In our latest “offline” edition, we catch-up with Bind’s Joint MD & Co-founder, Oli Hopkinson, and discover his career journey into digital marketing, the biggest AI challenge facing the industry, and his love for the Prodigy & Sopranos.
Why did you choose a career in digital marketing?
I accidentally tried it and fell in love with it. I wasn’t aiming for a career in digital marketing – I was unemployed, and my brother threw me a lifeline with a job in conversion rate optimisation selling kitchens and bathrooms. That was it.
I became obsessed. Like, properly obsessed – not with kitchens or bathrooms, rather with understanding why people do what they do online. Every click, every scroll, every hesitation was a clue, and I started using those clues to make assumptions about their next move.
I’d come up with a hypothesis, test it, tweak it, and basically turn it into a game – predicting behaviour using the power of habitual living against them. It was like behavioural psychology met chess and I fucking loved it.
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Who has inspired you the most in your career to-date?
My old man. Hoppy. He didn’t work in marketing, but he taught me everything that matters about people. About how judgement works, how assumptions shape perception, how presence changes a room.
He was this gentle giant – kind to a fault, but razor sharp. Watching how people reacted to him taught me more about human behaviour than any course or campaign ever could. That’s what I carry into my work – realness, pattern recognition, and never underestimating what’s happening under the surface.
How do you switch off?
I run. Not for medals or Strava kudos – I run because it’s one of the only places I fully switch off. It’s ‘Type 2’ fun I suppose – painful in the moment, beautiful after the fact.
When I’m out there, suffering on purpose, with no screen, no noise, no dopamine drip. Just breath, and the sound of my own feet reminding me I’m still here. That kind of discomfort is my therapy.
What’s been your favourite TV show or series in 2025?
I’m late to it, but The Sopranos hit me hard this year. Watching it felt like a raw, unfiltered study of human psychology. Masculinity vs vulnerability. Loyalty vs self-interest. Legacy vs impulse.
Watching that show made me reflect on how often we live in conflict between who we are, who we pretend to be, and who we’re terrified of becoming. That tension, that mask-wearing… it’s everywhere. In leadership, in branding, in everyday life.
What’s the biggest opportunity for digital marketers in 2026?
In 2026 the biggest opportunity in biddable media is moving beyond ‘set and forget’. Platforms like Google and Meta are becoming more automated by the day which means most marketers are running the same bland campaigns with minor tweaks.
The edge now is in the inputs – the creative strategy, the first-party data, the segmentation logic. Media buyers who think like behavioural psychologists, not just budget shufflers will win. It’s no longer about who spends most, it’s about who understands the auction, the algorithm, and the audience on a deeper level.
If you can decode intent, inject relevance, and feed the machine better questions it’ll print results.
What prompted you to write a book?
I wanted to change a life. Just one. I wasn’t trying to write a bestseller, I was writing to the version of me who needed a slap, a hug, and a plan, all in one sentence.
The goal was simple – if one person picked it up and thought, ‘Fuck it, I’m not done yet,’ then it was worth it. That’s all I wanted. One ripple that mattered.
The book is available to buy on Amazon.
What is your favourite album of all time?
Music for the Jilted Generation by The Prodigy. When Break & Enter hits, I’m running through walls.
What excites and scares you most about AI (specifically within the digital industry)?
The only thing that scares me about AI is how scared marketers are of it. In digital, AI’s not the future, it’s the now. The platforms already use it to optimise auctions, predict behaviour, and write copy.
If you’re not learning how to direct it, you’re already behind. This isn’t about losing control; it’s about levelling up your inputs. AI lets us move faster, test smarter, and personalise at scale. The real risk isn’t the tech, it’s marketers refusing to evolve with it.
Watch The 34-Minute Podcast version with oli (YOUTUBE EDITION)
What’s one thing you would tell your younger self?
When I lost my dad to cancer, suddenly all the day-to-day stress, the worrying, the rushing meant absolutely fuck all. None of it mattered. What mattered was presence. Time. People.
If I could tell my younger self one thing, it’d be this – stop stressing about things that won’t even register in a year. Be here. Fully. That’s the only thing that ever counts.
If you could sign only one “New Client” in 2026 – Who would it be and why?
I don’t chase brands with status or surface cachet. I’m not trying to bag Nike or Apple. I care about culture, and brands with real values baked into their DNA.
We recently signed Clogau, a family-owned Welsh jewellery brand that mines gold from the Clogau St David’s mine in Bontddu. And honestly, they tick every box. Family-led, rooted in heritage, incredible product, and they stand for something no competitor can replicate. That’s the kind of client I’d sign again and again not because they’re loud, but because they’re real.
About Oli…
Oliver founded media agency Bind with his two brothers, Max & Will. He brings the agency side experience to the partnership having been a director in both a big network and a mid-sized independent.
Oliver is also the entrepreneurial brother, starting his first business straight out of university, which he grew and sold 5 years later. He’s also a father, a husband, a charity fundraiser, a mental health advocate, an ultra-runner, and an author.
Oli is the Official Master of Ceremonies (MC) at January’s Digital Superchats e-Event on Paid Media Strategy & Performance.
