Client Gathering 2017 Speakers

Andrew Griffith

Group Chief Operating Officer, Sky

Andrew Griffith was appointed Group Chief Operating Officer in March 2016 and is a Board Director of the Sky Group plc. In addition to his role as Chief Finance Officer he is responsible for the group’s overall future growth plans as well as the group’s advertising businesses across Europe, including AdSmart. Andrew joined the Company in 1999 from Rothschild, the investment banking organisation, where he provided financial and strategic advice to corporate clients in the technology, media and telecommunications sector. Andrew held a number of senior finance roles prior to his appointment as CFO in 2008. He has a Law degree from Nottingham University and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Dr Max Roser

Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

Max studies the long-term evolution of living standards around the world. He publishes his work through open-access web publications and through academic journals. In 2011 he started his web publication OurWorldInData.org which tells the social, economic, and environmental history of our world up to the present day. Another web publication focuses on how economic inequality has changed over the last 100 years in 30 countries. Max’s research is concerned with inclusive and sustainable growth. Max has done consultancy work for institutions such as the World Bank and the Global Fund and his work has been reported in leading global news publications.

Richard Dobbs

Senior Partner, McKinsey

Richard serves McKinsey clients around the world in a variety of industries, ranging from high-tech and financial services to petroleum, utilities, and the public sector. From 2009-2016, Richard served as a senior partner of the McKinsey Global Institute based in Seoul and then London. Richard has led research on global economic trends, including capital markets, urbanisation and infrastructure, natural resources, productivity and growth, the rise of emerging economies, and the economic impact of obesity. Richard is a frequent speaker at international conferences and is an associate fellow of the Said Business School at Oxford University.

Mark Stone

Europe Correspondent, Sky News

Mark is Sky News’ Europe Correspondent, based in Brussels. Previous to this Mark was Sky’s Asia Correspondent for three years. Mark joined Sky as a producer in 2005 and switched to reporting in 2007. Mark has covered a huge variety of stories with Sky including the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the ethnic clashes in Burma and the 2011 London riots. He played a central role in Sky News’ coverage of the European migrant crisis, reporting extensively from all the countries affected by the greatest test for Europe since WW2. Before joining Sky, Mark spent three years as a producer for America’s ABC News.

Andrea Zappia

Chief Executive Officer, Sky Italia

Andrea Zappia was appointed CEO of Sky Italia in 2011. Last year he also took responsibility for Sports across the Group, leading the overall development of Sky’s sports business. Prior to Sky Italia Andrea was Managing Director of the Customer Group at Sky, overseeing the UK sales, marketing and customer operations teams. Andrea joined Sky Italia in 2003, as Vice President, Marketing, Promotion and Business Development. Before joining Sky Italia, Andrea held roles at Fila, Ferrari and Maserati. He started his career at Procter & Gamble where he worked as European Group Marketing Manager.

Andrew Olson

Executive Vice President Strategic Innovation at Sky

Andrew joined Sky as Director of Product Planning & Design in 2012. He was responsible for the design and development of Sky Q, Sky’s next-generation TV platform. Before joining Sky, Andrew was Chief Operating Officer at Comcast within its Converged Products Group. In this role, he helped lead Comcast’s programme to deliver the The X1 Platform™ for the XFINITY® TV Service. He joined Comcast after it acquired thePlatform, an online video management and publishing company, which he co-founded. Andrew has an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a degree in Voice from Musician’s Institute of Technology in California.

Hardy Koth

Co-founder and Executive Board Member, Vocatus

Hardy served as a member of the Management Team of Booz Allen Hamilton then co-founded Vocatus, a leading behavioural economics consultancy, in 1999.  Hardy’s wide-ranging experience in successfully implementing behavioural economic strategies derives from a multitude of projects particularly in the areas of telecommunications, media and internet. He is also the co-author of articles and books on behavioural economics including the Harvard Business Manager (2013) and The Irrational Customer (2014). Hardy received his MBA and MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago. Vocatus has received several awards for its innovative studies.

Barnaby Dawe

Chief Marketing Officer, Just Eat

Appointed CMO in early 2015, Barnaby leads on Just Eat’s global marketing strategy. Prior to joining the Executive team at Just Eat, he spent over 15 years leading the marketing strategies for some of the UK’s most iconic brands, including Sky, Channel 4, Heart FM, and The Sun and The Times newspapers. His most recent appointment was as Chief Marketing Officer at HarperCollins Publishers, and has been consulting a range of retail and e-commerce brands to drive growth through marketing, brand and digital strategies. Barnaby holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Russian from the University of Bristol.

