Svein Clouston is co-managing director of Rationale, a strategic brand and content agency based in Edinburgh which has additional offices in London and New York.
Clouston initially trained as a journalist before moving into sports editorial working across Arsenal Football Club, French Football League, and the London 2012 Olympic Games, and later digital publishing, before entering the world of brand marketing.
Rationale was founded in 2019 by Clouston and Rowan Morrison and the B Corp certified agency was named one of Prolific North’s Independent Agencies to Watch for 2024.
From lucky breaks to failures, Clouston shares some of the lessons he’s learnt in life and his career so far…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
Is saying ‘a shower’ a cop-out? I don’t drink coffee so I am a huge disappointment to my French mother I’m afraid. And anyone who says they start each morning with ten press-ups is a liar.
What’s been your luckiest break?
I was working as a digital publisher when an old friend on my Journalism degree course said that their Australian marketing agency was looking for someone who could speak French to set up an office in London and work with their clients (Microsoft and Lenovo) in Paris, and would I be interested? I had no formal marketing experience or training but jumped headfirst into the deep end. That phone call changed my life.
What’s your best failure?
I used to work as a writer for Arsenal Football Club, and it was my job to ensure that the teams were correctly spelled on the back of the matchday programmes. Put it this way, if you have an Arsenal vs Liverpool programme from the 2004/5 season in your loft somewhere, then it’s worth a lot of money. Sorry Mr Benitez! That mistake taught me the importance of proofing, but also how to react to making a mistake. I was distraught for weeks!
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
My GoCycle e-bike! It whisks me all over Edinburgh at the simple push of a (boost) button. And I can take it on the train down to London and Manchester to meet clients. Next stop, New York!
Which podcast or book would you recommend others to read/listen to, and why?
- Podcast: The Elis James and John Robins Podcast – a funny, deeply moving audio balm for the soul.
- Book: The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell – An exhilarating, rip-roaring, time-bending story from the absolute master.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Speak to people! Build up a network of trusted connections. Don’t just blindly follow your passions – find something you’re good at and make it your passion. Fail, fail, fail. Rejection doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. Oh, and invest in bitcoin!
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
That’s a tricky question! There are many different people, and things(!), that have played a role, both active and passive, in helping me get to where I am today. Early on in my marketing journey, I read Phil Barden’s Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy, and that opened up a whole new world where I was able to marry strategic thinking with real-world impact, and potentially make a living out of it! There’s Geraint Holliman, who was instrumental in helping me find my voice as a leader and continues to be a brilliant sounding board for all things brand marketing (just don’t ask him about Welsh rugby!) And there’s Rowan Morrison, my co-managing director at Rationale, whose drive and clarity of vision have been central to building and growing the agency together.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
I’m the current Scottish Middleweight Chessboxing Champion AND the 7th best ChessDiver in the world. Oh, and I’ve been on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’. Just don’t ask me about Henry VIII please.
If there was one thing you could change about your career, what would it be and why?
Other than the matchday programme incident? I constantly wish I’d taken the plunge into entrepreneurship earlier. I was so afraid of failure (still am to a degree), but when you’re young you can afford to make mistakes and I didn’t do enough mistake-making.
What does success look like to you?
I’ll defer to one of the greatest quotes from Hunter S Thompson for this one: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
