BILL GRIFFIN

Bill started his career at Ogilvy advertising, where he worked for three years as an account handler, having graduated from Durham University with a degree in English.

He followed Ogilvy with a two year spell at the agency St Luke’s, before joining Channel 4 where he worked for six years, rising to Head of Marketing.

After this he was the Managing Director of Kiss 100 FM, overseeing a complete overhaul of the station, its content, branding and distribution.

Thereafter Bill spent two years as the Strategy Partner of Rapier Advertising, now owned by CHI & Partners.

More recently Bill was Marketing Director at Comedy Central, part of Viacom Inc.

He is the founder of Crowdwish, a creative project which allows people to anonymously post their hopes, dreams and desires via an app. Crowdwish had users everywhere, and is in development as a TV format. Bill has written a book about the project, published

by Little Brown and picked up by publishers all over the world.

He is currently Executive Creative Director of Comic Relief.

He lives in West London with his girlfriend and his two daughters.

Executive Creative Director, Comic Relief 2017 - Present

Comic Relief

•Joined Comic Relief in 2017, as Executive Creative Director, working with Richard Curtis and the BBC on the annual fundraising event

•Leading a team of 40, I am responsible for advertising, branding, content, digital, social, press & publicity, audience insight and corporate development

•In a challenging economic context, the organisation has raised in excess of £100m during my time there and multiple new income streams have been introduced

•Re-energised the BBC1 broadcast with specials of The Bodyguard, Four Weddings and a Funeral, People Just Do Nothing and Mamma Mia

•Launched numerous digital initiatives including podcasts, membership and partnerships with BBC Radio 1 and 2

•Oversaw fresh merchandising and retail partnerships with Sainsbury’s, TK Maxx, KFC and others

•Strengthened team with new hires in key roles

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Founder and Creative Director, Crowdwish 2013 - 2017

Crowdwish

•Incubated by Karmarama/Accenture Interactive, Crowdwish was a mobile first social network

•Project for social good, helping members of the public get closer to their most cherished hope, ambition or desire

•Little Brown UK published a book about Crowdwish in 2017 and it was then picked up by publishers in multiple territories, from Italy to Taiwan

•The project had a reach of hundreds of thousands and has received press all over the world. It is currently in development as a TV format in Los Angeles

•Delivered talks on Crowdwish to diverse audiences; from inner city primary schools to businesses like Google and Twitter

VP Marketing, Comedy Central 2010 - 2012

Viacom, Inc

•Appointed to oversee brand development and promotion of Comedy Central as VP, Marketing

•Responsible for the branding, communications strategy, press and publicity activity and a!liate relationships with Sky and Virgin Media

•Introduction of new channel identity boosted spontaneous awareness by 67%

•Acquisiton of Friends from Warner Bros grew channel’s 16-34 ratings by 35%

•Strengthened team and removed costs by bringing creative development and production in-house

•Copywriter for the Comedy Central’s on and o" air communication campaigns

Strategy Partner, Rapier 2007 - 2010

Rapier

• As strategy partner, managed planning and data teams

• Re-articulated the agency’s integrated positioning in a fast changing and competitive environment

• Led pitches which created over £100m in incremental billings over a two year period

• Clients won included Lloyds Banking Group, B&Q and Heat magazine

• During my time there Rapier was awarded direct Agency of the Decade by Campaign Magazine

Managing Director, Kiss 100 2005 - 2007

Kiss 100

• Rejuvenated brand after a period of under-investment

• Wholesale change on air with fresh DJs in every major timeslot

• Oversaw acquisition of two out of London FM stations which were rebranded Kiss to enhance ad sales proposition

• Accelerated digital distribution strategy via DAB, mobile, Kiss TV and live events

• Rebranded network with new visual identity which was awarded a D&AD Pencil

• Laid foundations for commercial revitalisation and took the station closer to its nearest rival - Capital FM - than at any other time in its history

Kiss 100 increased listeners by 9.1% to 1.4 million, while the network as a whole attracted 2.9 million listeners in the fourth quarter. Kiss 100 in London remains the number one station for 15 to 34-year-olds.

Griffin’s resignation in December last year to move into agency land came as a blow to bosses who described him as a “fantastic visionary”.

Kiss 100 increased listeners by 9.1% to 1.4 million, while the network as a whole attracted 2.9 million listeners in the fourth quarter. Kiss 100 in London remains the number one station for 15 to 34-year-olds.

Griffin’s resignation in December last year to move into agency land came as a blow to bosses who described him as a “fantastic visionary”.

Head of Marketing, Channel 4 1999 - 2005

Channel 4

• Joined channel as Marketing Manager for sport and factual programming, before being promoted to Head of Marketing, overseeing the promotion of all Channel 4’s content

• Led the team and managed £18m budget to launch numerous integrated campaigns including Big Brother, Sex and the City, Da Ali G Show and Jamie’s School Dinners

• Working with rights holders, oversaw marketing and live events to promote Test Match Cricket

• Introduced award-winning new on and o" air channel identity

• In 2005 Channel 4 was named both Advertiser of the Year and Medium of the Year by Campaign Magazine

• In total the team won eleven D&AD Pencils during my time there, including two golds

St Luke’s and Ogilvy 1997 - 1999

St Lukes and Ogilvy Advertising

• The initial years of my career were spent at the ad agencies Ogilvy and St Luke’s as an account handler, working on various accounts from Eurostar to PepsiCo

• These were two very di"erent environments which taught me a huge amount about branding, strategy and mastering the art of not crying when being bollocked by terrifying creative directors

References

• David Abraham, Former CEO, Channel 4

• Ben Bilboul, CEO, Karmarama/Accenture Interactive

• Polly Cochrane, Executive vice-president, Warner Bros

• Richard Curtis, Screen writer and producer

• Bruce Daisley, EMEA Vice-President, Twitter

• Al Edgington, Executive Vice President, Conde Nast

• David Pemsel, CEO, Guardian Media Group

• Janet Scardino, Chief Revenue O!cer, 19 Entertainment

• Kate Stanners, Global Chief Creative o!cer, Saatchi and Saatchi

• Danny Sriskandarajah, CEO, Oxfam

• Caroline Wright, Executive Producer, BBC