Be Heard Group PLC (LON:BHRD), the digital marketing services group, is pleased to announce that respected industry leader Richard Costa-D’Sa has been appointed Chief Growth Officer with immediate effect.
In this management board role, Richard will be focused on driving growth from cross-group client projects, which the group has already started to see from clients including Vodafone.
Richard previously held senior industry roles within the Engine Group, most recently as Global CEO of Deep Focus, where he led the agency through a time of high client growth, in which it won many awards, including at the D&ADs, Cannes Lions and Fast Company. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of Jam, to which role he was promoted after working with well-known brands such as Samsung, Renault, Xbox and Tesco. At both Deep Focus and Jam he was a member of the group management team, in which capacity he worked to develop cross-group initiatives, with a focus on digital.
As a well-respected figure in the sector, Richard has been nominated three times into Campaign Magazine’s A-list for the most powerful people in advertising, twice into the Drum Digerati, the Drum’s list of the 100 most influential people in the UK’s digital marketing industries, and came fifth in the Drum’s Social Buzz Top 50 most influential people in social media.
Prior to being confirmed Chief Growth Officer, Richard met the founders of the four Be Heard Partners with whom he will be working closely in order to establish cultural fit and share ideas for growth.
Richard Costa-D’Sa said: There isn’t a group like Be Heard right now. A digitally-born group with scale and ambitions to do things differently, with no legacy siloed structures getting in the way of producing effective work. I am looking forward to using my experience to support Be Heard in increasing the level of work it delivers involving two Partners or more. Digital marketing is ever more complex and interconnected, so I am eager to work with all of our current and future Partners within Be Heard to connect their exceptional abilities and devise and execute strategies and campaigns for clients which deliver similarly exceptional results. The Group is at an exciting stage in its development as it starts to show what it can do for clients such as Vodafone and I am delighted to be joining the team at this point in its journey.
Peter Scott, Executive Chairman of Be Heard said: Having worked with Richard before, and having since seen his reputation as a top-flight leader of digital marketing businesses deservedly grow, I can think of no one better to join us in this role. His initial conversations with our Partners have created great excitement and I have no doubt that he will be a real asset for the Group.
Gresham House Strategic PLC has a total interest of 10.6% in Be Heard Group PLC correct as of 28 April 2017 month end NAV announcement, released 01 May 2017
