Zenith Hires Tom Coulson as Group Strategy Director

Tom was previously client partner at Hearts & Science

Zenith has hired a new group strategy director, Tom Coulson, who joins the agency from Hearts & Science, where he most recently held the role of client partner.

Tom Coulson will report into Zenith’s chief strategy officer Richard Kirk, and will be leading strategy on Aviva, Molson Coors, 888.com and Edrington Beam Suntory. 

Coulson is a Zenith ‘boomerang’ who started his career in media as a graduate at Zenith in 2010, where he spent his first six years in the industry, progressing from graduate planner to account director and working with brands like Associated British Foods, Aviva and Reckitt. 

He has spent the last five and a half years at Omnicom Media Group, working first at Rocket before becoming one of the early members of the team at Hearts & Science, OMG’s high growth agency. 

In his role as client partner at Hearts & Science, Coulson sat on the UK leadership team and reported into CEO Garrett O’Reilly. Coulson was responsible for half of the agency’s billings, he had 8-10 people reporting to him, and he led the planning, strategy and client servicing on Amazon’s Audible business.

Tom Coulson, Group Strategy Director, Zenith UK said: “I’m delighted to be coming back ‘home’ to Zenith, bringing my experience working with some of the biggest clients in the industry, along with valuable insight on how agencies operate. I can’t wait to get started, working with Zenith’s brilliant and inspiring leadership team to help our clients navigate the increasingly complex UK media market by answering old questions in new ways.” 

Richard Kirk, Chief Strategy Officer Zenith UK said: “Tom has been a leading suit for some very big advertisers. In his past role he was under the bonnet of how an agency group operates and makes money, being on Hearts & Science’s leadership team. He’s an incredibly experienced media planner and has the commercial nous you get from helping run an agency. I want to stress how we are excited to have such a great all-rounder in the team. Tom will be an essential part of the team, helping us continue to advise clients on the best ways to make bold moves in media. We’re bursting with pride to have him back at Zenith.”