Mark Cross is a strategic leader with over 20 years of experience in marketing and communications roles across both public and private sectors. He is currently the Communications Planning Director at the Central Office of Information, where he has delivered transformational change and raised performance standards. Prior to this role, he held senior leadership positions such as Chief Executive and Managing Director at media agencies, where he grew businesses and profitability. He also has experience providing strategic consultancy through his own firm, mc2 Consultancy.

1. MARK CROSS
Orchard House, The Orchard, Codicote, SG4 8PY
Home Telephone: 01438 821743 Mobile: 07887 982635
Email: mark@mc2.me.uk
PROFILE
A strategic leader with broad experience across public and private sectors and a track record of delivering
leadership, original visionary thinking and transformational performance.
Evidenced by the development a wide array of high impact initiatives in the most challenging areas of
marketing organisation and practice.
Exceptional perspectives on cultural change in the media and communications industries.
Mark is a Senior Civil Servant, a Fellow of the IPA, with over twenty years of private and public sector board
experience.
CAREER HISTORY
Nov 2007 to present: CENTRAL OFFICE OF INFORMATION, Communications Planning Director
Delivered transformational thinking and new strategic capabilities for the government’s centre of marketing
excellence in a new age of marketing and strategic leadership before and during a perfect storm of change and
disruption as the organisation faced re-invention under a new coalition government.
Jan 2004 to Nov 2007: mc2 CONSULTANCY, Chairman
Established board-level marketing and media consultancy.
Secured industry significant contracts for clients such as RAJAR, IPA, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, rightmove.
June 1999-December 2003: PHD COMPASS, Chief Executive
Full P&L responsibility. Led the company successfully through both a ‘bear’ and ‘bull’ marketplace.
January 1996-June 1999: PHD COMPASS, Managing Director
Conceived, launched and established new joint-venture media company. Clients included Thornton’s/ Body
Shop/McCain Foods/ Aga Group/Norwich Union Group/Flextech Television.
April 1993-December 1995: COGENT ELLIOT GROUP, Group Media Director
Led the media operation as one of six group board members of integrated agency group. Clients included
Vauxhall/ ICI/COI/Do It All/Jewson.
January 1990-March 1993: YOUNG & RUBICAM LTD, Joint Media Director
Developed a leading media department within a top advertising agency, sitting on the management board of
the full service multi-national agency at the age of just 29.
December 1988-December 1999: YOUNG & RUBICAM LTD, Planning Director
Managed client relationships and teams across £60m of billing. Clients included British Gas/COI/Kraft General
Foods/Heinz/Rank Xerox/AEG/Legal&General/Mirror Group Newspapers.
April 1986-December 1988: YOUNG & RUBICAM LTD,Group Manager/Media Supervisor
September 1983-March 1986: DMB&B, Media Planner/Buyer/Trainee
MAJOR BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENTS
Central Office of Information
• Joined the Board in a new role to drive up the planning standards of the organisation and its’ agencies and in so
doing acted as a catalyst for transformational thinking and organisational re-design for government marketing in a
new age of marketing. Delivered an organisational blueprint for change through a detailed comms planning
agenda and set an industry agenda for integration and collaboration. Established R&D resource and developed
new strategic standards and interventions.
• Raised the performance and capability of the organisation through establishing a programme of thought
leadership, a new in house planning team, and a new “outcome planning” approach rooted in behaviourial theory
and practice. Set a new holistic evaluation standard across heads of government marketing and a new body of
case study work that supported it. Also redefined the requirements of government marketing from agency
frameworks through a new design structure.
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2. MARK CROSS
• By January 2010 took responsibility for the full strategy team of 60 management consultants with a fee income of
over £9m, and the newly created evaluation team. Was a key architect of a new multi-channel media buying
contract won by WPP and establishing a bespoke media company for government in M4C.
• Key architect in re-shaping the value of marketing and re-setting the organisational purpose in the perfect storm
which followed the election of the coalition intent on pursuing a radical dogma and addressing the deficit
including the imposition of a marketing freeze. Reframed the role of marketing in this new paradigm creating a
perspective that was used across Directors of Comms/Heads of Marketing. Key support for the CEO in defining a
new model for government communications including new approaches for partnerships and a new social good
concept which countered the administration’s desire to replicate a US Ad Council Model in the UK. Much of this
work established the principles behind the Matt Tee Review of Government Communications, commissioned by the
Secretary of State and published in March 2011.
