Colin Gray

Colin Gray Email and Phone Number

Managing Partner, Strategy | B2B Practice Lead | Author | Accredited Member, IPA @ McCann Central
Colin Gray's Location
Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Colin Gray's Contact Details
About Colin Gray

A highly experienced and commercially driven marketing professional with a proven background in crafting and executing award-winning brand and communication strategies. Diverse experience gained in client-side, creative and media agency roles enables me to adopt a consultative, collaborative approach to driving break-through thinking and placing the customer at the heart of the solution. Hands-on experience across marketing disciplines and a proven track record in both shaping and executing award-winning campaign strategies to position the brand, drive acquisition and successful business outcomes. Extensive experience of working alongside senior leaders in global brands to develop evidenced-based plans to drive sustainable growth. Deep expertise in Applied Behavioural Science, Brand Management, CRM and adopting a holistic approach to drive forward marketing agendas. Passionate about using these tools to breathe new life into brands and create stories that resonate.What I can help with:• Brand Strategy: able to recognise patterns and unearth insights in a sea of noise; analysing market trends and developing tailored recommendations based on sources of opportunity and potential vulnerabilities. • Structured problem-solving and stakeholder management: employs a methodical approach to tackling complex challenges; developing a compelling vision for the future while communicating it effectively; balancing ambition with achievability to inspire others and secure buy-in.• Brand Activation and Comms Planning: ownership of strategic direction, from development to execution and performance analysis, as well as executing effective campaigns; drawing on hands-on channel experience to drill down into the detail when necessary and align messaging with customer touchpoints.• Connected Journey Planning: development of fully integrated marketing plans across multiple channels which align budgets with long-term brand and short-term sales objectives. • CRM, Content and Digital Marketing: harnessing data insights to craft targeted personas and needs-based narrative to driving a seamless B2B customer experience across touchpoints and journey stage• Performance Marketing and Budget Optimisation: numerate and commercially-orientation with experience of leading teams of up to 40 people and overseeing the optimisation of significant budgets (up to £60m), so well-versed in the fundamental principles of marketing effectiveness

