Marcus Richards
Influence emobility is the world’s first strategic communications consultancy solely dedicated to e‑mobility and the technologies transforming the automotive industry and our world
Tell us about yourself?
30 year career in automotive PR. Climbed up the in-house ladder to become Chief Comms Officer and main board member for Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, Volvo Cars (In Sweden) and Ford of Europe (Germany). Lived and worked in the auto industry in the US, Japan and Germany.
This is where I learnt “my trade”. Always had an entrepreneurial streak so left employment 15 years ago to found Influence Associates and grew it to become the leading Premium Automotive and Automotive Technology PR agency worldwide.
We were an early pioneer in electrification communication. We saw the rapid acceleration of EV’s around the time of the pandemic, so founded and launched our sister agency Influence emobility, the world’s first communications consultancy, dedicated to e-mobility and the technologies transforming our world.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I would have launched Influence emobility a few years earlier, given the huge potential beyond automotive in areas such as energy storage, evtol, smart cities etc
What problem does your business solve?
We work in partnership with our clients to precisely define and communicate their brand and tech proposition and point of difference on a global basis.
Helping them to “cut through” in a crowded marketplace, deliver their business objectives, scale their company, driving profile, fame, scale, momentum, “aura of success” and enterprise value.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Helping to drive the emobility revolution which brings technological solutions to solve the climate change challenges the world is facing.
What is your magic sauce?
A proven communication strategy model with what we call “cut through” comms. Global opinion former led. We have helped more than 100 start-ups and scale-ups to realise their potential
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We are very client outcome focused. So to continue to help our clients realise their potential. We will extend even further into the e-mobility eco systems – smart cities, charging, batteries, energy storage eVTOL, micro-mobility etc. In so doing we believe their is very high potential for Influence emobility
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Recruiting high quality communications professionals. We are working around this.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We are passionate champions of emobility and believe in the power of technology to tackle and solve the climate challenges of the planet.
Our proven model and track record to help scale emobility starts-ups is helping to drive a lower carbon economy
