About
Us
OG Philosophy
Designing for Longevity
The phrase designing for longevity has two meanings. First, it recognizes the growing economic power of consumers over 50. But the deeper meaning is this:
Brands systematically misread
their most valuable customers
Designing brands for the full arc of life
Every consumer eventually ages out of the 18–49 segment. Understanding how needs, habits, and decisions evolve over time isn’t a niche exercise. It’s how brands stay relevant longer.
(Eventually, every customer joins the so-called “older market.” Even the ones currently in your TikTok plan.)
Before 50, life tends to follow a broadly shared arc. After 50, those paths diverge sharply. Health, wealth, careers, caregiving, and priorities move in very different directions. Two 65-year-olds may have less in common with each other than either has with a 40-year-old. Yet most marketing systems compress all of this into a single “50+ segment,”
obscuring the signals that actually drive growth.
(A bit like putting everyone under 40 into a segment called “young.”)
Built to bring cultural fluency
Openly Gray is often compared to multicultural agencies serving Hispanic, African American, Asian American, LGBTQ, and other communities. The comparison is understandable, but incomplete. Those agencies help brands navigate a specific community. Openly Gray helps CMOs and Chief Growth Officers navigate something different:
a consumer population that becomes more diverse, not less, as it ages.
Where Openly Gray comes in
• Cultural fluency for a market defined by
divergence, not sameness
• The Gray Scale™, restoring the
resolution traditional segmentation
loses after midlife
• Visibility into the friction and signals
suppressing demand and sending it to competitors
This isn’t a separate strategy for older consumers. It’s about correcting a massive Accidental Revenue blind spot in how growth is modeled. Once companies see the 50+ market clearly, they usually discover something surprising:
The growth they were chasing was hiding in plain sight.
OG
Designs
For
Longevity
About
Us
OG Philosophy
Designing for Longevity
The phrase designing for longevity has two meanings. First, it recognizes the growing economic power of consumers over 50. But the deeper meaning is this:
Brands systematically misread
their most valuable customers
Brands systematically misread
their most valuable customers
Before 50, life tends to follow a broadly shared arc. After 50, those paths diverge sharply. Health, wealth, careers, caregiving, and priorities move in very different directions. Two 65-year-olds may have less in common with each other than either has with a 40-year-old. Yet most marketing systems compress all of this into a single “50+ segment,”
obscuring the signals that actually drive growth.
(A bit like putting everyone under 40 into a segment called “young.”)
Where Openly Gray comes in
• Cultural fluency for a market defined by divergence, not sameness
• The Gray Scale™, restoring the resolution traditional segmentation loses after midlife
• Visibility into the friction and signals suppressing demand and sending it to competitors
This isn’t a separate strategy for older consumers. It’s about correcting a massive Accidental Revenue blind spot in how growth is modeled. Once companies see the 50+ market clearly, they usually discover something surprising:
The growth they were chasing was hiding in plain sight.
(Experience Is Not Nostalgia. It's Leverage.)
Meet The OG Team
(Experience Is Not Nostalgia. It's Leverage.)