Marcello Maggioni

Chief Commercial Officer, Sky Deutschland

Marcello oversees Sky Deutschland’s customer and revenue-related areas (Customer Group, Product Strategy & Management, Sky Media). Prior to taking up this role last year Marcello was Managing Director of the Consumer Business Unit at Vodafone Deutschland. From 2008 to 2014 he worked at Sky Deutschland, and previously worked at Sky Italia for four years as head of new customer acquisition, then as Marketing Director. Marcello began his career at Mars as Marketing Director for Italy and ultimately all of Europe. He holds a degree in Business Administration (International Marketing) from Bocconi University in Milan.

Bob Hoffman

‘The Ad Contrarian’, Former CEO Hoffman/Lewis

Bob is the author of the popular Ad Contrarian blog and has written several books including 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising, which became an Amazon best-seller. He’s been the CEO of two independent ad agencies and the US operation of an international agency. He’s created advertising for McDonald’s, Toyota, Pepsico, Bank of America, AT&T … and more companies than he cares to think about. In 2012 he was selected Ad Person of the Year by the San Francisco Advertising Club. In recent months, Bob has spoken at events in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and all over the US. The Wall Street Journal says Bob is “caustic yet truthful”. Time calls him “fabulously irreverent”.

Rachel Swift

Head of Marketing, Brand, John Lewis

Rachel started her career in 1994 as a graduate trainee for advertising agency Bates Dorland. Rachel then moved to M&C Saatchi in Melbourne in 2000 before returning to the UK in 2002 to work for Marks & Spencer as a Marketing Manager. Rachel joined John Lewis as Head of Marketing for Fashion and Beauty in 2011 and quickly launched Somerset by Alice Temperley, the brand’s most successful fashion launch. Rachel then moved to Brand where she was responsible for bringing to life the Bear & Hare across multiple channels as well as the launch of Monty the Penguin, John Lewis’ most famous Christmas campaign to date.

Rachel Bristow

Director of Client Partnerships & Collaboration, Sky Media

Rachel joined Sky Media in 2014 in the newly created position of Director of Partnerships, with a remit to develop content, data and advertiser partnerships. She also oversees Sky Media’s marketing, communications, training and development teams. Prior to her current role she worked for Unilever for nine years culminating in the role of VP Global Media Data & Analytics, responsible for developing the global media data strategy and establishing the first global data management platform. Previously at Unilever Rachel was Marketing Comms & Buying Director, with responsibility for the UK & Ireland media investment across 30 brands in 11 different categories.

Jack Whitehall

Comedian

Jack is an award-winning comedian, writer, and regular panellist on Sky 1’s A League Of Their Own.  Jack won the People’s Choice Award for the King of Comedy at the 2012, 2013 and 2014 British Comedy Awards. He’s received critical acclaim for his acting roles and created school-based sitcom Bad Education, which concluded in 2014 after three series before being adapted as a movie in 2015. Jack hosted 2015’s Royal Variety Performance, the youngest performer in the history of the show to do so. In 2013 Jack released his first book, Him & Me. Written with his father Michael Whitehall, Him & Me is an irreverent account of a unique relationship between a father and son.

Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff

Former England cricketer

A team captain on Sky 1’s A League Of Their Own, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff MBE is considered one of the best cricketers in the world. Representing Lancashire and Chennai Super Kings, before retiring in 2010 he had achieved 138 One Day International caps for England. Freddie was part of the famous 2005 Ashes’ winning team who beat Australia on home soil, later receiving the ICC Player of the Year and BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards. Freddie is also the proud holder of 14 Guinness World Records gained during a Sport Relief challenge in 2012. They include most party poppers popped in one minute (52!) and most peas eaten with a cocktail stick in 30 seconds (38!).

Boyd Hilton

Entertainment Director, Heat

Boyd is a journalist, author, film critic and broadcaster. He combines being TV & reviews editor of Heat magazine with regular appearances on TV and radio, discussing latest TV shows plus new books and movie releases. Boyd is the author with Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Inside Little Britain, the book that lifted the lid on the classic TV comedy. Boyd also writes for The Guardian and Observer, and produces his own podcast, Footballistically Arsenal. Boyd is a frequent host at BAFTA and Royal Television Society panel events, and hosts Apple’s Meet The Film-maker podcasts.

David Rowan

Editor-at-Large, Wired UK

David was Editor-in-Chief of Wired UK, the award-winning technology and trends magazine, for nearly eight years after its launch. Before launching the magazine in the UK David reported on technology for The Times and Channel 4 News. His role at Wired has put him in touch with many of the world’s leading trend-setters and spotters. He travels the world searching out the latest apps, gadgets and businesses. He’s visited cutting-edge R&D departments in China, universities in Russia, and start-ups in Israel. He studies all the things that are, or soon will be changing business, culture and every aspect of our lives from AI to VR.

