David Wheldon began his career as an ad exec at Saatchi and Saatchi in 1983 and retired as CMO of Royal Bank of Scotland earlier this year.

In between these dates, Wheldon established himself as one of the most influential marketers of his generation, a career in which sport and sponsorship played a big role. His name is associated with several of the biggest spending sports sponsors of the last three decades, from Coca Cola to Vodafone, and more latterly across the big bank brands of Barclays, NatWest and RBS. So he brings an informed and experienced eye to bear on the biggest sports properties in the world, from the OIympics and Fifa World Cup to the Premier League, Formula One, Ferrari, McLaren, Manchester United, the England cricket team and the Six Nations rugby championship to name just a few.What has David Wheldon learnt about how sport works and when it doesn’t.

This is a conversation that starts by going back to one of his earliest and most famous marketing campaigns.