If your job is anything like mine, a huge part of it has been shaped by a man you've probably never heard of; Neil McElroy. He was central to the invention of market research, brand management, soap operas - and involved in (although admittedly much less) the development of the internet and the iPhone.

I’ve been doing some reading around the foundations of media and market research (trying to figure out the general trajectory of ‘jobs like mine’; what they are, what they used to be, what they might look like in the future), and along the way learning about a man whose name wasn't immediately familiar to me - but whose career I found fascinating.