International marketing expert and King’s former pupil Ed Jones returned to King's to tell the next generation of business-gurus about his career defining 'out of the box thinking.'

Confessing to not having been an A* academic, Ed, 41, enjoyed the rich extra-curricular provision at King's and explained that it provided “a grounding that helped develop my confidence and commercial creativity.”

"I was never going to be a lawyer or an accountant, but if you want an imaginative solution, it helps to think out of the box.”

Developing global brands such as Kellogg’s, Del Monte, Krispy Kreme, Vimto and currently Autoglym, the UK's largest manufacturer and supplier of car care products to 45 countries worldwide, Ed has an industry-wide reputation for originality.

Indeed, many of his projects have resulted in unprecedented increases in turnover, taking Krispy Kreme doughnuts, for example, from £80 million to £150 million in the UK over 5 years.

In the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, he has even earned the nickname 'Mr Whippy', after having an ice cream van converted into motor boat for a PR stunt, and getting warned off the Thames by the river police for going too close to the Houses of Parliament. “The resulting picture of us handing the police officer an ice cream over the water made the front page of every tabloid in the country with the product branding right, left and centre and led to a threefold increase in sales that summer."

He also had an ice lolly made up in the image of David Hasselhoff, who was pictured in a Del Monte branded jacket licking his own icy image. "You too can lick the Hoff, might not have been the most subtle slogan, but again it worked like a dream with a massive boost to sales and brand recognition."

Ed, who now lives in Cheadle, with his wife Nikita and two children, gave King's pupils including A-Level Economics and Business students a blow-by-blow account of his career path. How, for example, he even had to work with the security services during the Olympics to ensure his in stadium product delivery vehicles had not been compromised by terrorists.

"A career where you are driving underneath the Olympic stadium with Lord Sebastian Coe can certainly have been said to have had its high moments."

He revealed the keys to success, saying "I like to look at other brands in completely different sectors, see what they are doing well creatively and if that can be applied to our own products."

"It’s a complex role from product development to brand recognition, from product placement to competitive but profitable pricing. It's the opposite of boring but you will have to adapt and evolve."

Indeed, having got a BA (Honours) Degree in Business & Marketing from Sheffield Hallam University, together with a Post Graduate Diploma from The Chartered Institute of Marketing, he developed further in his late 30s to gain a Level 6 Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Institute of Data & Marketing, “because I knew I had to know just as much as the younger marketers on my team.”

King's Head of Economics and Business, Jamie MacGregor, said: "It's great to welcome back former pupils and see them give something back to current pupils. It's so important, especially with subjects like Economics and Business, that students can see what their studies might lead to and the creative characteristics and professional disciplines they will need to flourish."