In our latest “offline” edition, we catch-up with Deviation’s Co-founder, Ashley Liddell, and discover his career journey from refuse collector to digital leader, his dream client, the industry’s biggest opportunity in 2026, and his love for The Verve’s Urban Hymns.
Why a career in digital marketing?
A career in digital marketing was born out of a difficult day in my previous job. At the time, I was working as a refuse collector for the local council — a role I’d fallen into to support my young family. It was never meant to be a long-term plan, but on this particular day everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It ended up becoming the moment that broke the camel’s back.
I’d known for months that I wasn’t enjoying the work, I wasn’t contributing in a meaningful way, and I definitely wasn’t feeling fulfilled. In hindsight, I was probably a terrible employee simply because I didn’t see, nor want, a future there.
That day became a crossroads. I could either put my ambitions aside in exchange for the security of a “job for life,” or I could bet on myself and make a change, a change that might actually allow me to feel excited, empowered, and purposeful in my work.
The fact I’m writing this for the Marketing Masterclass Series tells you which path I chose.
I went home that evening, ready to start from scratch. Having always run side hustles and small businesses, where the marketing side was consistently the part I loved most. I decided to lean into that passion. That decision set me on the path to pursuing a marketing degree and ultimately building a career I’m genuinely proud of. So, why digital marketing? It was my final chance at building a career I could be proud of.
How do you switch off?
Rugby League is my switch-off mechanism, and during the season it’s my one non-negotiable. Since starting this journey with Deviation, a lot of my hobbies have had to take a back seat to make room for our growth (honestly, the backlog of video games I think I’ll someday play is getting a bit ridiculous).
But Rugby League keeps me sane. I still (try to) play for a local team, I coach at another, and most of my kids now play the sport in some capacity too. There’s something grounding about it: a couple of big hits on a Saturday afternoon, or watching my U12s team develop into an awesome group of young people and rugby league players.
For those few hours each week, I get to step completely out of the day-to-day and just enjoy the game and the community around it.
What is your favourite Podcast & book in 2025?
I’m not huge on work-related podcasts, I tend to learn more from online journals and blogs, and I’ve always been a bit of a ‘student of the game’ when it comes to reading books about marketing. But as a serious wrestling nerd, I’ll often throw on a wrestling podcast while I’m working. Usually it’s a Chris Van Vliet interview or an episode of NotSam Wrestling, and I can just get stuck into whatever I’m doing.
WATCH THE FULL PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH ASHLEY 👇
As for books, I’m an autobiography guy first and foremost. I haven’t read as much this year as I’d like, but I’m determined to finish Andy Farrell’s autobiography, The Only Way I Know. Farrell is a legend in both rugby league and rugby union, and as someone who also had children young, his journey resonates with me. His story has been a huge inspiration and I’m really enjoying learning more about the person behind the achievements.
For work? I remember reading ‘Made to Stick’ when I first got into the marketing space, and I think that it resonates even more now than it did when I first read the book.
It is actually one of only a few books I have read multiple times. Check it out if you haven’t already!
Who’s been the most influential person or role model in your career and why?
I have been blessed to be surrounded by an array of fantastic people since I finished university. I think from a view of my day-to-day work, that person would either be Stephen Kenwright or Carrie Rose from Rise at Seven (See pic below).
My first gig, post university, was within the SEO team at Rise and I feel I learned so much from both that has not only made me a better SEO but a more well-rounded marketing individual. Seeing the success of both these amazing individuals, both in their time together and since Kenwright’s exit from Rise at Seven inspires me to ‘kick ass’ everyday with what we’re now trying to build with Deviation.
Fun fact about you?
I once met and spoke with (okay more stuttered with) Queen Elizabeth II. My school performed the ‘Royal Guard’ for the Royal Family on their visit to Hull, whilst I was attending Hull Trinity House School. We were told it was highly unlikely that either would speak to us, and then she spoke directly to me. I just about managed to speak and answer.
One dream client – Who?
Adidas, and it probably isn’t too close to be honest. I fell in love with the shoes because of the marketing campaigns that have then only grown and amplified as I’ve become an adult.
I’m a huge fan of the brand and their campaigns would be an absolute privilege.
What’s your favourite music album & movie of all-time?
