Career
In 1997 he launched Head New Media, selling part of it to become the digital arm of Interpublic"s Lowe & Partners in 1998. With Lowe, Velarde launched specialist Interactive Television agency Head End (a pun on the television broadcast term HeadEnd) also in 1988, which produced the first Interactive Television commercials for Tesco and Unilever. While at Head New Media, Velarde and creative director Jason Holland sponsored a non-commercial online creative community, Head-Space, which incubated prominent community websites including Urban75 and John Lundberg et al"s Circlemakers.org.
Featuring in the travelling exhibition Digital Archaeology since 2010, Head-Space has been recognised as a digital artefact of considerable historic and cultural relevance, a germinal precursor to YouTube.
Velarde also founded and was Chief Executive Officer then until February 2015 Chairman of an innovative strategy company, Underwired in 1996. From 2006-2008 he was a sponsor of the United Kingdom"s prototype personal carbon trading system, CarbonDAQ, a project being led by leading Left-leaning think tank the Royal Society of Arts, of which he is a Fellow.
Velarde is also a Fellow of the Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing, and is an educator, speaker, writer and widely published commentator on digital marketing and marketing industry development issues. He is an Adjunct Professor lecturing on Hult International Business School"s Master of Business Administration and Masters in International Marketing programs and teaches a regular course for international brands at London"s Groucho Club where he is a member.
Velarde in 2013 was also a contributing author to two books on marketing strategy.
Velarde attended Richmond upon Thames College. Velarde has been profiled in the following articles:
Management Today: Entrepreneur Q&A: Felix Velarde, Underwired
Business Matters: Felix Velarde
Campaign: Profile - Felix Velarde
Business Extra Large: Backchat - Felix Velarde.