Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top London based Director operating in the Content space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Federico Pienovi
Regional Managing Director – Head of EMEA of Globant
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About Globant: Globant is a digitally native technology services company building a new way of being digital.
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Maximilian Bleyleben
Managing Director and Chief Privacy Officer of SuperAwesome
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About SuperAwesome: SuperAwesome offers kid-safe tools and technology for the children’s digital media ecosystem.
Barbara Agus
Director Global Programmatic & Yield of The Weather Channel
Barbara Agus, International Digital Director at Time Inc. International, brings 8+ years experience leading Programmatic, Ad Network, Sales and Operations initiatives with a proven ability to drive rapid growth and expand market share. Agus joined the team from the Weather Channel, where she was Global Programmatic director, and has held prior positions in the ad tech space for Rubicon Project, as well as consultancy roles in Spain and Italy. Her current role includes responsibility for defining the global programmatic strategy of Time Inc. International and uncovering prospects across EMEA, LATAM, and APAC as the company continues to expand its global footprint with innovative, meaningful experiences for business and consumer audiences. Barbara will oversee opportunities across the portfolio for the company’s 90+ brands, as well as continued international development of Time and Fortune.
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About The Weather Channel: The Weather Channel is a news website reporting weather conditions of various locations around the world.
Marc Thomas
Managing Director – UK & Emerging EMEA Markets of Taboola
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About Taboola: Taboola is an AI-powered content discovery platform that connects people with content on the web that suits their interests.
Alexandre Fannius
EMEA Director of Publisher Account Management of Taboola
Alexandre Fannius is EMEA Director of Publisher Account Management at [Taboola](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/taboola), the content discovery platform that connects people with content they may like but never knew existed. Fannius holds a master’s degree in business and management from Audencia Business School.
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About Taboola: Taboola is an AI-powered content discovery platform that connects people with content on the web that suits their interests.
Tatjana Biallas
Director Media Sales DACH of Taboola
Tatjana Biallas is heading up the growth of the German market at Taboola, by helping brands distribute their marketing content and reach new audiences through native advertising campaigns. Over the past 10 years, she has built up her considerable expertise in the German media industry at CNBC International, RTL Group and IP Deutschland.
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About Taboola: Taboola is an AI-powered content discovery platform that connects people with content on the web that suits their interests.
Jacques Lopes
Director, Media Sales – France of Taboola
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About Taboola: Taboola is an AI-powered content discovery platform that connects people with content on the web that suits their interests.
Lindsey Clarke
Managing Director of Nativo
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About Nativo: Nativo is an advertising technology platform for brand advertisers and publishers to scale, automate, and measure native ads.
Roy Clements
STATS Sales Director Media & Gambling EMEA/APAC of STATS
Roy joined STATS in 2005. Roy was instrumental in the positioning and expansion of the European business, leading growth initiatives in gaming and media in Europe. Roy is currently responsible for the relationships with clients across the UK and Europe, including UEFA, William Hill, and bet365 and supporting STATS regional sales teams.
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About STATS, STATS: 800+ global organizations trust STATS to power their sports data and technology platforms due to our unrivaled speed, accuracy and depth.
Paul Lewis
Senior Director Cloud Security (BISO) of Elsevier
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About Elsevier, Imperial College London: Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology.
David Mirvish
Director of AudienceView
David Mirvish serves as a Director at AudienceView.
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About AudienceView: AudienceView offers the entertainment industry with tools that enables intelligent ticketing and e-commerce solutions.
Don Green
Director of AudienceView
Don Green serves as a Director at AudienceView.
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About AudienceView: AudienceView offers the entertainment industry with tools that enables intelligent ticketing and e-commerce solutions.
Ahmed Abou Hussein
Regional Director of Echobox
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About Echobox: Echobox is the leading content automation platform
David Howlett
Marketing Director of ICP
Now working at ICP as Marketing Director. David is an experienced Board level Marketing and Business Development Director having worked in many industry sectors, recently in a business to business environment within professional services companies, but with high levels of understanding of the business to consumer context and within a wide range of market sectors. Specific functions that David has managed include marketing, communications, business development, market research, insight, branding, strategy development and general management within SMEs and large corporates. He has also had experience of setting up new ventures within existing businesses, and of managing a production facility. this has involved managing many teams, large and small, made up of experienced directors and of junior to mid level executives. David has a very strong understanding of finance, in terms of budget management and the setting of key performance indicators in addition to monthly and annual financial performance measurement. Sector experience includes Fast Moving Consumer Goods, food & drink, personal care, household care; paint; packaging; recycling. David has travelled extensively and held international responsibilities in many of roles, including Europe, USA, China, Saudi Arabia. Recently, David has been invited to deliver guest lectures to undergraduates and postgraduates at Oxford Brookes University Business School covering marketing, market research, thought leadership and content marketing themes.