Colin Gray's Current Company Details
McCann Central

Mccann Central

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Managing Partner, Strategy | B2B Practice Lead | Author | Accredited Member, IPA
Colin Gray Work Experience Details
  • Mccann Central
    Managing Partner, Strategy And B2B Practice Lead
    Mccann Central Sep 2023 - Present
    Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
    Strategy lead at Enterprise Central, a B2B consultancy within McCann Central - the UK's #1 creative community with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and London. We work in partnership with CMOs and their teams to navigate complexity, respond to change and unlock new sources of growth. Primarily our work spans Brand, CX, Data and Reputation but, with the backing of McCann Worldgroup, we have the scale to deliver across multiple channels, specialisms and locations.
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  • Mccann Central
    Managing Partner, Strategy
    Mccann Central Apr 2022 - Sep 2023
    Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom
    Responsible for the strategic direction of the Milton Keynes office at McCann Central, Europe's largest integrated agency. Lead on key clients and new business pitches. Discovering insights across customer, culture, category and company, turning these into compelling strategies and creative thinking. Overseeing the Strategy team’s daily activities and collaborating with the Chief Strategy Officer to promote a culture of effectiveness.
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  • Graymatter Reply
    Head Of Strategy And Insight
    Graymatter Reply Sep 2018 - Mar 2022
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Brand positioning and integrated communication strategy lead within a Salesforce/marketing technology consultancy. Acted as a client partner to develop ‘upstream’ marketing strategies and integrated campaign plans which reflected our suite of services and reinforced our reputation as a strategic partner. Successfully refreshed the agency’s value proposition, achieving a 100% success rate in new business pitches which tripled our annual revenue and resulted in the acquisition of the business by the Reply Group.
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  • Havas Cx Helia
    Freelance Strategy Director
    Havas Cx Helia Apr 2018 - Sep 2018
    London, United Kingdom
    Worked with Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, to revitalise the Clubcard loyalty scheme and imbue the ‘Every little helps’ brand promise with meaning by developing new loyalty propositions and insight-based campaigns. In addition, I worked with Reckitt Benckiser to launch a lifestage CRM / direct-to-consumer proposition across some of the their most recognisable healthcare brands. Supported a variety of successful creative & media pitches, such as Starbucks.
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  • Vccp
    Freelance Strategy Director
    Vccp Mar 2018 - Apr 2018
    I supported the team at VCCP Blue on a variety of strategic projects (initially while the Head of Strategy was away on annual leave), including a variety of new business pitches; helping established brands to implement their marketing plans and helping new-to-market brands to sharpen their proposition and challenge established market conventions
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  • Communicator London
    Freelance Strategy Director
    Communicator London Jan 2018 - Feb 2018
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Responsible for leading the development of cutting-edge, connected customer engagement / journey-based CRM, Social Media & Content strategies for a variety of premium FMCG brands (Heineken, Jack Daniels and Chambord)
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  • Volkswagen Group Uk Ltd
    Head Of Marketing Communications And Digital Marketing
    Volkswagen Group Uk Ltd Sep 2016 - Dec 2017
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Heading the team responsible for the brand and marcomms. This involved setting the strategy; leading the delivery across all channels; working collaboratively with agency partners to sharpen both brand & product positioning and also managing a variety of senior stakeholders across borders to enable insight-led activity plans
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  • Proximity London
    Freelance Planning Director
    Proximity London Mar 2016 - Sep 2016
    London, United Kingdom
    I developed journey-driven B2C and B2B customer engagement & CRM strategies and developed supporting propositions to drive sales, loyalty and advocacy for Volkswagen Group and P&G • Key projects: defining the CRM Vision & prospect nurture strategy for VWCV, developed plans to support model launches and ‘thought leadership’ to reinforce the importance of CRM
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  • The Open University
    Interim Head Of Media And Partnerships
    The Open University Aug 2015 - Mar 2016
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Rebuilt the OU’s media strategy, drove significant efficiencies in their ‘always on’ performance activity and reinvested the savings into content partnerships & sponsorships to address gaps in brand perceptions, ensure an optimised search engine presence and deliver fully-integrated plans across Owned, Earned & Paid channels• Established a new Performance Marketing function, which delivered a 31% improvement in PPC & 28% in Display CPA
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  • Clarity
    Interim Head Of Strategy And Planning
    Clarity Apr 2015 - Aug 2015
    Woburn, Bedfordshire
    Responsible for setting up the strategy department at the agency, as well as delivering the agency’s planning output from brand positioning and digital marketing strategies to pitch presentations and thought-leadership for a range of Automotive, Hospitality & Retail clients (including Argos, Carluccio’s, Homebase, TGI Friday’s, VW Group, Whitbread)
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  • Proximity London
    Planning Director
    Proximity London Apr 2014 - Apr 2015
    London, United Kingdom
    Responsible for leading the development of B2C and B2B CRM strategies for Lloyds Banking Group - one of the UK’s largest high street brands and a Top 10 client globally- Clients: Halifax, Lloyds Bank, Lloyds Business Banking
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  • Stack Agency
    Freelance Strategy Director
    Stack Agency Jan 2014 - Apr 2014
    90 Tottenham Court Road, London
    Strategic planning lead for Peugeot Retail and Peugeot Professional across on and offline communication: Social Media, Experiential, CRM and User Experience (UX) initiatives. Also responsible for the development of ad-hoc campaign and brand positioning strategies • Clients: Peugeot, Citroen, Benefit Cosmetics, McVities and Nivea For Men
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  • Mediacom
    Planning / Board Director
    Mediacom Nov 2012 - Jan 2014
    London, United Kingdom
    Strategic planning lead for Direct Line Group (the agency’s 2nd largest account). This involved leading an extended cross-functional team of 40 brand and performance specialists to develop innovative media solutions and optimise both effectiveness and efficiency of spend against a total budget in excess of £70m. In addition, I worked with the team at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to help them sharpen their brand positioning and launch their 'Working With You' campaign· Supported Marketing Director level stakeholders at DLG with their digital transformation agendas· Direct Line and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles campaigns were both award winning (Gold and Bronze IPA Effectiveness Awards respectively)
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  • Banco Santander
    Group Communications Manager
    Banco Santander Jul 2004 - Nov 2012
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Strategic lead across a £34m budget, responsible for defining what to say, where to say it, how to say it and who to say it to. Leadership of the Santander launch campaign, which involved extensive competitive analysis, consumer research and an honest evaluation of where Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley stood to define a gap in the marketplace and compelling brand positioning with customers at the centre of the process. This work not only informed Santander’s UK positioning, but also define the 123 Account which was launched 2 years later. · The Santander launch was the largest High Street brand launch campaign in 20 years and fully integrated from TV to Branch point of sale to Social Media & Mobile game. It exceeded sales targets by 114%; surpassed all KPIs, utilised 'media first' placements and also won several Marketing Effectiveness awards· As part of my Media Planning responsibilities, I chaired ISBA’s Print & Outdoor forum and also worked with teams in developing markets to coach them on marketing best practice· Delivered a 316% uplift in Student account openings and won a Media Week Silver Award (‘idea under £250k’) by launching the UK’s first financial services app on Facebook
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  • The Open University
    Head Of Communications Planning
    The Open University Jul 2003 - Jul 2004
    Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
    Formulated the communications strategy and annual acquisition & retention plan to a £12m budget · Implemented a value-driven approach to planning and delivered a 10% improvement in ROI
  • Norwich Union Plc (Now Aviva Plc)
    Head Of Marketing Development
    Norwich Union Plc (Now Aviva Plc) Jul 2001 - Jul 2003
    Norwich, United Kingdom
    Leadership of the Consumer Marketing function and a team of 9 campaign managers· Delivered a media & creative strategic review and improved marketing effectiveness by 14%
  • Virgin Money
    Direct Marketing Manager
    Virgin Money Jun 2000 - Jul 2001
    Norwich, United Kingdom
    Integral to the highly successful launch of one of the pioneer price comparison websites. Responsible for CRM activities from behavioural segmentation and data capture strategy through to UX research
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Colin Gray Skills