The album is a toughie. I’m an Indy nerd. This will surprise a few folks who know me though. Most will be expecting an Oasis album here, and on a different day “What’s The Story” may well edge it. That being said, I am utterly obsessed and have been for years, with The Verve and their ‘Urban Hymns’ album.
I honestly don’t think there is a single bad track on the tracklist and the bangers? Wow, do they bang! That being said, The self titled ‘Stone Roses’ album… also a banger.
I’ll sit on the fence with movies too, it is really hard to narrow it to one… Give me the OG Rocky films. Give me Harry Potter. Give me the Dark Knight Trilogy – job’s a good ‘un.
If you were to put me on the spot though, I’m taking the animated ‘Killing Joke’ movie (also a batman movie for the non-nerds among us).
What is the biggest opportunity for digital marketers in 2026?
I think Organic Search Marketing is a big opportunity for 2026. But I want to be really clear, search marketing is no longer just ‘Traditional SEO’. I think the diversification of platforms used by audiences to discover information has already started and, for me, 2026 is the year of the off-site preference signals built away from our own website and search may be more effective when executed away from our site (IE: TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Discord and AI/LLM).
What makes a standout agency? How do you differentiate?
At Deviation, our differentiation started with how we think about search and discoverability.
We don’t treat SEO, social, PR, content, and creators as separate channels fighting for budget and attention. We see them as interconnected systems that all influence how brands are discovered, by people and by algorithms.
That’s where our Search Everywhere® mindset comes in. We optimise for visibility across the platforms where audiences actually search today: Google, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, social feeds, and increasingly, AI-powered interfaces.
The question we ask isn’t “How do we rank?” — it’s “How do we get found, trusted, and chosen?”
But strategy alone isn’t enough. What truly makes Deviation stand out is how closely we work with our clients. We don’t hide behind jargon or dashboards — we educate, collaborate, and build alongside teams so they understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. That shared understanding leads to better decisions, faster execution, and stronger long-term results.
Ultimately, our differentiation is simple: we challenge outdated thinking, we connect the dots across channels, and we build strategies that reflect how search actually works today, not how it worked five years ago.
And, in terms of what makes a standout agency, I think it’s the combination of all of the above, creating that proposition and culture where this type of approach is celebrated and developed, and I’m hoping we will be able to look back over the next few years and see that this was the recipe to creating a standout agency in Deviation.
What do you like and dislike the most about AI?
I’m a huge advocate for AI within organic search. The level of personalisation it enables, and its ability to combine and interpret vast amounts of non-personalised content to achieve this, allows search experiences to feel genuinely tailored to the individual.
When done well, AI can surface the right information, in the right context, at the right time, and that, to me, represents the future of search.
From a marketer’s perspective, that’s incredibly powerful. It forces us to think less about isolated keywords or rankings and more about the broader conversation. We’re now concerned with a user’s intent, context, and our content’s usefulness.
AI is pushing the industry in a positive direction by rewarding relevance, clarity, and authority and I am here for that in a big way.
My concern, however, is an over-reliance on AI when it comes to developing or delivering strategy. Especially by younger marketers within our industry.
AI is rapidly improving at execution, synthesis, and the creation of ‘scale’, but strategy still requires human judgment, creativity, and lived experience to truly connect in my experience.
Without that, there’s a real risk of homogenised thinking, shallow insights, and strategies that look impressive on paper but lack originality or real-world impact. I have leaned on a ‘The Incredibles’ example here for years… Think of Syndrome (a fellow ginger), the ‘bad guy of the film’ when thinking of strategy,
“In a world where everyone is super… nobody is” is the specific line I lean on here,
I think this translates so eloquently to marketers using AI to develop marketing strategies.
Used correctly, AI should be an enabler, a way to move faster, test more, and unlock better insights. Used incorrectly, it becomes a crutch. The balance is using AI to enhance human thinking and our experience, not replace it, and that’s where I believe the real opportunity lies.
About ASHLEY…
Ashley Liddell is a search and organic marketing specialist with a passion for how people actually discover brands today.
With a background in SEO, Ashley has spent his career thinking beyond traditional rankings, focusing instead on discoverability across platforms like Google, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and AI-powered search.
Ashley is now a Co-Founder at Deviation | The Search Everywhere® Agency, where he helps brands connect the dots between search, content, and social discovery, through a multi-channel mindset.
👉Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn
👉Watch the full episode on our Podcast