Lee St. James
Chief Creative Officer
Known as SaintLee here at OG, Lee built his career at leading global agencies, including TBW\A, Grey, Publicis, and Saatchi & Saatchi, and HAVAS shaping brand and content platforms for some of the world’s most recognized organizations. Including Global ECD for Sanofi's insulins portfolio, the launch of UBS and NationsBank. Then there are the icon brands like Zippo, Mike's Hard, and more spirits brands to name here. A Cannes and Effie award-winning, multidisciplinary Creative Director, he has spent more than 20 years helping brands communicate authentically with the 50+ audience, often long before the industry recognized its importance. A born sculptor, Lee approaches ideas the same way. Starting with raw material - insight, culture, human truth - and carefully shaping it until something clear, resonant, and enduring emerges. His work with UBS, AARP, Sanofi, and GSK has given him deep understanding of what it means when consumers feel invisible, and how powerful it is when brands truly see and hear them. From strategy through execution, Lee leads cross-functional teams to deliver work that balances creative ambition with business realities, timelines, and results. Equally comfortable inside global networks and fast-moving startup environments, he embraces new technologies and evolving processes to keep ideas effective and culturally relevant. At his core, Lee believes great creative work is collaborative: aligning people, process, and purpose to create ideas that resonate long after the campaign ends. saintlee@openlygray.com
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Sara Bamber
Leader Global Brand Strategy
Sara is a globally recognized brand strategist who has held some of the industry’s most influential leadership roles: Head of Planning at Anomaly NY, Chief Strategy Officer at FCB NYC, and Global Head of Strategy for Coca-Cola at Sapient Nitro. She has partnered with world-class brands including Mercedes-Benz, Virgin America, Coca-Cola, Glenfiddich, Absolut, The Economist, Nivea, Cunard, Wipro, and Amgen, building platforms designed to drive enduring business advantage. Her experience spans continents and categories. She has launched airlines, automobiles, cruise lines, global media brands, premium spirits, pharmaceutical innovations, and even the world’s first negative-calorie drink. She has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with C-suite leaders worldwide, served on agency management teams, and led strategy departments, mentoring and elevating the next generation of strategists. A Londoner who has spent decades in Manhattan, Sara retains her accent, her sharp wit, and her devotion to a proper cup of tea. A lifelong runner and a triplet by birth, collaboration and endurance define both her professional philosophy and her life outside the office. sara@openlygray.com
Richard Bell
CEO/Strategy
A "recovering attorney", Richard brings decades of experience leading U.S. growth for multinational organizations during moments of structural change. A seasoned brand strategist, his deep experience in brand, creative, and research leadership through senior roles at some of the world’s most respected agencies and consultancies, including Omnicom (BBDO, Brighthouse, Colangelo), Kantar, and PRS IN VIVO. Ever the entrepreneur, he launched the world's first neuromarketing research firm, built Fabulous Fanny’s NYC - transforming a quirky East Village eyewear boutique into a nationally recognized vintage icon, and led the re-launch and expansion of PRS INVIVO, Americas, leading to the acquisition by Ipsos. Richard is a graduate of Emory University School of Law, served as Editor-in-Chief of a Law Review, and received his BA in Economics from Tufts University. He’s also the proud father of three, a certified yoga instructor, a daily Pilates practitioner, and living proof that healthy aging isn’t an abstract idea, but a design challenge worth taking seriously. richard@openlygray.com
Anne Webster
Head of Digital Marketing Strategy
With more than 30 years in the business, Anne has built her craft at some of the industry’s most respected agencies, including FCB Global and Leo Burnett, shaping ideas that marry strategic rigor with fearless clarity. She has led creative for global brands such as McDonald's, Boeing, Kellogg's, and Costco, while also developing standout work for regional leaders across healthcare, hospitality, education, and real estate. Anne relishes digging deep into a product or service to uncover provocative, differentiating ways to talk about it. Her work has earned recognition at Cannes Lions, London International Awards, the ADDYs, the Effies, and the Radio Mercury Awards - a testament to ideas that not only resonate creatively, but perform commercially. anne@openlygray.com
Canice Neary
Co-Chief Creative Officer
Canice came of age creatively at Wieden & Kennedy before continuing his career at other legendary shops, including Element79 Partners. Across that journey, his work has been recognized by virtually every major awards body in the industry: Cannes Lions (Gold), D&AD, One Show, Effies, New York Festivals, among others. His career has taken him around the world, collaborating with world-class athletes, celebrities, and cultural institutions - often in places he never would have seen on his own dime. Along the way, he’s helped shape brands that sit squarely at the intersection of culture and commerce, including Nike, ESPN, Eddie Bauer, Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Propel, Tropicana, La Quinta Hotels, Supercuts, and multiple major healthcare systems - including ten years with Northwestern Medicine. If you’ve watched baseball at any point over the last quarter century and heard an announcer declare, “Chicks dig the long ball,” you’ve experienced Canice’s work firsthand. He wrote that line. He does not receive residuals. And, he insists he’s not bitter. canice@openlygray.com
