Alchemists Team Members

Vlad is an established leader who has considerable experience working on the client side in both marketing and procurement roles. Fascinated by the intersection of creativity, technology, and commercial acumen, and how they seamlessly integrated to create successful modern ecosystems, Vlad recognises that the fusion of these elements is more critical than ever in today's marketing landscape. His diverse experience across industries has shaped his unique perspective.

Vlad's corporate career spanned more than 12 years, during which he managed client-agency relationships across creative, digital, e-commerce, and media agencies, often overseeing budgets worth billions of pounds. He has held local, regional, and global roles at prestigious companies such as Mars, Vodafone, GSK, John Lewis Partnership, and RBS Group, implementing pioneering initiatives in these positions, e.g.:
creating one of the first digital attribution models
reviewing complex agency ecosystems
collaborating with major agency-holding groups
Following his client-side experience, Vlad has spent 12 years consulting. Notable engagements as a consultancy leader include a 5-year partnership with NIVEA, providing design, commercial, and performance support for their integrated agency model, and leading one of the largest agency model reviews and pitches in recent history for a major Rx client, with a spend close to $500 million.
Vlad founded the innovative marketing advisory Alchemists five years ago. Alchemists provides independent and practical advisory services focused on optimising agency ecosystems, commercial models and innovation, internal operations, and in-housing. Most recently, Alchemists have developed expertise in how clients could embrace Generative AI in a practical yet accelerated manner across all the areas mentioned above. 

Lenka has spent all her career with numbers and deciphering those. Spanning her experience in Finance and Accounting, she’s led all of Alchemist’s Commercial Innovation, especially in relation to the emergence of GenAI.

Lenka has led many strategic commercial consultancy assignments, focusing on commercial models and benchmarking for clients such as Sanofi, Nivea, Arla, MFM, Invesco and E.ON. Lenka’s speciality is creating Output-based models and making them work. In recent years, Lenka's focus has extended beyond commercials. She has been instrumental in optimising internal operational practices, leading to streamlined processes and enhanced productivity. She is committed to delivering high-quality client outputs with a practical, efficient approach.

She also has regional agency finance experience, having worked at Wunderman and Wunderman Thompson's EMEA HQ. 

Simon started his career in advertising as a Media Planner and moved into Account Management working at Saatchi & Saatchi, D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles and McCann World Group. Not confined to just work out of London Simon went to Moscow in 1993 spending 3 years as Client Service Director for D’Arcy Masius Benton and Bowles. Following the Moscow assignment, he spent time in other Central and Eastern European countries, Asia Pacific and the USA on assignment. During his time in advertising he worked with a broad spectrum of UK and international brand owners as a Global Account Director: Masterfoods Mars, Coca Cola, P&G, Unilever, Philips, Gillette, Wrangler, Reebok, Tourism Ireland etc. In 2003 Simon was a founding partner of the independent agency network - thenetworkone. An international network of like-minded independent agencies that is ‘custom-fit’ around a brand’s needs. In 2006 Simon joined Diageo Plc as Global Category Director Advertising across all brands. His role to work closely with Marketing stakeholders at all levels to develop and refine ways of working with agencies, improve quality of output, manage the agency roster and drive improve value from marking investment. Simon left Diageo at the end of 2018 to take time out after 12 years in the same role and is now working as a consultant to both agencies and brand owners.