Integrated Marketing Strategy Direct Marketing Digital Marketing Marketing Communications Strategic Communications Advertising Crm Marketing Strategic Planning Marketing Strategy Digital Strategy Management Digital Media Email Marketing Customer Insight Marketing Management Online Marketing Mobile Marketing Online Advertising Brand Development B2b B2b Marketing Automotive Team Leadership Stakeholder Management Leadership Campaign Management Segmentation Brand Management B2b Marketing Strategy Brand Positioning Strategies Brand Architecture Media Planning Financial Services Creative Strategy Business Strategy Problem Solving Communications Strategy Research Communications Planning Hospitality Industry Social Media Marketing Sponsorship Activation Agency Relationship Management Marketing Communications Planning Hospitality Social Media Marketing Effectiveness Campaign Managment Tortoise Breeding

Colin Gray Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Colin Gray

What company does Colin Gray work for?

Colin Gray works for Mccann Central

What is Colin Gray's role at the current company?

Colin Gray's current role is Managing Partner, Strategy | B2B Practice Lead | Author | Accredited Member, IPA.

What is Colin Gray's email address?

Colin Gray's email address is co****@****r.co.uk

What is Colin Gray's direct phone number?

Colin Gray's direct phone number is +4479036*****

What schools did Colin Gray attend?

Colin Gray attended Ipa | The Institute Of Practitioners In Advertising, The Ipa | Institute Of Practitioners In Advertising, University Of Greenwich, Project Management Institute, The Institute Of Direct And Digital Marketing, Cim | The Chartered Institute Of Marketing, Cambridge Marketing College, Advertising Association, University Of Hertfordshire.

What are some of Colin Gray's interests?

Colin Gray has interest in Children.

What skills is Colin Gray known for?

Colin Gray has skills like Integrated Marketing, Strategy, Direct Marketing, Digital Marketing, Marketing Communications, Strategic Communications, Advertising, Crm, Marketing, Strategic Planning, Marketing Strategy, Digital Strategy.

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