London, 18 May, 10.30am – Croud, the global media, data and creative agency, today announces the appointment of Callum McCahon to Chief Strategy Officer, aligning creative and media strategy for clients across the combined business portfolio.
Formerly Chief Strategy Officer at Born Social, the social-first creative powerhouse acquired by Croud in 2022, McCahon ascends to Croud’s Global Executive Team. Reporting directly to Global CEO and co-founder Luke Smith, he assumes a pivotal mandate to drive strategic direction and scalable growth across Croud and Born Social. McCahon will act as a trusted advisor and strategic lead for cornerstone clients, offering the expert perspective today’s brands require. As AI accelerates execution, strategic judgement is becoming the defining variable in marketing effectiveness; this role is designed to deliver exactly that.
McCahon brings 12 years experience at Born Social to the role, where he was part of the agency’s leadership team, overseeing one of the largest social strategy departments in Europe. He was pivotal in winning and then leading global strategy for brands including Guinness, Ford, and Barclays. His appointment to this new role underlines that Born Social’s social-first creativity and Croud’s media excellence are most powerful when they’re part of the same conversation.
Luke Smith said, “It’s becoming increasingly clear that the best outcomes for clients happen when creative and media are integrated – built from the same strategic foundation. For us, social-first thinking and creativity is no longer an afterthought of marketing strategy; it’s where it begins. As we look to integrate the two parts of our business, elevating Cal into this new strategy role is a reflection of that, and I’m delighted he’ll be central to driving that.”
McCahon added, “AI is making it easier than ever to do more, but harder than ever to know what’s worth doing. That’s where agencies have to prove their value. Social has always been where creative, culture, media and performance collide first. The exciting opportunity now is to take that way of thinking and apply it across the whole marketing ecosystem. Born and Croud have a rare but powerful mix of creative conviction and commercial rigour. I’m going to be focused on how we connect those strengths properly, so clients get braver thinking, sharper decisions and work that gets stronger over time.”
The appointment comes on the back of recent joint wins across Croud and Born Social, including ITV and Global’s launch of The Birthday Draw and ChapStick, and follows the appointment of Valerie Davis as Croud’s US CEO, together signalling a significant strengthening of the agency’s global leadership team as it enters its next chapter of growth.