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About ICP: ICP provides digital asset management consulting, advertising production and video services to global clients and brands
Fabio Torlini
SVP & Managing Director International of WP Engine
Over 15 years experience in the hosting & cloud industry. I have a thorough understanding of all aspects of IT B2B marketing, Branding, PR, Channel and Management. One of the original employees at Rackspace I helped build the company to what it has become today. A leader in the cloud industry and revenues of $1.5B. I am now MD for WP Engine, based in Tech City helping WP Engine launch their services into Europe. Specialties: Professional B2B Marketer. Branding, lead generation, direct sales, channel sales, alliances, online marketing.
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About WP Engine: WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting platform.
Duncan Blackett
Director of Sales, EMEA of Digital Turbine
Duncan Blackett has 20 years experience in media and the application industry. Duncan is an expert in driving user acquisition for clients spanning sectors such as gaming, retail and utility across EMEA. He led revenue generation across all platforms for News UK with accounts such as Vodafone and Ford. Following a successful career at global publishing groups, he realized his entrepreneurial ambition in 2014 when he co-founded and ran a London based ride hailing app, iRide London. Using his firsthand experience as an app entrepreneur combined with a passion for cultivating mobile-first strategies, Duncan advises advertiser clients across industries to advance their mobile strategies and grow users at scale.
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About Digital Turbine: Digital Turbine is the leading independent mobile growth platform and levels up the landscape for advertisers, publishers, carriers and OEMS.
By integrating a full ad stack with proprietary technology built into devices by wireless operators and OEMs, Digital Turbine supercharges advertising and monetization. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with global offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Singapore, Tel Aviv and other cities serving top agency, app developer and advertising markets.
Lee Buchanan
Co-founder & Operations Director of Miappi
Lee Buchanan joined Miappi as Co-founder and Operations Director in 2012.
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About Appismo, Miappi: Miappi helps brands to discover authentic consumer stories, manage the digital rights and to distribute to marketing channels and ecommerce.
Janis Thomas
Marketing Director of deltatre
Janis joined Deltatre, a global leader in the sport business, at the beginning of 2019. She is an expert in using digital marketing to deliver sales and revenue growth in subscription and ecommerce businesses. She has grown diverse brands from Birchbox to Playboy. She has held senior consumer marketing roles at digital media and entertainment businesses across film, TV and publishing. Janis will be responsible for leading Deltatre’s B2C marketing. This function will help Deltatre’s sport and entertainment clients grow their direct-to-consumer streaming subscription services.
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About deltatre: deltatre is a sports media services company that provides consulting services for videos, webs, graphics, and sports businesses.
Paul Archer
Founder and Managing Director of Duel
World Record-breaking Adventurer, Best-selling Author and founder of Duel. Aside from his expeditions and writing, he has spent his career building technology, including the Daredevil Project app development studio, and consulting for advertising agencies and tech companies. He founded Duel to democratise and decentralise marketing for brands. Duel is solving the lack of emotional connection and social proof in often clinical looking online stores by rewarding customers for creating visual testimonials and advocating among their friends, rather than wasting millions on advertising to drive sales. Before this Paul conceived and implemented the It’s on the Meter Expedition to drive to London taxi around the World. The expedition broke two Guinness World Records, raised over £20,000 and passed through 50 countries after driving 80,000 miles from London to London in Hannah, a 1992 London Taxi bought of eBay. Paul is also an experienced speaker, moderator and a conference host. Including TEDx, SXSW, Festival of Media, Cannes Lions, Social Media Week, GenerationE, the Content Marketing Institute and Retail.Tech, as well as guest lecturing at the British School of Fashion.
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About Duel: Brand Advocacy Platform that enables purpose-led brands to drive organic growth & retention through word-of-mouth & advocacy
Giovanni Dolci
Vice President, Theatre Development and Managing Director, Europe and Africa of IMAX
Giovanni Dolci joined IMAX Corporation in October 2012 as Vice President, Theatre Development. In January 2017 he was also appointed Managing Director Europe and Africa, where he is responsible for growing and expanding the IMAX theatre network across the two continents. He previously served as Director of Business Development and Commercial Operations at Arts Alliance, where he was in charge of negotiations with cinema exhibitors and film distributors throughout EMEA to support the market’s transition to digital projection technology and where he helped establish a worldwide digital distribution platform. Prior to Arts Alliance, Giovanni Dolci worked in film financing and oversaw a number of projects based in New Zealand, Italy and the UK. He has a degree in Economics and Management from Bocconi University in Milan and an MSc in Management from Cass Business School in London. He is a Junior Fellow of the Aspen Institute Italy.