Nicki Brown

Advertising Controller, Argos

As Advertising Controller, Nicki is responsible for investment that supports Argos’ business strategy and delivery of company performance as well as developing the Argos brand. She has deep experience in delivering award-winning innovation: Argos was the first retailer to make a ‘Shazam-able’ TV ad in 2012 to drive app downloads; Argos’ partnerships with Twitter and YouTube have won several industry awards. Nicki joined Argos in 2007 as Advertising Manager and become Advertising Controller in 2014. Before Argos she worked in senior marketing roles at MFI, and before that was in planning at ZenithOptimedia. 

Karen Blackett OBE

Chairwoman, MediaCom

Business leader and champion of diversity, Karen is the former CEO and current Chairwoman of MediaCom, the largest media agency in the UK whose clients include Sky, Tesco, GSK, Coca Cola, CRUK, Centrepoint, Audi, DFS and the Metropolitan Police. Starting out at CIA MediaNetwork, Karen eventually joined Zenith Media as a Senior Communications Planner and Buyer working on the prestigious BT account. After being head-hunted by The Media Business Group, she was soon promoted to the Board of Directors of the newly merged MediaCom and The Media Business Group Board. After a series of promotions she was appointed CEO in 2011.

Jamie West

Deputy Managing Director, Sky Media & Group Director of Advance Advertising, Sky PLC

With over 20 years of TV and online sales experience, Jamie heads-up the team responsible for the development of emerging advertising opportunities at Sky Media. Central to this role was the creation of AdSmart, Sky’s pioneering addressable advertising capability. At Sky Media, Jamie leads the sales and commercial teams for online, mobile, video and AdSmart. Jamie also leads Sky’s advanced advertising strategy across the group. His career path has taken him from ITV to Channel 5 to Viacom Brand Solutions and now to the world’s largest multi-channel sales house, Sky Media.

Martin Brundle

Sky Sports F1 pundit

Martin started his racing career at 12, driving a self-built car. He signed with Eddie Jordan’s fledgling team in 1984; one of his first races was against the mighty Ayrton Senna in Formula 3, where he held the Championship right up until the final lap, helping to elevate his team to the heights of Formula One. Martin was 1988 World Sportscar Champion and won the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He embarked on his TV career in 1997 as a commentator for ITV Sport. He moved to the BBC in 2009 then joined Sky Sports F1 in 2012. Martin is a former Chairman of the British Racing Drivers’ Club.

Tamsin Greenway

Director Of Netball, Wasps Netball

A decorated coach and former England international, Tamsin was appointed Director of Netball at Wasps last June. Tamsin took the helm after coaching Surrey Storm to a second successive Superleague title in 2016. Tamsin was previously coach of the England under-21 team. She competed in three World Cups and one Commonwealth Games, and won back-to-back national elite Superleague titles with Storm. Before Storm, Tamsin played with the Queensland Firebirds in the Australasian ANZ Championship in 2008 and 2009. Before that she played for TeamBath, winning the Superleague titles in 2006 and 2007. 

Nasser Hussain OBE

Sky Sports pundit

One of England’s most recognisable and popular cricket players, Nasser achieved huge success as a batsman at both county and international level. Nasser was appointed as Vice Captain of England to Micheal Atherton in 1996, and then to Alec Stewart in the season of 1998. Finally, in June 1999, Nasser was appointed England Captain after 39 tests and won four consecutive Test series. Nasser retired in the summer of 2004 and joined the Sky Sports commentary team soon afterwards. At Sky Sports Nasser gives his expert views during England tests and One Day Internationals all over the world.

Gianluca Vialli

Sky Italia TV pundit

A regular face on Sky Italia’s football coverage, Gianluca enjoyed a football playing career that spanned two decades. He played for Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea as well as the Italian national squad, appearing in two World Cups. At Chelsea he became player manager in 1998 then retired as a player to focus on full-time management at Chelsea, and later at Watford FC. Gianluca is author of a best-selling book, The Italian Job, which examines the difference between English and Italian football. He is also co-founder of Tifosy, a crowdfunding website that helps fans invest in the football clubs they love.

Claire Williams OBE

Deputy Team Principal, Williams F1

Claire grew up in motor racing and joined the family business full time in 2002 in the role of Communications Officer. She became Head of Communications in 2010 then, after Williams floated on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2011, also became Head of Investor Relations. A year later she was appointed Director of Marketing and Communications, and took a place on the company board. She became Deputy Team Principal in 2013, working alongside Founder and Team Principal Sir Frank Williams. Last year Claire was appointed Vice President of the Spinal Injuries Association.

Barney Francis

Managing Director, Sky Sports

Barney Francis was appointed Managing Director, Sky Sports in 2009. He is responsible for Sky Sports output across six sports channels including Sky Sports News HD, as well as online and mobile content. He joined Sky in 1999, and has since produced a range of live coverage, support programming and sports news content. As Sky’s executive producer for cricket for six years, Barney was responsible for Sky’s first exclusively live coverage of England’s domestic Tests, before moving on to Premier League and UEFA Champions League production.

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