Matt Thornhill
Founding Partner
Matt began his career at Ogilvy, grounding his strategic instincts inside one of the world’s most respected agency networks. He later built and led the Interactive Department at The Martin Agency, shaping its early digital capabilities when “interactive” was still an emerging frontier. That blend of classic brand rigor and forward-looking innovation continues to define his work. When it comes to understanding the 50-plus consumer, Matt quite literally wrote the book, "The Boomer Consumer". As Founder and President of the Boomer Project and author on the boomer demographic, he has become one of the foremost authorities on the longevity economy. For decades he has advised Fortune 500 companies and growth brands across financial services, healthcare, CPG, travel, housing, and technology, translating demographic reality into sustained competitive advantage. Matt combines proprietary research with sharp commercial strategy, leading national studies on aging, retirement, healthcare decisions, and financial behavior. He has consistently reframed the 50+ audience from overlooked segment to economic powerhouse. A sought after keynote speaker, he challenges marketers to confront youth bias and recognize where wealth, loyalty, and influence truly reside. His belief is unequivocal. The 50+ market is not niche. It is the center of economic gravity, and brands that fail to see it are leaving serious growth on the table. matt@openlygray.com
Simon Derungs
Principal, European
Market Development
Simon has built his career inside some of London’s most formidable creative agencies, including Gold Greenlees Trott, M&C Saatchi, Publicis, and McCann, shaping bold, business-driving ideas for global brands. He later brought that expertise client-side as Head of Marketing at BT plc, gaining firsthand experience in aligning creative ambition with boardroom accountability, a rare dual perspective that sharpens everything he does. Across domestic and international markets, Simon has led high-profile campaigns for iconic brands including Foster's, Cadbury, and UBS, helping transform brand perception and commercial performance. His work is defined by big ideas, disciplined execution, and a relentless focus on impact. An unapologetic adman at heart, Simon believes creativity should move markets, not just win meetings. He is also a vocal advocate for the vast, often-ignored power of the gray market, convinced that brands overlooking it are leaving serious growth on the table. simon@openlygray.com
Lee Davis
Global Brand
Relationship Manager
From strategy through execution, Lee leads cross-functional teams to deliver work that balances creative ambition with business realities, timelines, and results. Equally comfortable inside global networks and fast-moving startup environments, he embraces new technologies and evolving processes to keep ideas effective and culturally relevant. At his core, Lee believes great creative work is collaborative: aligning people, process, and purpose to create ideas that resonate long after the campaign ends. Over the course of his career, Lee has led from every side of the table: agency, consultancy, and Fortune 500 brand. As VP of Integrated Marketing Communications at Johnson & Johnson, he drove the globalization and modernization of marketing strategy, content, media, and agency partnerships for its Consumer Brands portfolio. As Managing Director at Dunn & Co. and previously EVP, Managing Director at Riney, he led agency growth, culture, and client transformation. Earlier, Lee spent nearly a decade at Wieden+Kennedy, stewarding iconic brands including Nike, Coca-Cola, Heineken, and Delta Air Lines - shaping work that defined categories, not just campaigns. At Openly Gray, Lee leads our partner relationships, ensuring collaboration and transparency from the foundation. Across every chapter, his thesis has remained consistent: brands outperform when they articulate a distinct point of view and embed it into everything - strategy, operations, culture, and communications. ldavis@openlygray.com
Venture Builder / Exit Strategist
Bruce Haymes
Bruce Haymes builds companies to scale — and positions them to exit. Across three decades in adtech, media, and data, he has led dozens of transactions from $5M to $1.4B and helped drive multiple high-value exits, including the $4B sale of PanAmSat to KKR, Carlyle, and Providence. At Nielsen, he co-founded Nielsen Innovate, executing 30+ global startup investments and generating significant strategic returns. Today, as Founder of Stage18, Chairman of Toluna, and Executive-in-Residence at Progress Partners, Bruce advises private equity firms and growth-stage companies on where real enterprise value lives — and how to unlock it. At Openly Gray, Bruce brings something rare: pattern recognition earned across cycles. He understands how markets shift, where overlooked revenue hides, and how to convert insight into enterprise value. As brands wake up to the economic gravity of the 50+ consumer, Bruce helps ensure we don’t just tell that story — we build scalable, defensible growth around it. Because experience isn’t nostalgia. It’s leverage.