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About IMAX: IMAX Corporation is one of the world’s leading entertainment technology companies, specializing in immersive motion picture technologies.
Patrick Ponsford
Managing Director of Bonhill Group
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About Bonhill Group, Intelligent Partnership: Bonhill Group operates as a B2B media company.
Franki Goodwin
Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi (Advertising Co.)
Franki leads a double life as a Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi London and as Exec Producer at Western Edge Pictures and the Gennaker Group – a group of independent Feature Film Production and Finance Companies. In her first company, Franki&Jonny, she pioneered early integrated content and social media campaigns and won many awards, including a BAFTA interactive and a bunch of D&ADs. Franki was recently was named by the prestigious awards outfit the FWA as a ‘Digital Pioneer’ for her work in this period for Warner Bros, Disney, Skype and Film4. In 2013 she joined Saatchi & Saatchi London, bringing unique digital expertise and storytelling skills to an integrated advertising role working across clients such as Marie Curie, Asda, and Deutsche Telekom. In 2016 Franki won 9 Cannes Lions for “Sea Hero Quest” – the world’s first game to plug into Dementia research, which was named as one of the top 10 campaigns of 2016 by Creative Review and Campaign. In 2017 she was a Judge at the Cannes Lions, and also won 4 Lions, including one gold, for her latest work for DT “Magenta Unleashed”– a partnership with the band Gorillaz.
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About Saatchi & Saatchi (Advertising Co.), Saatchi & Saatchi London, Western Edge Pictures: Saatchi & Saatchi is a global creative communications company headquartered in New York with 130 offices in 70 countries.
Bengu Atamer
Co-Founder & Director of BuzzMyVideos
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About BuzzMyVideos: BuzzMyVideos is leading martech company that drives hyper-growth & new revenue from and on YouTube.
Martin Veitch
Editorial Director of IDG Connect
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About IDG Connect: IDG Connect brings you the latest features, interviews and expert insights from across the global B2B tech landscape.
Jamie Byng
Publisher and Managing Director of Canongate Books
Jamie Byng is Publisher and Managing Director @ Canongate Books.
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About Canongate Books: Canongate Books is one of the most dynamic independent publishing houses in Britain.
Matt Smith
Co-Founder and Director of Black Tomato
Matt Smith set up Black Tomato Ltd with Tom Marchant and James Merrett in 2005 and to date have had a broad strategic and operational remit across all areas of Black Tomato. Central to Matt’s role is the responsibility for both driving forward the day to day business operations and Business Development / Sales processes that have underpinned the Group’s commercial success and significant growth. I also oversees a number of critical areas of the business including, Office Infrastructure, Company /Staff Culture, IT, Security, Data Protection/GDPR, HR, H&S / F&S, Insurance, Legal Contracting , Procurement, Staff / Business expenses, Staff Reward / Engagement, Staff Training and Staff Meetings and Events. Alongside this, he leads critical strategic projects including those that increase profitability and productivity across the business in line with the constant reinforcement of BT’s ‘purpose’ and company culture both internally and externally.
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About Black Tomato: Black Tomato is a bespoke luxury travel company that delivers imaginative and travel experiences around the world.
Kevin Gibbons
Managing Director of BlueGlass Interactive
A leading light in the search industry, SEOptimise founder Kevin Gibbons is a web expert with over 10 years’ experience. He has specialised in the field of search engine marketing since 2003, advising a wide range of industry sectors on increasing their online visibility by using the latest search engine marketing techniques. A highly respected expert blogger on the latest developments in search engine marketing, Kevin writes regularly for SEOptimise, Econsultancy and Search Engine Land, plus he is highly followed on Twitter. At SEOptimise Kevin oversees the search marketing team, the strategy of online marketing projects, client account management and promotes the business within the search industry.
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About BlueGlass Interactive, Re:signal, WeLoveDates: BlueGlass Interactive is a digital marketing agency providing integrated SEO, content marketing, and paid search services.
Jennifer Hoffman
Marketing Director of DeepCrawl
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About DeepCrawl: The #1 technical SEO SaaS platform for enterprise businesses
Gareth Morris
Senior Director of Internal Results
With over 15 years’ experience in sales & lead generation Gareth leads the business development and commercial operations of the business. As one of the senior management team of Internal Results his passion for excellence ensures we consistently deliver high-quality results for our valued customers, with a professional and honest approach.
