ABOUT DON SMITH
Founder of One Hundred Flowers
Consultant Creative Director & Inventor
Don Smith consults on innovation, invention, disruption, creative strategy, and start-up business strategy and has his own Invention and Disruption Practice called One Hundred Flowers.
Don is also an inventor and runs two businesses developing both his respiratory invention, The 1nhaler, along with his renewable energy invention, KELP Systems.
Until 2016, Don was an award-winning Creative Director in both the advertising, marketing and digital business transformation fields, which he then left to begin a new career as an inventor, looking to bring his philosophy on innovation and invention into the fields of health, energy, environment and sustainability.
His first invention, the 1nhaler is a revolutionary, single dose, dry powder inhaler, designed to deliver a global impact, making life saving drugs more available to more people around the world. The business is one of Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Ventures Portfolio companies and is working in collaboration with international manufacturing and pharmaceutical partners towards commercialisation.
His second invention, KELP Systems, is a modular hydro-kinetic energy turbine that reduces impact on marine ecology and delivers clean, renewable energy through an unconventional, sub-marine, array system. The business is currently in the feasibility stage, receiving support and technical guidance from ORE Catapult (the UK’s economic body for offshore renewables) and private engineering partners.
Don’s strategic approach to innovation, invention and disruption helps businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to global corporations, across a number of sectors and industries, to embrace the value of innovation. His model, Concept Theory, is currently being used to test and develop a number of ventures through the Creative Informatics program at Edinburgh University.
He has recently been involved with projects relating to Artificial Intelligence in life sciences, business modelling in financial services, blockchain technology in healthcare, data-driven innovation in transport, subterranean robotics engineering, 5G network slicing applications, sustainability in consumer packaging, and post pandemic recovery in international travel and tourism.
For the last few years, Don was consulting on an ongoing basis with Expedia Group, delivering both strategic creative direction along with innovation support to grow the company’s new, in-house content publishing studio, developing new channels, platforms, products, initiatives and campaigns.
Core consulting skill set
Career highlights:
Don has been recognised in the BIMA Top 100 as a leading Innovator and Entrepreneur.
Don recently delivered a TEDx talk on his approach to Invention which can be viewed here.
Don has won over 200 industry awards including D&AD, Cannes, Campaign, Drum, DADI’s, BIMA, Webbies and Clios.
He has lectured on creativity, innovation and strategy for Edinburgh University, Napier University, Manchester University and Newcastle University.
He has contributed to, and written for The Drum, Advertising Week, The Herald, Campaign Magazine and Econsultancy.
Building Expedia’s in-house, creative content publishing studio complete with smart, new platforms, channels, and frameworks.
Reinventing the Automobile Association from a breakdown recovery business into ‘The fourth emergency service’.
Developing award winning, facial recognition technology for Expedia to track viewer sentiments across their digital channels.
Increasing organ donation registration in the UK by 400% using behavioural psychology techniques in a radical new campaign approach.
Working with the BBC natural history department to develop innovative, immersive, audio-visual, virtual reality, broadcasting technology.
Building innovative, reverse-augmented reality technology for CBS to engage global fans of Star Trek to their broadcast platforms.
A selection of recent consulting clients.
A selection of images from my Creative Director portfolio
A full portfolio including film and video content and case studies is available on request.
Awards
Employment history
2021- Present
KELP Systems Ltd, Founder and Inventor.
KELP Systems is a modular tidal energy turbine that delivers clean, renewable energy through an innovative, non-conventional array system, with zero impact on marine ecology and a net zero carbon footprint.
The business is currently in the feasibility stage, receiving support and technical guidance from ORE Catapult (the European economic body for offshore renewables) along with private engineering partners.
2019- 2021
Edinburgh University, Creative Informatics, Entrepreneur in Residence.
In 2019 Don was invited into the Entrepreneur in Residence programme through the Creative Informatics arm of the University of Edinburgh. During the project, he applied the Concept Theory evaluation model to improve the commercial viability of a variety of early-stage entrepreneurial ventures.
Critically, increasing the potential for value returns for founders and inventors/innovators who individually and personally suffer the greatest loss exposure when a venture fails.
2019- 2022
Expedia Group, Consultant Strategic Creative Director.
For the past three years Don has been consulting as the Strategic Creative Director in Expedia Group. Building an innovative in-house, creative content publishing studio, complete with smart, new platforms, channels, and frameworks.
The new team is called Expedia Media Studio. And it is delivering commercially valuable partnerships with global destinations and travel brands, increasing conversion, customer acquisition and retention, online real-estate, brand awareness, and post-pandemic growth.
2017- Present
1nhaler Ltd, Founder and Inventor.
The 1nhaler (TM, Patent Pending) is a revolutionary single-dose, dry-powder pulmonary inhaler the size of a business card. Having gone through a primary investment phase to deliver a first stage prototype, feasibility testing, pharmacology data and design documentation, the device is now attracting interest from the pharmaceutical industry and is in the later stages of development.
The 1nhaler has multiple USP's, but convenience, immediacy and efficacy are at the heart of the delivery system. It can theoretically deliver any API that can be created as a dry-powder, respirable particle formula.
2016- Present
One Hundred Flowers. Founder and Director.
Having developed a proprietary invention and disruption methodology, Don began life as an Inventor by opening his own ‘practice’ in 2016.
Through One Hundred Flowers, Don consults with external businesses, both direct, with clients like Expedia, Newsquest and M&G Prudential, and through professional services consultancies such as Deloitte Digital, KPMG and in Scotland, AA+B, CreateFuture and Nile.
The practice also serves as a Venture Studio, developing early stage inventions in the fields of health, energy, environment and sustainability, before spinning out into separate businesses once IP has been protected. The first of these spinouts is 1nhaler Ltd, the second is Kelp Systems, a tidal energy turbine.
2009-2016
Executive Creative Director, Realise Ltd.
Don was one of three members of the Realise leadership team and helped to grow the company into one of the biggest and most revered Digital Agencies in the UK. Realise became part of the St Ives Group in 2014 and it is still growing globally.
Over the course of his time with Realise, Don delivered strategic, transformative solutions for companies like Greyhound, Expedia, Lloyds, BBC, Standard Life Investments, Heathrow, Universal Films, Channel 4, Nikon, Tomy Toys, AXA, Scottish Widows, Philips, The English Football League and many more.
1999-2009
Creative Director, The Union Advertising Agency.
Don worked at The Union for ten years, joining when it was still a start-up and helping it to grow into one of the largest and most awarded agencies in Scotland. Delivering award winning campaigns for clients such as the Scottish Government, Baxter’s, Velux, and Organ Donation Scotland.
1997-1999
Art Director, HHCL and Partners.
Campaign Magazine’s agency of the 90’s headhunted Don after his ground-breaking campaign for Irn Bru. This saw him spend two years working amongst London’s best strategic and creative minds. During his time at HHCL, Don launched the online bank Egg, BA’s budget airline GO and turned The AA into the Fourth Emergency Service.
1995 - 1997
Art Director at Faulds Advertising.
Don Spent two years at one of Scotland’s most financially successful agencies, Faulds. During his time there, Don was involved in successful campaigns for Standard Life, Scottish Power and British Midland.
1992-1995
Art Director, The Leith Agency.
Within his first year of graduate employment, Don was part of the creative team that won the Irn Bru account from legendary London agency BBH. The subsequent campaign transformed the brand into one of the most provocative in the UK, leading to both commercial and critical success and placing The Leith Agency on the map as one of the UK’s leading ‘Hotshop’ agencies.
Contact
You can reach Don at don@b100m.com or don@1nhaler.com or on 07545745725