Tim Love
Chief OG/Truth Seeker
Advertising legend, scholar, and media personality Tim Love has done it all. He is former Vice-Chairman of Omnicom Group, award-winning author of “The Book That Gets Better With Age,” and noted lecturer of marketing at institutions such as Oxford University (UK), Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and Syracuse Newhouse. During his 50-plus years in the advertising industry, Tim led the charge for global insight and collaboration, on behalf of clients such as Procter & Gamble, Nissan and Infiniti Motors, Mars, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, UBS, Kraft, Philips, Unilever, and Apple. He has lived and worked in Tokyo, Singapore, Brussels, and New York obtaining first-hand experience with consumers in over 120 countries. Tim was a founding member and first Chairman of the American Federation of Advertisers (AAF) Multicultural Advertising Internship Program in 1973.
Strategic Advisors
This is the space to introduce the team and what makes it special. Describe the team culture and work philosophy. To help site visitors connect with the team, add details about team members’ experience and skills.
Hospital Marketing
Lori Modaferri
Lori Modafferi is a healthcare marketing and growth advisor with nearly 20 years of experience leading enterprise-level marketing, communications, and strategic operations for complex care delivery organizations. She has served as a senior marketing executive for the nation’s largest hospital operator, overseeing brand, service line growth, physician alignment, and patient acquisition across more than 30 hospitals and access points. Lori specializes in helping health systems translate strategy into measurable growth, aligning marketing with revenue, operations, and clinical priorities. Her expertise spans system rebrands, new hospital and service line launches, omni-channel patient acquisition, physician growth strategies, and market expansion in highly regulated, competitive environments. She has managed multimillion-dollar budgets, built and restructured high-performing teams, and partnered closely with executive leadership to drive sustainable performance. As an advisor and fractional CMO, Lori works with healthcare leaders to cut through complexity, sharpen positioning, and implement practical, data-driven marketing strategies that improve market share, patient engagement, and organizational alignment.
Luxe Market Resident
Janet Oak
Janet Oak is a visionary global growth architect and executive leader with 15+ years of experience managing global luxury & lifestyle brand portfolios. She fuses transformative creative strategy with strict P&L accountability to deliver impactful solutions that drive significant business growth. Specializing in Brand Positioning and Identity, she has been highly successful in refounding iconic heritage brands, infusing them with cultural relevance through data-led insights, Applied AI, and Human Stewardship. Over the span of her career, she has built great brands from the inside (Chief Brand Officer At Eastside Distilling, VP Strategy & Planning at ADSW/Pernod Ricard) as well as from the outside (President, Ipsos, Chief Strategy Officer, WPP Hudson Rouge, Head of Strategy Vladimir Jones, as well as senior strategy roles at Arnold, BBDO, Fallon, Merkley & Partners). Her HNW/UHNW luxury experience includes Travel and Tourism (ex. Starwood Hotels, Tourism Santa Fe, Dubai Tourism), Spirits and Wine (ex. Stolichnaya, Beefeater, Maker's Mark, Courvoisier, Kahlua), and Fashion (ex. Executive Director, Marketing at Conde Nast’s VOGUE). In addition, she has worked with Investment Banks (Bankers Trust and Bank of Oklahoma Wealth Management, Automotive (Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln Navigator Mercedes Benz and BMW Motorcycles), and led Ipsos’ Affluent Center of Excellence.
Sports Resident
Mal MIzen
Mal Mizen is a sports data and strategy expert with over 20 years’ experience advising leading brands, rights-holders, and governing bodies across global markets. He has worked with organizations including The Aspen Institute, Nike, Diageo, Kia, Manchester United, UEFA, the United States Tennis Association and Vodafone, supporting growth with data, insights, and strategy. As Founder of Kinetica, Mal has pioneered a localized sports and recreation data intelligence approach—combining research, microsimulation, and analytics—to uncover how participation, fandom and wellbeing differ by community. This capability enables brands to move beyond national averages and one-to-one digital tactics, cultivating markets at scale with sharper relevance and stronger commercial impact. Known for connecting dots others miss, Mal brings a rare blend of global perspective, analytical rigor, and strategic creativity.
