December 21, 2022 - Bath, UK: Award-winning international cycling marketing agency SHIFT Active Media announces the promotion of Doug Baker (currently Head of Strategy & Research) to Chief Strategy Officer, and welcomes a new member to its rapidly growing team.

Doug Baker as Chief Strategy Officer

Doug steps up from his previous role in recognition of his huge and continued contribution to SHIFT.

Doug has been at the heart of many important campaigns at SHIFT over the past three years. He has strategically led a wide range of projects including the successful UCI Track Champions League creation and launch, the rebranding and repositioning of Chain Reaction Cycles, the global launch of GCN+, and more recently the creation of the Rider Research Hub.

Having successfully transitioned some of his day-to-day management responsibilities, in his new role, Doug will work even more closely with Wayne Brown (CEO), Phil Smith (CFO) and Simon Wear (Founder & Chairman) to propel the future direction of the business.

A core part of Doug’s new future-facing role will be further developing SHIFT’s consultancy offering, looking at new markets for the business, and the Rider Research Hub which launched earlier this year. The Rider Research Hub is a category leading research platform that allows users to join a community and give back to cycling - sharing their voice, experiences and opinions. In turn, cycling industries, brands and businesses can access this first-hand data, insights and information which can be utilised in the creation of new products, movement into new categories, tracking brand performance and developing new campaigns.

Sam Bradshaw as Media Planning Director

SHIFT also continues to invest in its media team, appointing a new Media Planning Director to further strengthen the services provided by the department. Sam is an exciting addition to the Media Team with a proven track record in media planning and content partnerships at network agencies.

Sam has nearly ten years of experience, and joins SHIFT from Wavemaker US, working in media planning and content partnerships for clients across a range of industries in the UK and most recently in the US. He's worked with brands from the automotive to entertainment space; including Volvo, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. At SHIFT, he will be able to combine his extensive industry experience with his enthusiasm for cycling.

Following his promotion, SHIFT, Doug Baker commented: “It’s been a brilliant three years at SHIFT; being able to collaborate with some of the best brands and people in the industry. With more data, complexity and opportunity than ever before in our sector, I’m looking forward to being part of shaping SHIFT’s future.”

Upon joining SHIFT, Sam Bradshaw commented: “Joining SHIFT is a fantastic opportunity for me as it enables me to combine my love of cycling with the skills and experience that I've built up over the past ten years. I'm passionate about brand communication in media and I'm looking forward to applying that to some of the industry’s biggest names. It's an incredible opportunity to do some of the best work of my career with an experienced and knowledgeable team.”

Wayne Brown, CEO at SHIFT Active Media said: “Doug has done amazing things in his time at SHIFT so far - his incisive strategy, commercial creativity and brilliance around insights and data, has been at the centre of many of SHIFT’s recent successes. I am really excited to see where this can take us in the future. We’re also pleased that someone with Sam’s experience and pedigree has chosen to join us at this time, he’ll make a big difference here.”