In our latest “offline” edition, we catch-up with Thierry Ngutegure, Co-founder and Head of Data Storytelling at Six Chillies, and find out how he got started in Data & Digital Marketing, his dream holiday, how he switches off and the industry’s biggest opportunity!
How did you get started in “Data & Digital Marketing”?
I actually got my start at an agency called Epiphany in Leeds, one of the first independent creative agencies. I joined their newly formed earned media team as a data journalist, and my job was to help the PRs and digital PRs create newsworthy stories using data and insights.
Before that I’d been a market researcher at Leeds University Union, so I already understood how to take what people think and turn it into something you can actually interact with and touch in the wider world. The data journalist role was a slightly different spin on that. Now the job was to carve out stories, something tangible that still had a real impact on society and on how brands, products and services live in people’s minds.
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Fun fact about you?
I’m completely obsessed with coming up with ideas and then actually bringing them to life.
I’ve launched a peanut butter brand that we got into Selfridges. I’ve launched a supplement brand that we got into pharmacies. I’ve sold a handbag rental business. And I’ve launched multiple beers with Northern Monk.
I’m a bit of an ideas machine, but really, I’m the person people come to with their ideas too. I just love executing them and making them real.
How do you switch off?
The gym, every time. I love all things weight training, strength, and conditioning, Hyrox, the lot. I genuinely believe my mental capacity at any given point is directly proportional to how much I’ve exercised that week. Physical health and mental health are the same conversation for me.
That’s how I switch off. That, and the occasional tequila, of course. That’s why we go, right?
What’s your favourite movie of all-time?
My favourite film of all time is Apocalypto, directed by Mel Gibson. I know a lot of people don’t love subtitles, but that’s exactly why I rate it. It’s built in a real, authentically rooted language, so it forces you to properly focus. You can’t watch it while you’re doing the washing up.
It’s a genuinely compelling story that’s got everything: love, death, laughter, fear, excitement. A little bit gory, but I’ve watched it time and time and time again and I’d highly recommend it.
What inspired you to start Six Chillies?
Six Chillies was actually born out of me and my co-founder leaving a previous agency. A lot of people in the digital PR space already knew us as data-led storytellers, and it was clearly something the sector needed. So, we started freelancing and filling that gap.
What we quickly realised is that for years we’ve all been told to hoard data, but nobody’s really told us what to do with it. We’ve become hoarders who aren’t sure what to pick up and what to put down.
And that’s where we found our spot. I’m not particularly technical, but I understand what’s needed to get to the goal from a data point of view. My actual superpower is the bit that comes next. We’ve got the data and the insight, so what on earth does it mean for our team, our business, our direction, our people?
We sit right in the middle, between the people who are super technical and understand the wires in the back of the TV, and the people who want to launch a new product, attract a new audience, set a direction or crack a new market. The people who actually want to use the data to do a thing. We call ourselves data translators.
We’ve been on projects surrounded by 20 of the smartest data engineers on the planet, with a group of people on the other side of that team who don’t understand what’s coming out of it, who don’t see the value or aren’t squeezing enough juice out of it. Our job is to sit in that middle and help both sides cross the bridge whenever they need to.
I also think data’s been seen as this boring thing that certain people have hoarded, almost using it as a garden wall or a moat to protect their own importance. Not all data people are like that, far from it, but those few have created a ripple where people now think, “I’m not a data person, so that’s not for me,” like it’s some guarded secret. Add GDPR and other compliance layers on top, all completely necessary, and you get a real fear factor around even touching data.
Our job is to demystify all that and make it fun and creative again.
You can holiday anywhere in the world for one month. Where?
Buenos Aires, Argentina, no question. I went there recently for my honeymoon with my wife, and it was absolutely incredible.
You get all the culture of South America, the food, the heritage, but with this coolness to it that’s almost Barcelona-esque. Everyone just looks so cool. They know how to dance, they speak multiple languages, they’ll go and work out. It’s a lifestyle I can really get on board with. And with a country that size, there’s almost nothing you couldn’t do or explore. Buenos Aires. What a cool place, man!
If you could interview any person (famous, celeb or historical), who would it be?
Kevin Hart. I’ve always been a massive fan of his comedy, but even more so of his entrepreneurship. Plenty of comedians came before him without building anything like the media and mogul empire he has.
I find it mind-boggling when I meet or listen to people who, from day one, when they had absolutely nothing, had a crystal-clear vision of exactly where they’d end up, and then basically willed time and fate in their favour to get there. I think those people are genuinely incredible, and I love listening to anyone with that kind of internal drive and sense of self, who also happens to be really funny.
What is the biggest challenge and opportunity in digital marketing right now?
I’m going to say the thing we’re all sick of hearing about, and honestly that’s exactly why it matters: AI.
But I want to come at it from an organisational angle, not from what it can create. For years we’ve talked about breaking down silos in digital marketing, whether that’s paid, search, organic, social, PR or conversion, and about getting rid of the repetitive knowledge work so we can do the creative work. For the first time in history, AI actually gives us that. All of us working from the same context layer, with the repetitive stuff lifted off our shoulders, so we can focus on the things that matter: our audience, how we grow, where we go, and what creativity really means in our role. No more spending three hours every morning updating timesheets and wrangling the same documents and proposals.
Right now, though, it’s being missed, because we’ve all adopted AI individually, at our own pace and to our own taste. And that’s actually made the silos worse. The way I work and the systems I’ve built are wildly different to someone in the same team doing the same role, so we’ve got this incredibly powerful knowledge base that we’re all using independently to pull in different directions.
The moment an organisation can wield that collectively, they win. I’ve been watching some brilliant work from Dan and the team over at Brainlabs, and they’re literally putting it out there for free, showing how to build these systems at an organisational level. Go and have a look.
What has been your proudest career achievement to date?
Starting Six Chillies. Deciding to step out into the world and build something that exposes your strengths and your weaknesses for everyone to see, and being at peace with that, while creating something that has a positive impact on the people you bring along the journey, is a genuinely powerful thing to do.
It’s also absolutely terrifying. You have no idea what tomorrow, next week, six months or a year looks like. You can plan all you want, but 2020 reminded all of us that what’s around the corner is sometimes unforecastable, and that’s exactly what makes it one of the most beautiful journeys you can go on.
It’s not for everyone, and I don’t think we should pretend otherwise. We live in a world that glorifies the idea that anyone can be successful, but the statistics say not everyone will be. By that measure, I’m someone who’s built to try, and try again. For me, the trying is the bit I love. The journey is the best part, not the destination. That, and the autonomy: getting to work with people you choose, speak to incredible people, and be vulnerable enough that others go, “You know what, I’d love to join that journey with you.”
I’m really optimistic about the work we’re doing, the people we’re working with and the teams we’re building. That’s my proudest moment to date.
About thierry…
Thierry Ngutegure is Co-founder and Head of Data Storytelling at Six Chillies, a creative data agency built on a simple belief: data doesn’t have to be boring.
With a background spanning consumer psychology, market research and data journalism, Thierry describes himself as a “data translator”, sitting between the deeply technical and the people who want to actually do something with data, and helping both sides cross the bridge. His mission is to strip out the jargon and make data fun, creative and genuinely usable again.
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This interview is part of the “offline” series, in which our Founder, John McCambley, interviews leaders from across the digital marketing industry (agency and client-side).
