Simon Hammond

Viewpoints

Simon Hammond developed the BE Brand philosophy, maintaining that when a business stands for something based on the emotive drivers of its customer, this will lead to connection and sense of belonging. The BE Brand business strategy process is used in 11 countries across four continents.

Journalism

Simon began his career in Journalism in 1980 as a Cadet reporter at the Knox Sherbrooke News for Leader Newspapers The Leader. In 1982 he joined Mark Day's The Truth in Melbourne where he worked on the investigative team. In 1984 he became Victoria's youngest ever A grade journalist when he took over 4x4 magazine for Syme magazines at age 22. He joined 3AW as Assistant Chief of Staff, before becoming Magazine Development Manager for Syme Magazines in 1986. He ran his own talkback motoring radio show on radio 3UZ for 3 years between 1986 and 1989. In 1988 he established his first brand communications business, Dare Concepts. Since leaving full-time journalism, Simon has been a contributor to The Herald Sun and is a regular commentator on Channel 7's Today Tonight program.

Business Ventures

Simon has established brand communication agencies and methodologies throughout Australia, the USA, Asia, Europe and the UK.

In 1988, Simon established his first communications agency Dare Concepts. He went on to found The Edge in 1993, SEE in 2000, Belong in 2007, and Bastion Brands in 2009. His philosophical business model, BE Brands, has been used by business globally since 2003. In 2010 he co founded The Be Counsel in New York City while performing his Podium Rock business show in NYC and San Diego.

Since 2012, Simon has been engaged in developing new business ventures and consulting as Hammond Thinking. In late 2013 he opened his new studio and creative event centre in Spink St, Brighton.

Writing

Simon Hammond has authored three books on the BE Brand philosophy.

Guts: All It Takes To Be Successful In Business (and Life) In 2004, Zatzit Pty Ltd published Hammond’s first book, ‘Guts’. This book explores his business manifesto and personal development. He explains his formula to success using a range of powerful social insights (SINS). The production of Guts led to the formulation of BE Brands.

BE Brands: Simon Hammond’s Creative Brand Revolution In 2006, Wiley Books published Hammond’s second book, BE Brands. The namesake of Hammond’s brand philosophy, this book examines brave brands that have emerged “in a world of risk aversion and corporate blandness”. Focused on the future of customer-centric businesses, Hammond uses popular culture observations, consumer behaviour insights and practical experience to establish the top twenty brands in Australia and what can be learnt from their business transformations.

CEO of Earth: A Ground-Breaking Guide to Building the Ultimate Brand In 2009, Wright Books published Hammond’s third book, CEO of Earth. In contrast to Hammond’s non-fiction publications, CEO of Earth is a fictional tale of an advertising intern, Fysh Reynolds, mistaken as the ‘leader of Earth’ by some tourist traders from another planet. Before he can explain the misunderstanding, Reynolds finds himself in charge of tourism for planet Earth. This tale of branding the ultimate product illustrates how textbook approaches to marketing might work on the biggest brand conceivable and what ‘old school’ methods would need to change for Earth to be the universal brand of choice. In 2013, CEO of Earth was translated into Spanish and became digitally available in ibooks and kindle.

Speaking

Simon Hammond is a frequent keynote speaker, with appearances at The Melbourne International Fashion Festival and Melbourne International Business Forum.

Hammond is also the creator and producer of Lectern Rock. Launched in 2008, Lectern Rock is a theatrical rock seminar program, designed to change the way audiences are engaged on business topics.This program toured Australia four times between 2008 - 2011, seen by over 10,000 businesses in Australia. Lectern Rock is known as Podium Rock outside of Australia and has toured the USA.

Community Work

Simon Hammond has been active in community and charitable pursuits. He took on pro bono work for Anglicare and Open Family. Hammond also spent time as a board member of Open Family from 1993 - 1995.

Hammond worked for Lifeline for seven years as both a counselor and trainer.

In 1975 he was honoured with a Queen Scout award. Hammond was awarded the inaugural literary award at Salesian college in 1979.