. . .

About me

I've been obsessed with one question my whole career: what does it take to make someone stop what they're doing and actually pay attention

It started at KPN Mobile in the late 90s, working out what that tiny screen in people's pockets could actually do. In 1999, I co-founded Unwired Concepts and introduced SMS TV voting to the Netherlands, live during the national songfestival. People had never voted from their sofa before. They loved it. CMG bought us in 2001, and I stayed to build out what became Logica's mobile business.

I spent years after that running big marketing machines. Group Marketing Director at Logica globally, 275 people. CCO of its Benelux operation, €700 million turnover. Marketing Director at Exact Software, on the executive committee. Good work. Real scale. But I kept asking the same question.

In 2012, I left the corporate track and started Purple. No brief, no template. Just a stubborn belief that brands like SAP, Emirates, and IBM deserved more than slide decks and banners. They got worlds instead.

In 2024, we went further. Acquisitions, a rebrand, 170 people across five cities. The Storytelling Company now covers the full range: immersive brand experiences that turn any space into somewhere people never forget, training simulations where the same care we'd give an opera goes into a flight cockpit, entertainment and culture that makes audiences cry and share, and Originals, our own IP built to travel globally. One question runs through all of it: does someone walk out having felt something they couldn't have felt without us

I still ask that every morning. The answer keeps getting more interesting.

Details

ContractPerm

LocationAmsterdam, Netherlands

Skill LevelDirector

LanguagesDutch, English, German

Tagged Job TitlesChief Executive Officer, Entrepreneur, Creative Technologist

Achievements

Pro member:

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Contributor:

Joost has been a Contributor since 25th November 2015.

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Bronze4Shortlisted x 4

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Skills

Audio Visual, Brand Stategy, Budgets Planning / Allocation, Experience Design

Sector Experience

Automotive, Brand Management, Creative Services, IT

Clients

Honeywell International, Inc., Microsoft, Nike, SAP

Activity

Connections3 Followers95 Following7

Likes0

Creativepool member since 30 June 2026

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