John Stevens Email & Phone Number

London

Responsible for driving all agency directed advertising revenues and delivering effective, long term partnerships with clients through a high quality blend of journalism, data and technology.

London, England Metropolitan Area

Overseeing and managing News UK's agency/client agreements across a specified set of network and independent agencies with the aim of driving revenue across the portfolio.

London, South East

I am looking for a new opportunity in an industry where i can utilise my experience of working with agencies and clients around investment in media and sales generation.I will add strong value to your organisation by bringing:- High impact leadership and influence implementing policies and new standards to improve campaign effectiveness; working closely with Directors and Buyers to develop high potential advertising pipelines and bespoke client solutions and propositions.- Strong ability to direct the prompt preparation of comprehensive budgets and forecasts, setting self-guided targets, driving business growth and profitability while motivating the team. - Committed to conducting periodic performance reviews to evaluate achievement of key business objectives against set KPI metrics; directing the delivery of a high-quality service to ensure excellent customer experience and satisfaction.- Creative and results-driven professional and an excellent problem solver. - Identifying knowledge/learning gaps and developing customised training programmes to prepare teams for top performance and productivity.- Effective communication with clients, stakeholders, trading partners, and management to negotiate contracts, promoting positive change and enhancing engagement. My areas of expertise include: Strategic management & Planning, Clients’ Accounts Portfolio Management, Project Management & Reporting, Communications & Interpersonal Skills, Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration, Analytical Thinking & Problem-Solving, Contract Negotiation & Development, Customer Relationship Management, Sales & Business Development, Media / Public Relations, Team Leadership & Development, Training, coaching & Mentoring, Budget & Cost Control, Policy & Market Analysis, IT Skills & Business technology, Continuous Process Improvement.Feel free to email me at john.stevens8@sky.com or call me at 07919 690214

Canary Wharf

Led the team working closely with directors and buyers at key agencies within Omnicom, Vivaki, Havas, IPG, and Opera groups to develop high potential advertising pipelines, bespoke client solutions and propositions.• Facilitated close collaboration with Insight, Editorial and Publishing divisions to create high-end client development plans and sales presentations to support effective pitching of the company’s print and digital products/services with a focus on driving revenue growth across the client base.• Managed an agency portfolio that generated £8M in revenue and formulated long-term, mutual partnerships with key clients based on effective brand strategies resulting in £1.5M group print/digital revenue growth in 2019.• Responsibilities included evaluating data analytics to identify market opportunities, sales pitching, forecasting, budgeting, auditing, contract management, and resource planning to ensure optimal profitability in a challenging market.• Effectively led the pitch, campaign management, stakeholder collaboration, contract and delivery of a £4M newspaper marketing partnership with Iceland. Coordinated editorial, marketing and distribution teams in a unique collaboration that surpassed the needs of the client, exceeding customer sales targets and brand development scores.• Spearheaded the delivery of high-quality sales material, team collaboration and professional service standards to propose solutions for clients including close collaboration with editorial and insight across the regional and national portfolio.• Mediated regular performance reviews with clients to evaluate achievement of key business objectives against set KPI metrics as well as reviewing new initiatives and solutions.• Identified team member knowledge/learning gaps and devised customised training programmes to develop top performance and productivity, leading to three team members being promoted to leadership positions.

Canary Wharf

Managed the largest and most diverse inserts portfolio spanning six publishers and 320 publications, and enhanced profitability for the company by leading the implementation and design of a highly efficient Insert Management Platform.• Built and managed sustainable relationships with direct clients and strategic partnerships with major UK agencies to ensure optimum portfolio delivery and consult on the efficacy, scheduling and creative of campaigns in line with business objectives and clients’ interests.• Managed a high performing Newspaper Inserts and Leaflets team and formulated an effective sales strategy to govern 320 national and regional newspaper titles that delivered a 5% YOY revenue growth on the back of falling circulations.• Up-scaled operations of London, Manchester, Coventry, and Scotland Sales departments via effective reorganisation and training of a large multi-cultural team, enabling processes improvements and high standard of service delivery across the vast portfolio.• Directed the prompt preparation of comprehensive budgets and forecasts, setting of personnel targets, and drove business growth and profitability through the introduction of an incentive programme that motivated and rewarded high performers within the team.• Appraised the sales team’s performance and coordinated training and mentorship initiatives to instil skills in delivering high quality sales material and high-end customer service.• Represented the DMA at diverse expos, seminars and events 2 years in a row, and regularly delivered educational agency presentations to promote the inserts medium and Amra portfolio.

Central St Giles, Covent Garden

Outlined procedures to drive growth objectives and advised key agency clients including Argos, Rolex, Homebase, 3-Mobile and KC regarding brand campaign and media investment strategies, as well as campaign evaluation to ensure that service standards and targets were achieved according to KPI’s.• Officiated regular strategy reviews with clients to deliberate on the delivery of new audience channels, media partners, market insight, and potential new routes to market to enhance client brand awareness and market growth.• Conducted thorough analysis on existing trends and advertising opportunities to enable the development of effective pricing models, negotiated with media partners to secure prices 10-20% below the market, successfully maximising clients’ revenues and exceeding of audit targets.• Led the negotiation of the pricing and quality contract of the Home Retail Group press investment, attaining a 12% cost saving relative to market charges on a £25M annual budget and ensured successful delivery year-on-year for five years.• Contributed significantly to Argos becoming the third-largest client within the UK press sector and manged the press campaign investment for new product launches from Rolex, Jaguar, Ford and Volvo with full oversight of business operations and contracts.• Managed an inserts portfolio worth £20M across the entire agency and guided clients on effective implementation of best work practices and optimisation of campaign outcomes.• Built and maintained relationships with key publishing traders and existing/prospective clients to promote positive business relations and networking for future contract opportunities.

• Direct response press planner and buyer on accounts in numerous sectors: retail, charity, finance and consumer.• Overseeing client expenditure in press and direct response related channels for maximum ROI.

Ba Hons, Corporate Communication, 2:1

Education record

GCSE, A-Levels