Kate McDowell joins YoungShand as Head of Media as agency wins more media business

Integrated Indie agency YoungShand has appointed the experienced media exec Kate McDowell as Head of Media. The hire follows YoungShand recently being winning new business against some of the biggest multinationals in town.

“Kate is a very experienced media operator, as we win new business and look to expand our media offering we needed to bring strong leadership and experience to the table to run the team and provide strong client service”, says Duncan Shand.

“We’ve been talking to Kate for quite a while but we’ve finally found the right opportunity to bring her onto the team. What drew me to Kate was a strong client service ethic, the fact her clients love her and she also has a lot to offer our team in terms of media knowledge and smarts.”

Says McDowell: “I’ve been with large global agency groups and for the last five or so years with smaller indie’s which I do love. I was drawn to YoungShand as a stand-out independent who have great culture, a dynamic integrated offering with creative and digital in-house, and a scale that is exciting. With such a strong proposition it made it a pretty easy decision to get on board.”

YoungShand recently has been winning new business against some of the biggest multinationals in town. One of those was Heart of the City which was an open competitive pitch.

“We’re really excited about this win”, says Shand. “There’s an important job to do to drive excitement, community and confidence to explore and play in the city centre again after nearly three years of lockdowns and we’re excited about playing our part in building heart in the city again.”

“We’re excited about working with the team at YoungShand, there’s a real enthusiasm for the job to do and they have a smart team that’s bringing us exciting ideas, we’re really looking forward to working with them,” says Kate Cleaver, Heart of the City’s Head of Marketing & Events.