’s right. I bought an old farmhouse dating back to 1887 that I’m renovating all by myself”, he explains. The project is intended as a long-term plan. “I systematically work on each room and only start on the next room when the previous one is completely finished. I started with the barn in order to create a space for my wife, who is a behavioral therapist for dogs.”
To counterbalance the immense pressure and constant thinking that his job requires, David also jumps on his mountain bike as often as he can. “I’m an avid fan of mountain biking. I bought my first mountain bike when I was 15. Over the years I’ve collected quite a few expensive bikes. As soon as my schedule allows it, I hop on my bike and ride for hours through the woods and the fields. Sometimes I get covered in mud from head to toe, but time and time again, I love the liberating feeling it gives me!”. And after his ride, he likes to quench his thirst with a Coke Zero. “That’s my only sweet craving”, he confesses.
“At work, I used to drink Coke Zero every afternoon. That was a fixed ritual. But since Covid, they haven’t replenished the stock, so the few times I’m at the office, I get frustrated when I stand in front of that empty vending machine. Oh well, I can live with that”, he laughs.