• Given the dramatic impact of new government policy on marketing expenditure, the COI had to reduce its head
count by 40% down to 450 by November 2010 through a 90 day redundancy programme. This difficult task was
professionally completed and out of this phase I was given more responsibility across the Strategy, Planning
Evaluation and Media resource and implemented a new integrated resource structure including multi-skilled
capability hubs for planning and media /behaviour change/evaluation and partnerships.
• In all of the uncertainty, the Secretary of State has approved the development of the ground breaking evaluation
system and resource capability to support the driving up of efficiency and effectiveness across all government
communications activity. This has been fully specified following a tendering process with Brand Science the
successful bidder, and included a full engagement across government departments. Mark is the senior responsible
officer for that project which promises a market transforming leap in evaluation practice.
mc2 Consultancy
• Contracted by the IPA to develop the business, launch and marketing plan for the groundbreaking IPA TouchPoints
Survey and initiative which offers the industry a new planning framework to support integrated planning in a multi-
media age. Launched in 2006 to great acclaim and global recognition responsible for commercial, sales and
marketing and secured well in excess of £1million funding pre launch of Survey One and secured the funding for 2007
survey which was published in 2008. IPA TouchPoints is acknowledged as the most significant industry research
development in many years, and has subsequently been franchised into several international markets.
• Established dedicated TouchPoints support company, Informed Marketing and provided expert training provision and
key customer support to subscribers, including all the top 20 media agencies and a number of subscriber media
organisations, such as ITV, Associated Newspapers and AOL.
• Appointed by the world-wide strategy board of Saatchi and Saatchi in 2005 to conduct a full audit and strategic
recommendation into how the agency should improve its capability to respond to the shifting media and
communications environment worldwide. Conducted a multi-market audit of current practice in 2006 across US /UK
and Far East markets, culminating in a comprehensive change and resource agenda into the Worldwide Board. It was
a significant contribution to the agency’s worldwide re-invention programme in some of the most challenging areas of
an advertising agency network’s development.
• Appointed by RAJAR board to conduct industry-wide customer consultation and assist in effecting the transition to a
new audience measurement system in a digital age engaging over 200 people across sectors and functions of the
radio industry. Work across 2004 and 2005 included a full strategic plan for its future development presented to the
RAJAR board and a projection of the radio marketplace and environment in 2012.
• Other clients include a content production company, Posterscope the biggest poster buying company, on adding
value to their processes, a board review for rightmove, the category leading web portal and top 10 UK site, a political
party, and various other assignments.
PHD Compass
• Tripling income between launch and 2000, achieving a 26% PBT by 2000 having delivered over £4m of shareholder
benefits over the period.
• Restructured, repositioned and profitably managed the company through the worst ever advertising recession.
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• Developed strong team structures; new business strategies; product improvements, client management processes
and innovative pricing policies.
• Established the company as a successful joint venture subsidiary within larger PHD Media Group (owned by
Omnicom), and recognised by several industry awards.
• Achieved strong financial performance in early years of company, breaking-even in year one and into good profit
by year two.
• Close involvement in the transition to a new BARB contract from 2002 as the IPA’s representative on the BARB board
since 2000.
Cogent Elliot Group
• Developed the skills and capabilities of the media function which subsequently won several media-only contracts
and established itself as a profit centre within the group.
• Significantly contributed into the Group strategy and development, and subsequently initiating the joint venture
strategy with PHD for its media business which delivered substantial shareholder returns.
Young & Rubicam Ltd.
• Head of department managing a staff team of over 50, responsible for the payroll and budget. Department was a
key profit centre for the agency.
• Strong reputation affirmed by Media Agency of the Year in 1991.
• Client management skills acknowledged by rapid promotion and growing client responsibilities.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
BSc(Hons) Management Sciences (Marketing) Lancaster University 1980-1983
Royal Navy Graduated BRNC Dartmouth 1979-1980
3 A Levels St. Brendan’s College 1969-1979
3 O/A Levels Bristol
11 O Levels
Fellow of the IPA.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Date of Birth 10/10/1960 Married with children.
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