Pascal Fintoni - Managing Director, Arclight Marketing and Media Ltd
What were your career ambitions growing up?
From a very young age, I wanted to be involved with filmmaking and by extension storytelling. I fell in love with cinema when I saw ‘The African Queen’ with my grandad. Little did I know would spark a career that would eventually help thousands of businesses tell their stories through digital marketing.
Tell us about your current role.
I just feel so lucky. After years leading national digital transformation programmes and working with thousands of businesses across sectors, I launched my own training and consultancy business.
I am a professional speaker, trainer and consultant specialising in AI and digital marketing. My mission is to make digital innovation accessible and genuinely fun again for entrepreneurs and leadership teams.
What’s your proudest business achievement?
I guess transitioning from employment to self-employment in 2012, and creating distinctive courses and consultancy services that have been so well received and got many accolades.
Looking further back, I’m also proud of having been appointed CEO of the government-backed Centre for eBusiness, where I guided North East businesses through the earliest waves of digital transformation in the early 2000s.
More recently, I am rather pleased that I finally wrote and released my first business book ‘WebProud’ to celebrate three decades in digital.
How has your industry changed in the last decade?
Where do I start?! When you consider digital marketing and the many advances in content marketing, it is clear that online business has become client-led, video-first and now audio interactive.
Today, artificial intelligence is redefining digital practices. That’s why in 2023, I introduced AI across all my services and now host events to help others confidently embrace this new step change.
What are you currently working on?
I am putting the finishing touches on one of the most comprehensive AI for Digital Marketing consultancy products, that brings 30 years of experience in creative marketing and ingenuity in content creation.
And I am also working on the second version of the ‘Film Marketing Academy’, a programme dedicated to creative professionals.
Tell us about the clients you work with.
From local independents needing AI and digital masterclasses to large public sector teams requiring executive briefings.
What they share is a desire to cut through the noise and find digital marketing strategies that feel genuine and sustainable. That’s my ultimate goal: inspiring confidence through clarity and practical insight, and movie references!
What is the best piece of business advice you have been given?
‘Too many moving parts’ – this piece of advice I received from one of my first bosses, I still use it to this day.
Keeping things simple has been one of my core principles when designing AI and marketing strategies. I see first-hand how simplicity leads to consistency and confidence.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Learning and applying all the things you don’t consider when starting your own business, you quickly realise how tough it is to be wearing multiple hats. It’s been a steep but rewarding learning curve, and in a way I am glad as those lessons help me support other business owners through their own journey.
Who are your heroes inside and outside of business?
I have many. My dad, who changed career and profession often to adapt to changes in industry. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Stephen Spielberg, Philip Kotler, Grace Hopper, and so many other pioneers in innovation in technology, masterful storytelling, marketing excellence, and the art of breaking barriers.
How do you unwind outside of work?
I watch movies, lots of them!
Favourite book/boxset?
Lord Of The Rings – Director’s Cut. Epic storytelling at its finest.
pascalfintoni.com