Callum McGeoch

A highly strategic creative leader with 20 years experience guiding global brands, media companies, charities and government to create content, campaigns, products, partnerships and platforms that grab attention, earn affection and inspire action. I specialise in building large, highly engaged audiences around entertaining, useful and inspiring video and social content; youth and internet culture; gen z and millennial audiences, brand purpose-led storytelling, behaviour change and positive social impact. 

Vice President, Global Video Strategy and Operations

Condé Nast
October 2021 - Present
As Condé Nast accelerates its transition from iconic international print magazine empire to a globally networked digital entertainment powerhouse, my task is to grow and monetise the editorial video output for all its iconic brands, including Vogue, GQ, Wired, CN Traveler, AD and Vanity Fair across all global markets (excl US). Working closely with the editorial video programming and development leads, central and local media sales divisions and business strategy teams I have reinvented and reignited the Sponsored Editorial and Integrations (product placement) video business taking it from a sub $1m revenue stream in 2021 to $9m+ in 2023 and am now leading a strategic initiative to creatively evolve the video output to support new revenue streams including consumer revenue, affiliate, FAST TV and a pioneering JV with a global sports rights holder.

I have strategically and creatively led Condé Nasts first ever multi-territory sponsored editorial integration partnerships, including for Louboutin, Saint Laurent, Hilfiger, L'Oreal, F1 and TikTok. I have also used my understanding of brands, audiences and social platforms, particularly TikTok, to guide the development of new social video series and a new flagship GQ elite performance series Into The Zone, only the second ever Condé Nast video series to be sponsored from its very first episode.

Editorial and Strategy Director, Adjust Your Set (Oliver Group)
October 2018 - October 2021

For three years I led the strategy and editorial teams at this specialist content and cause-led creative shop at the heart of global ad agency, Oliver. I built a brilliant team of content strategists, brand planners, writers, researchers, social media managers and editorial creatives to design and deliver best-in-class brand publishing, content strategy and organic and paid social for a broad range of clients including Hertz, BBC Creative, Bombay Sapphire, Beauty Pie, Pizza Express, Dettol, Durex, Bicester Village and more. 

In collaboration with Oliver and BrandTech group stablemates I also consulted to global brands to help them define and deliver on their purpose including Mead Johnson China in maternal health, Talisker in ocean protection, Vanish in fashion re-commerce, Evian in plastic reduction, Finish in water conservation, Bonafont Mexico in female empowerment and Aqua Indonesia in recycling. 

Digital Director, Balance Magazine
October 2017 - September 2018

I was headhunted by this independent wellness media start-up to transform it from a freemium print offering to the forefront of digital publishing, in readiness for scale-up investment. As their first dedicated Digital Editorial & Strategic Lead and de-facto Creative Director I created the foundations for the brand to become the most popular and trusted authority in the booming global trillion dollar wellness lifestyle space within the next two years.
By designing and implementing a social, video-first, format-driven content strategy; recruiting, training and empowering a talented young social and video team; and delivering more than 20 profitable branded content partnerships in year one, I helped BALANCE achieve social audience growth and engagement rates in the top 1% of Meta publishers, an increase in monthly reach of over 1000% in one year to 1.8m. I also ushered in a new email CRM approach (through GDPR), a new website, daily original web content and SEO strategy, a highly successful podcast launch and new publishing behaviours fuelled by data savviness and editorial instincts in equal measure.

Executive Creative Director / Publishing Director , Livity
February 2006 - September 2017
For over a decade I held multiple leadership roles at this pioneering youth-specialist, purpose-driven creative agency, publisher and youth talent incubator. In that time I helped it grow from a team of 5 to 50 and win awards from the Queen, two Prime Ministers, the EU, the Guardian, Marketing Society, The Drum, DADI, Marketing Week and many others, both for our innovative marketing campaigns and our work helping thousands of disadvantaged young people achieve their potential.  

I led winning pitches and multi-year contracts with Red Bull, BBC, Channel 4 (Top Boy), NSPCC Childline, Barclays LifeSkills, Penguin Books, TopMan, Netflix, Public Health England, Olympic Legacy Trust, Big Lottery Fund, British Fashion Council, Cabinet Office, Cancer Research UK, Coca-Cola, Cornetto, Central Office of Information, Department for International Development, Department for Education, England Rugby, Google, Home Office, National Blood Service, Nike Foundation, The NFL, O2, PlayStation, Teenage Cancer Trust, Knorr, Victim Support and many others.

As Publishing Director I lead efforts to diversify and future-proof Livity's business model by building audiences around owned IP, proprietary insight tech, entertainment propositions and original formats, based on a deep understanding of youth culture, leading social platform knowledge, mastery of interest-targeting, wide-reaching entertainment industry contacts and a commercially-aware brand publishing vision.

During this time I also consulted to Sir Paul McCartney, NUS, PA Consulting, Portman Group, Warner Music, Sony Music, NHS, WGSN, Future Lab, SCB Partners and others on youth trends and behaviour, brand publishing strategy, social media strategy, IP exploitation, brand purpose and social impact.

Editor, Dazed Magazine
November 1998 - January 2006
Across 8 years at this iconic international style and culture title, I rose rapidly through the ranks from Editorial Assistant to Editor, commissioning and directing agenda-setting editorial at the interface of music, film, art, fashion, science, politics and counter culture.

By nurturing entertainment industry contacts, a talented young team and a global network of freelancers I broke important new talent, secured iconic cover stars, championed underground scenes, rediscovered cult heroes and doubled circulation to stabilise the business during an era that sadly saw the closure of so many iconic music and style mags.

I was also the de facto Creative Director on advertiser solutions, winning contracts to create televised concert series, supplements, books, ad creative, student tours, festival sponsorship and award shows for the likes of O2, Topshop, Evian, Grolsch, Becks, Levi's, Nike, Commes des Garçons, Tennents, Diesel and Orange.

As a writer I interviewed Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, Bjork, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Sir Paul McCartney, David Cronenberg, Chris Cunningham, Desmond Tutu, Thom Yorke, Gil Scott-Heron, David Axelrod, Charlie Watts, Horace Andy, Eek-a-Mouse, Don Letts, Roy Ayers, De La Soul, Gang Starr, Sugar Hill Gang, DJ Shadow, David O Russell, Stewart Copeland, Samantha Morton, Sylvia Robinson and many others for Dazed, Another, Another Man, Rolling Stone, NME, Esquire, The Times, The Independent, Independent on Sunday, Daily Express, Sunday Herald, Nylon, Tokion and others.

Newcastle University 1994 - 1997

BSc (hons), Marine Biology 

Marlborough College 1988 - 1993

4 A-Levels, 12 GCSEs