Colleen Funkey
Beauty Resident
Colleen Funkey, is a Consumer Insights and Brand Strategy Consultant with deep expertise in prestige beauty and a passion for understanding people - what drives them, why they make the decisions they do and how brands can connect with them in meaningful ways. At The Estée Lauder Companies, Colleen led the Consumer Insights group and worked across the full spectrum of prestige beauty categories: Makeup, Skincare, Fragrance, and Haircare, partnering closely with brand, innovation and executive leadership teams. Her beauty portfolio experience spans globally renowned brands including Estée Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced, MAC, Aveda, Jo Malone London and Tom Ford Beauty. Her work focused on uncovering deep consumer truths, shaping brand and category strategy, and translating insight into clear, commercially meaningful action. With over 20 years of global experience in brand marketing, consumer insights and strategy, Colleen has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands. She began her career in brand marketing at Colgate Palmolive before moving on to shape consumer-centric strategies for Anheuser-Busch’s legendary beer portfolio.
Experts in Residence
Senior leaders who have built, scaled, and transformed major brands.Now they help Openly Gray turn longevity into competitive advantage.
Strategic Advisors
This is the space to introduce the team and what makes it special. Describe the team culture and work philosophy. To help site visitors connect with the team, add details about team members’ experience and skills.
Chief OG/Truth Seeker
Tim Love
Advertising legend, scholar, and media personality Tim Love has done it all. He is former Vice-Chairman of Omnicom Group, award-winning author of “The Book That Gets Better With Age,” and noted lecturer of marketing at institutions such as Oxford University (UK), Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and Syracuse Newhouse. During his 50-plus years in the advertising industry, Tim led the charge for global insight and collaboration, on behalf of clients such as Procter & Gamble, Nissan and Infiniti Motors, Mars, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, UBS, Kraft, Philips, Unilever, and Apple. He has lived and worked in Tokyo, Singapore, Brussels, and New York obtaining first-hand experience with consumers in over 120 countries. Tim was a founding member and first Chairman of the American Federation of Advertisers (AAF) Multicultural Advertising Internship Program in 1973. tloveideas@gmail.com
Venture Builder / Exit Strategist
Bruce Haymes
Bruce Haymes builds companies to scale — and positions them to exit. Across three decades in adtech, media, and data, he has led dozens of transactions from $5M to $1.4B and helped drive multiple high-value exits, including the $4B sale of PanAmSat to KKR, Carlyle, and Providence. At Nielsen, he co-founded Nielsen Innovate, executing 30+ global startup investments and generating significant strategic returns. Today, as Founder of Stage18, Chairman of Toluna, and Executive-in-Residence at Progress Partners, Bruce advises private equity firms and growth-stage companies on where real enterprise value lives — and how to unlock it. At Openly Gray, Bruce brings something rare: pattern recognition earned across cycles. He understands how markets shift, where overlooked revenue hides, and how to convert insight into enterprise value. As brands wake up to the economic gravity of the 50+ consumer, Bruce helps ensure we don’t just tell that story — we build scalable, defensible growth around it. Because experience isn’t nostalgia. It’s leverage.
Experts in Residence
Senior leaders who have built, scaled, and transformed major brands.
Now they help Openly Gray turn longevity into competitive advantage.
