Touching Base with Joe Johnson
‘I’m still as excited as I was on day one’: Meet Joe Johnson, TG0’s head of innovation programs
Hi Joe! Where are you from?
I'm from Leicestershire in the UK. I grew up on a 600-acre family farm run by my dad and uncle. In many ways, it was an idyllic childhood. We had chickens and cattle, and all the kids would collect the eggs. When I was a bit older, I had a good period of raising ducks and selling them to local restaurants and pubs but quickly found it wasn’t for me. Dealing with livestock is tough. It’s mostly an arable farm now.
What did you want to be growing up?
I grew up with lots of farmer’s sons who were desperate to be on the tractors all day, but that’s never been for me. Weirdly, I was very into advertising when I was growing up. The 1980s and '90s was a bit of a golden era for advertising and I fancied being involved in creating the next clever print or TV ad for Nike or Porsche or Rolex. Back then, there was a chance for brands to become famous because everyone was seeing the same ads on TV or in magazines. Now the obsession with data and targeting has fundamentally changed the industry.
Where did you go to university? What did you study?
I went to Leeds to do a joint honours in communications with philosophy. I was originally studying management with philosophy but convinced the tutors to let me switch to communications. It suited me much better. I was able to cherry pick the ethics and morals modules in philosophy, alongside developing a foundational knowledge of visual culture and methods of communication, plus practical skills around filmmaking and web development. I enjoyed my time there and I actually co-founded an ethnographic market research company while there.
Tell me more about the market research company?
It was called ProperGander and it was our attempt to infiltrate the advertising industry by the back door. We used to get a bunch of students in a room and listen to the way they spoke about particular brands, products, about what’s current, etc. It was a really cool idea and we worked with some big brands such as Red Bull, Stella Artois, Unilever, etc. Because we were students ourselves, we had better access than our competitors. All in all we ran it for about four years, but it became much harder to justify our USP when we weren’t students anymore.
How did your career develop after that?
After winding up ProperGander, I landed an ad agency role in Shoreditch. Quite quickly I found that whole sector to be a bit lacking in depth. Helping to build FMCG brands to flog fizzy drinks to kids didn't seem like a great long-term plan. But I realised I really relished the business development side of that experience, and got a job as a business development manager for an agricultural biofuels company. It was an exciting idea – turning vegetable oil into biodiesel for the aviation sector – but the founders ended up in jail in Cambodia and the UK after being investigated for fraud. So that ended very suddenly! Fast forward a few years and I worked for an innovation consultancy and launched a digital agency to help contemporary artists explore the then-emerging world of NFTs. We worked with Bill Woodrow RA on his exhibition for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2023. Another lockdown side project was becoming a fully qualified civil and commercial mediator. I mediated and settled the UK’s first cryptocurrency dispute.
How did you hear about TG0?
I was looking for a change and found the role on the startup job search site Wellfound. When I first saw the technology, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. For many years, I’ve wanted to be part of the team championing a brand new technology but good ones are very hard to find. Once I’d met the team and understood the target markets, I was totally hooked. I’ve been here 18 months now and I’m still as excited as I was on day one.
Tell me a bit about your role as head of innovation programs?
I sit within the commercial team and my role is focused on growing the business. Essentially, I assess where I think our technology can be applied, and then work with innovative companies to bring that to life. My core sectors are automotive and sport, and I’m also exploring the aviation, marine and outdoor power spaces. I love the variety of each day but the highlight has to be that magic moment when a new client gets the potential of this. It’s so exciting when they start to recalibrate what they thought was possible and innovate in real time. I feel very lucky to be involved in those discussions when that happens.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
I have two young boys so my time for hobbies is currently limited, but I do enjoy long walks with our Hungarian Vizsla. I also like watching sports like cricket, football and rugby, and I still play a bit of golf when I can. One of my kids has started playing drums – I played too when I was younger so maybe I’ll pick it back up again. Conveniently for my job, I love cars, and did a track day around Donington Park Circuit a couple of weeks ago, which was great fun. If anything, the BMW M4 I was driving was a bit quick. I would’ve almost preferred to do it in a stripped-out old Mini so I could take in the circuit a bit more.
Tell us one thing your colleagues wouldn’t know about you?
I created a podcast sitcom about rural life in my spare time a few years ago. I wrote it, produced it, and played all the characters. It's rather niche but it's one of my proudest creative achievements. Let me know what you think!
