Manchester-based digital marketing start-up The Media Octopus has recruited former McDowall and LBM chief Andrew Colwell as head of strategy to spearhead the firm’s drive to be one of the UK’s leading customer acquisition agencies.
At McDowall, Colwell was instrumental in setting up the Customer Acquisition Barometer 2014, in partnership with The DMA. The study is a benchmark twin-track research programme and report for senior business decision-makers involved in securing new customers, which explores both marketer and consumer experiences.
He left McDowall two months ago; the firm has since been bought out by a management team after owner Graham Bate left the business.
Colwell was the marketing director at LBM (now Convergys) during its period of rapid growth in the mid-2000s, growing turnover from £8m to £55m in 5 years, before being part of the exit management team that sold the business for £50m in 2007. He then went on to run his own agency, where his clients included O2, Bang & Olufsen and Royal SunAlliance.
He said: “What The Media Octopus has achieved in less than a year of its operation is phenomenal. They already work with some major UK brands, and in such a short amount of time have established themselves as trusted independent agency in the North West.
“The opportunity to take a leading regional player and develop them in to a recognised national force was one not to be missed. I’m genuinely excited to get on board. Not only do they have the vision, but uniquely, they have the talent and ambition to become the UK’s leading customer acquisition agency.”
The Media Octopus’ head of agency Richard Wood added: “It’s amazing that as a company we’ve matured and grown in such a short period of time to the point where we’ve been able to attract someone of Andrew’s immense experience and calibre. Coupled with recent client wins plus new and planned staff acquisitions, this is a very exciting quarter for TMO.
“Our goal as an agency is to work with clients that excite us and that we feel we can provide a real quality service to. Andrew helps us attract those clients while also improving our offering to them as an agency. He is a great addition to an already very talented and rapidly growing team.”
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