They say life in Cape Town is lekker slow, jy smaak? Well maybe it is, but this does not ring true about Barnard’s brilliant and dynamic marketing specialist Mark Beckman, better known around the office as “Marketing Mark” or simply “the Capetonian”. Mark describes himself as spontaneous, thoughtful and of course – peculiar. It is that peculiarity that had curiously drawn Barnard as a Gauteng-based law firm all the way across the country to Mark and his team. Perhaps there is a better definition than simply “peculiar” to describe what makes up the tastes, sounds and nuances of Mark’s life journey – we call it “Mark-eting”.
The small town of Fish Hoek near Cape Town is where Mark grew up. “I had a happy childhood, preferring to spend as much time at the beach or at the yacht club. When the waves were bad in Fish Hoek or Kalk Bay, we’d usually hitchhike to Kommetjie. I wasn’t a surfer though, I was a bodyboarder (or doormat as the surfers would say!)”, Mark remembers.
After starting out his career in the tourism industry, he later managed a jazz band and a kwaito crew. As an entrepreneur, he built exhibition stands and developed resorts and of course, ended up in publishing, PR and marketing and made “the Mark”.
Barnard believes in his marketing philosophy: “For your communications and marketing efforts to be truly effective, they must be grounded in strategy. I help people and businesses design content plans that support their larger goals. From there, we create and execute messaging that’s clear, compelling, and engaging”.
His business partner and wife, Tracy, is one of the strongest influences on his life. “She is the greatest strategist I’ve ever known. She allows me to be the creative, maladroit face of Beckman Marketing, while she runs a tight ship. I owe our success to her absolutely!”
Mark also spends his time watching NFL with his son, pairing whiskey with liquorice (!), and travelling with his wife and his trendy kids, Siana and Kaenan. The free time is precious since Mark assists other clients in different industries as well; although it may seem to every member of Barnard that he is only devoted to their individual needs. “I genuinely love working with the teams at Barnard! I think there’s an amazing passion and entrepreneurial spirit that reminds me of my own journey, and I can’t wait to be part of the success story of this innovative group!”.
Would you describe Mark as peculiar? Yes, but you’ll be more precise by “Mark-eting” him.