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About Internal Results: Internal Results specialize in content syndication, b2b data and buyer intent solutions for B2B organizations worldwide.
Stuart Parish
Managing Director UK & Middle East of Jacobs Media Group
Stuart Parish has been promoted to the new role of managing director of Travel Weekly. Parish was formerly chief operating officer of Travel Weekly’s parent company, and will now take on full responsibility for all editorial and sales across Travel Weekly’s portfolio of magazines, websites and events. He will also have responsibility for agent information and advice website Gazetteers.com. The appointment allows group chief executive Duncan Horton to focus primarily on Travel Weekly’s sister company Caterer and Hotelkeeper following its acquisition in 2012. In another change, Travel Weekly account director Mary Rega has been promoted to become head of sales, reporting to sales director Kieron Dodd.Travel Weekly Group chairman Clive Jacobs said: “Since joining the business full-time in December 2010, Stuart’s involvement, influence and passion have been evident for all to see. “I have great faith that he will continue to develop the Travel Weekly business as we integrate Caterer and Hotelkeeper into the group and expand our unrivalled portfolio of travel and hospitality media brands.” Parish added: “Since becoming an independently owned business in 2009 Travel Weekly has been revitalised, and has rightly established itself as the undisputed market leader in print, digital and face-to-face events. “We have outstanding people throughout the company who are committed to innovating, supporting, and delivering the best products and services for our readers and commercial partners.” Prior to joining Travel Weekly Group, Parish held a range of positions including head of marketing for lastminute.com and general manager of Travelocity.
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About Jacobs Media Group, Travel Weekly Group: Jacobs Media Group develops a portfolio of brands based in London but with a truly multinational footprint spanning five continents.
Matt Garbutt
Creative Director of Greenlight Digital
Matt has been a digital creative his entire career, starting out in full service agencies in the late nineties through to in-house roles in the 2000s. In 2010, he co-founded a digital agency, followed by a creative production agency in 2013. Matt has extensive experience in a great many areas of digital creative and build, as well as video and film, motion graphics and above-the-line creative. In 2017, Matt’s digital agency and Greenlight joined forces, with Matt being appointed as the agency’s Creative Director.
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About Greenlight Digital: Full service digital marketing agency
Hannah Kimuyu
Director of Paid Media & Data Insights of Greenlight Digital
Hannah has been working in digital for over sixteen years, thirteen of which have been at Greenlight. A major element in Hannah’s success as a search professional is her historical knowledge and understanding of the way that search has grown over the years, coupled with her extremely specific hands-on experience. Hannah has been a key innovator in diversifying Greenlight’s paid media and data offering, moving the agency towards retargeting, audience insights, display, and paid social advertising, at a time when other agencies saw those innovations as a fad. As Greenlight’s Paid Media & Data Insights Director, Hannah is responsible for managing and delivering the agency’s paid media strategy for all clients. Through this role, she consults for some of Greenlight’s largest international clients, including New Balance, Superdry, ghd, and Victoria Beckham. In 2016, Hannah launched a second department; Data Science & Audience Insights. Partnering with Lotame, a data management platform, the service combines interaction, attitudinal, descriptive, and behavioural data to help brands understand who their customers are and what they’re buying with a cross-channel and cross-device focus.
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About Greenlight Digital: Full service digital marketing agency
Ben Cook-Northrop
Account Director of Greenlight Digital
Ben Cook-Northrop is an account director at Greenlight.
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About Greenlight Digital: Full service digital marketing agency
David Mathewson
Non-Executive Director of Brave Bison
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About : Rightster, the cloud-based video distribution and monetisation network.
Jack Barnett
Non-Executive Director of Brave Bison
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About : Rightster, the cloud-based video distribution and monetisation network.
Louise Benson
Executive Festival Director, Lions Health, Lions Innovation, Lions Entertainment & eurobest of Cannes Lions
Louise Benson leads CLX, the two-day summit for industry VIPs designed around immersive and interactive experiences with some of the world’s most exciting creators. She is also Festival Director for Lions Health, and for eurobest. Her job covers industry engagement and onboarding, value proposition development for new customer segments, and new commercial product development and execution. In addition to her festival responsibilities, Louise oversees “See It Be It,” the yearly talent scheme for high-potential creative women at Cannes Lions, as well as the new D&I initiative being launched as part of Inkwell Beach. She is the Cannes Lions lead for the Unstereotype Alliance. Louise has worked events for the creative industries for 15 years, most recently as Festival Director for the Edinburgh International Television Festival. She was also Festival Director for the World Architecture Festival, in addition to creating the Media Festival and the Media Festival Arts.
