Bob Scott, founder of Scotcade and Scotts of Stow died at his
home in Adderbury, Oxfordshire, on 23rd February. His wife,
Jennifer and second daughter, Georgina, were at his bedside when
he gave up his fight against cancer.
Bob Scott was a pioneer of direct response and cash-with-order
advertising. His success was due not only to a remarkably
determined and numerate mind, but because he recognised as early
as the 1970’s the lifetime value of a name and address. He was
fortunate in his timing, too, for that decade saw the emergence
of the personal computer and the advent of processing power on a
desktop. It also saw a change in the upmarket, broadsheet Sunday
newspapers who were at that time, introducing the first Sunday
colour supplements with a strong focus on lifestyle.
In 1985 he was invited to serve as nonexecutive chairman of
Innovations by Nigel Swabey, the company’s founder, and was able
to share in the success when the company was successfully sold
three years later to Kleeneze. He built Scotts of Stow in the
early 90s, selling it successfully in 1995 to Nigel Swabey.
Written by Ivor Samuels, Bob Scott’s friend and colleague at
agency Samuels Jones Isaacson Page (SJIP).
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