Our Team
We work as a Flock and celebrate our diversity of experience, style, and personality. Our ways of working are inclusive bringing the best from our experienced team.
- All
- APAC
- EMEA
- UK
- USA
John Helstrip
Consultant
John is a highly skilled Executive Team member, Board Advisor and Certified Chair with a strong background in technology, product strategy and delivery, digital transformation and marketing technology. John has led Technology globally within large corporate environments in addition to co-founding, launching, scaling and managing start-up businesses. On the marketing side having run campaigns across TV, press, digital, OOH, and radio. A passion for developing the strategies and solutions needed to thrive in a rapidly changing digital market. John is a collaborative communicator who builds strong relationships with clients, executive leadership, and key stakeholders to create strategies that unite the organization and accomplish goals.
Rupert Simonds-Gooding
Senior Consultant
Rupert is passionate about making seemingly complex things work smoothly and efficiently. He offers a wealth of experience in auditing, assessing and ultimately improving Marketing processes.
He has spent most of his career in leading creative agencies and was M&C Saatchi Group Creative Services Director until 2015; whilst at the agency he was also Chairman of the IPA Creative Services Group from 2008-2011.
Since leaving the agency his time has been spent as a Marketing Operations Consultant with both agencies and clients alike, across multiple business sectors both in the UK and Ireland.
During his career he has worked with multiple brands, both locally and globally, including HSBC, Three Ireland, Hewlett Packard and BBC World Service in recent years.
In his free time Rupert is passionate about sport, both as a competitor and spectator. He also can often be found fishing or swimming in the sea, rivers and lakes in South West Ireland when he is not working.
Gerard Ward
Marketing Consultant
Gerard is a global content expert with a deep understanding of marketing, advertising, and multi-channel content creation. A strategic thinker he’s worked with some of the world’s best brands, and agencies including Saatchi, Ogilvy, JWT and Tag. He works closely with clients helping them realise their ambitions by building bespoke global content models tailored to their immediate and future needs. Whether restructuring creative departments, launching content studios, or building and running the USA region for the world’s biggest content agency, Gerard builds networks that are dynamic and scalable, with clear process and governance: built to deliver great creative thinking, sustainable growth, and improved ROI.
Allen Singer
Consultant
Allen uses his decades of experience in operations, specializing in helping large organizations adapt and transform their operations and strategy that span marketing, media agency, creative agency, and publishers.
Allen’s expertise with numbers and process are a long way from his start as an Art Director. That road included stints as EVP Director of Operations at Grey Healthcare Group, SVP Director of Operations at Zenith Media, and 4 lead operations roles at three different holding companies. In industries like pharma, adtech, medical devices, banking, and telecommunications for world class companies and brands, Verizon, Chase, Sonic, Darden, Pfizer, GSK, Integral AdScience.
Allen explored his deep understanding of the intersection between agencies, brands, and vendors, developing operating models that ease the messiness of the marketing ecosystem while enabling teams to create their magic. He holds credentials like Certified Scrum Master (SCM), Certified Product Owner, and Certified SAFe Agilist
Allen still carries the curiosity and creativity that launched his agency career as a creative. From his experiences cycling through Italy, as an exhibited photographer, and through work in South Africa building a Habitat for Humanity home, Allen shows the power of an unconventional thinker.
Nick Bonney
Senior Consultant
Nick started Deep Blue Thinking in 2018, having previously led ABA Research as Managing Director.
Nick has over 25 years experience in the research industry and brings a unique client side perspective having led the insight function at Orange, M&S, EE and The National Lottery. Nick was made a Fellow of the Market Research Society in 2018.
Deep Blue Thinking have just been nominated for the MRS Independent Consultant Award for the second time in three years.
Drew Noble
DAM Consultant
Drew is an Digital Asset Management (DAM) Solution Architect and Consultant who has been delivering DAM projects since 2007.
Drew takes pride in bridging the technology-business divide, with good communication skills at both the business and technical levels. Drew has a great understanding of business needs and the requirements gathering process, translating them into technical solution designs, and delivering/developing the technical solution.
Outside of DAM project delivery, Drew is a PADI Scuba Instructor, and loves nothing more than introducing people to the amazing world under the sea, and furthering their diving journey.
Guy Abrahams
Marketing Consultant
With over 30 years in strategy roles in creative and media agencies, I was most recently at Zenith as Global Strategy Lead on pitches and key clients. As a strategy lead was responsible for devising and deploying new media operation models reflecting the changing digital landscape to ensure global strategy was translated into better local execution. As an industry thought leader, I have also spoken at client and industry conferences locally and globally including Eurobest, Dubai Lynx, Cannes Festival of Creativity, DMEXCO and the IAA World Kremlin Congress in addition to judging numerous awards including Festival of Media Awards, M&M Awards, Global & UK Effies. Once ranked top 10 Best Media Thinkers by Campaign UK, I am known as a multi award winner with a reputation as an effective creative thinker and the founder of the London Vermouth Company.
John Partridge
Marketing Consultant
John began his career at Dorland Advertising as Media Planner/Buyer in 1979, spending 13 years in full service Agencies with the last 8 years at McCann Erickson as a Media Group Director on the board of the Agency working on accounts Black & Decker, Esso, NS&I, Cathay Pacific and Martini.
He then joined the Sales Department of Sky Television. At Sky he was responsible for a Sales Group selling to major media buying agencies and managing the sales for the launch of Nickelodeon – a joint venture between Sky and Viacom. That role developed into acting as the Commercial Director for Nickelodeon.
In mid 1995 he was appointed as the launch Deputy Managing Director of the Paramount Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central), he was made MD in April 1996. He managed all aspects of the channel for the first six years of its existence and led the team that launched and managed Paramount Comedy Espana achieving profitability for both channels during his tenure.
After spending a year on gardening leave, i.e. fishing all over the world, he was engaged as a consultant to set up an online gambling operation for Harrah’s Entertainment.
Since that time he has consulted for major media companies and advertisers in the UK and Europe. Media companies such as Viacom, News International and IPC Media (Time Inc.) and advertisers such as Unilever, Associated British Foods, Eurostar and IKEA helping with such things as structure, system builds, transformation and pitch management.
When not at work enjoys being tormented by Everton, Somerset and Bath, fly fishing and French builders.
Maarten Albarda
Senior Consultant
Katie Szumowski
Marketing Consultant
Katie is an accomplished marketing and media professional with extensive experience in the telecommunications and entertainment industries within both the general and multi-cultural markets.
Her work at Verizon, Turner Broadcasting and Vonage has been focused on all aspects of digital including media, technology, creative & customer experience; traditional media; general marketing strategy and brand advertising. She has been a leader of innovation and contributes her ongoing success to staying on the forefront of innovation as well as her commitment to the use of data, analytics and testing in her decision making & strategy development. During her eighteen-year tenure at Verizon, Katie helped lead the brand to become one of the largest and most innovative cross-platform advertisers. She has also been deeply involved with developing accelerator programs designed to educate entrepreneurs and enable them to build innovative media businesses.
Katie is a graduate of The Ohio State University and is an avid tennis player, reader and sports fan. She also enjoys mentoring and connecting college students & graduates on opportunities within the marketing and media communities.
Chris Pointon
Product & Tech Consultant
An internet entrepreneur and technologist, Chris has worked in areas including mobile and desktop apps for major brands, massively multiplayer games, and social media management systems.
He has been technical co-founder of six companies. Two exited, two are still operating, and two were “learning experiences”.
Chris has a BEng in Computer & Electronic Engineering and is a Fellow of the RSA.