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About Cannes Lions: Cannes Lions is an eight-day programme of creative inspiration, celebration, education and networking.
Louise Benson
Executive Festival Director, Lions Health, Lions Innovation, Lions Entertainment & eurobest of Cannes Lions
Louise Benson leads CLX, the two-day summit for industry VIPs designed around immersive and interactive experiences with some of the world’s most exciting creators. She is also Festival Director for Lions Health, and for eurobest. Her job covers industry engagement and onboarding, value proposition development for new customer segments, and new commercial product development and execution. In addition to her festival responsibilities, Louise oversees “See It Be It,” the yearly talent scheme for high-potential creative women at Cannes Lions, as well as the new D&I initiative being launched as part of Inkwell Beach. She is the Cannes Lions lead for the Unstereotype Alliance. Louise has worked events for the creative industries for 15 years, most recently as Festival Director for the Edinburgh International Television Festival. She was also Festival Director for the World Architecture Festival, in addition to creating the Media Festival and the Media Festival Arts.
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About Cannes Lions: Cannes Lions is an eight-day programme of creative inspiration, celebration, education and networking.
Alex Morris
Creative Director of Barcroft Studios
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About Barcroft Studios: Barcroft Studios producing content for global industry publishers, broadcasters, platforms and brands.
Mark Joseph
Managing Director of Vouch Global
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About Vouch Global: Vouch Global is a digital and marketing agency that focuses on influence marketing, social media, content creation, media buying and SEO.
Roger Partington
Director of FutureRising
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About : Creative Industries Careers Network
Terry Blake
Business Development Director – EMEA of LEMON Mobile LLC
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About LEMON Mobile LLC: Location Enhanced Mobile Opt-In Network
Ian Styles
Executive Creative Director of Design Studio
With nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, Ian has built a reputation for the quality of his work, and transforming the agencies he works for. As well as forming his own studio, he has worked for some of London’s leading consultancies and loves the power of a simple idea to create and regenerate brands across any media. At DesignStudio he mentors the design team and ensures that innovation drives the work.
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About Design Studio: DesignStudio is a global brand and design agency with offices in the creative hubs of London and San Francisco.
Julius Duncan
Executive Director of Remarkable Group
The strategist behind the launch of Remarkable Content, an agency team dedicated to creating content that demands to be shared, Julius is a marketing and communications specialist with over 15 years’ experience as a journalist and communications consultant. Fusing the Remarkable skills of PR, creative, social media, digital and video specialists Julius leads a team focused on creatively connecting brands with their audiences. Starting out as a business journalist with the Financial Times Group in 1995, Julius jumped the fence into PR joining Finsbury in 1999. Since leaving Finsbury in 2005 Julius has held Director level positions at a number of agencies including the world’s largest PR company, Edelman, and social brand specialist agency, Headstream. Clients Julius has worked with include large UK and global companies such as Shell, RSA, BT, Aviva, Taylor Wimpey, BBC, Thames Water, Anglo American, the Environment Agency, and Virgin. A member of the PRCA, CMA and IAB, Julius is a regular speaker at industry events Julius’ expertise lies in content creation, digital, and social media at a strategic and tactical level.
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About Remarkable Group, Remarkable Group: Remarkable Group is a communications specialists who provide expert counsel and communications services.
Catherine Maskell
Managing Director of Content Marketing Association
Catherine Maskell is the Managing Director at The Content Marketing Association.
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About Content Marketing Association: Content Marketing Association is the industry body for content marketing.
Kerry Gaffney
Director Community & Communication of MOFILM
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About MOFILM: People Powered Marketing by a community of creative & strategic talent that disrupts & innovates; building brands, better, cheaper, faster.
Rachel Bridge
Founder and Managing Director of Froglet Productions
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About Froglet Productions: Froglet Productions is a consulting firm that provides digital and offline content, events and advice for all sizes of businesses.
Matthew Eaton
Managing Director, EMEA of GrayMeta
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About GrayMeta: GrayMet dramatically improves efficiencies by automating the creation of metadata with an innovative approach to extracting rich metadata.
John Atherton
Director & Founder of Sonalytic
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About Sonalytic: Sonalytic develops a content identification approach that enables us to connect creators and rights-holders to monetization opportunities.
Tom O’Meara
Editorial Director of StrategyEye
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About StrategyEye: StrategyEye provides cloud-based news intelligence solutions to corporates, publishers and content marketers.
