Planning Director, Ogilvy Group UK

John is a well travelled planner, originally from Scotland, who is currently responsible for the planning function for Ogilvy in UK and EAME.

John read History at Oxford, almost all of which he has forgotten. He started his career at the AC Nielsen Company before training as a planner at JWT London. He subsequently worked on the client side with Mars and in direct marketing with Evans Hunt Scott before working with the Y&R Group for several years.

Early in 1996 John moved to Portland, Oregon as the global planning director on Microsoft at Wieden + Kennedy. Over the next seven years he worked on most of the agency’s major clients such as Nike and Coca-Cola, and had a spell in the London office.

In 2003 John joined Ogilvy in Hong Kong from where he travelled all over Asia Pacific running a large planning group, as well as helping to win business from clients such as Disney, Coca-Cola, and Johnson & Johnson, returning to Europe in 2006.

He is a runner, golfer, and wine drinker and is married with two daughters and a feisty and equally well travelled Staffordshire Bull Terrier.