Colleen Funkey
Beauty Resident
Colleen Funkey, is a Consumer Insights and Brand Strategy Consultant with deep expertise in prestige beauty and a passion for understanding people - what drives them, why they make the decisions they do and how brands can connect with them in meaningful ways. At The Estée Lauder Companies, Colleen led the Consumer Insights group and worked across the full spectrum of prestige beauty categories: Makeup, Skincare, Fragrance, and Haircare, partnering closely with brand, innovation and executive leadership teams. Her beauty portfolio experience spans globally renowned brands including Estée Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced, MAC, Aveda, Jo Malone London and Tom Ford Beauty. Her work focused on uncovering deep consumer truths, shaping brand and category strategy, and translating insight into clear, commercially meaningful action. With over 20 years of global experience in brand marketing, consumer insights and strategy, Colleen has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands. She began her career in brand marketing at Colgate Palmolive before moving on to shape consumer-centric strategies for Anheuser-Busch’s legendary beer portfolio.
Luxe Market Resident
Janet Oak
Janet Oak is a visionary global growth architect and executive leader with 15+ years of experience managing global luxury & lifestyle brand portfolios. She fuses transformative creative strategy with strict P&L accountability to deliver impactful solutions that drive significant business growth. Specializing in Brand Positioning and Identity, she has been highly successful in refounding iconic heritage brands, infusing them with cultural relevance through data-led insights, Applied AI, and Human Stewardship. Over the span of her career, she has built great brands from the inside (Chief Brand Officer At Eastside Distilling, VP Strategy & Planning at ADSW/Pernod Ricard) as well as from the outside (President, Ipsos, Chief Strategy Officer, WPP Hudson Rouge, Head of Strategy Vladimir Jones, as well as senior strategy roles at Arnold, BBDO, Fallon, Merkley & Partners). Her HNW/UHNW luxury experience includes Travel and Tourism (ex. Starwood Hotels, Tourism Santa Fe, Dubai Tourism), Spirits and Wine (ex. Stolichnaya, Beefeater, Maker's Mark, Courvoisier, Kahlua), and Fashion (ex. Executive Director, Marketing at Conde Nast’s VOGUE). In addition, she has worked with Investment Banks (Bankers Trust and Bank of Oklahoma Wealth Management, Automotive (Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln Navigator Mercedes Benz and BMW Motorcycles), and led Ipsos’ Affluent Center of Excellence.
Hospital Marketing
Lori Modaferri
Lori Modafferi is a healthcare marketing and growth advisor with nearly 20 years of experience leading enterprise-level marketing, communications, and strategic operations for complex care delivery organizations. She has served as a senior marketing executive for the nation’s largest hospital operator, overseeing brand, service line growth, physician alignment, and patient acquisition across more than 30 hospitals and access points. Lori specializes in helping health systems translate strategy into measurable growth, aligning marketing with revenue, operations, and clinical priorities. Her expertise spans system rebrands, new hospital and service line launches, omni-channel patient acquisition, physician growth strategies, and market expansion in highly regulated, competitive environments. She has managed multimillion-dollar budgets, built and restructured high-performing teams, and partnered closely with executive leadership to drive sustainable performance. As an advisor and fractional CMO, Lori works with healthcare leaders to cut through complexity, sharpen positioning, and implement practical, data-driven marketing strategies that improve market share, patient engagement, and organizational alignment.
Sports Resident
Mal MIzen
Mal Mizen is a sports data and strategy expert with over 20 years’ experience advising leading brands, rights-holders, and governing bodies across global markets. He has worked with organizations including The Aspen Institute, Nike, Diageo, Kia, Manchester United, UEFA, the United States Tennis Association and Vodafone, supporting growth with data, insights, and strategy. As Founder of Kinetica, Mal has pioneered a localized sports and recreation data intelligence approach—combining research, microsimulation, and analytics—to uncover how participation, fandom and wellbeing differ by community. This capability enables brands to move beyond national averages and one-to-one digital tactics, cultivating markets at scale with sharper relevance and stronger commercial impact. Known for connecting dots others miss, Mal brings a rare blend of global perspective, analytical rigor, and strategic creativity.
Where We Cut Our Teeth
Our team didn't just pass through the world's best agencies. We were handpicked to be there, shaped the work that made them famous,
and built reputations that speak for themselves. That's the experience we bring to every client we take on.
At this stage of life, we stop letting others define us.
Yes, time passed. We grew older. Our hair turned gray — or disappeared entirely. That was never the point.
The point is this: we are not finished.
The Openly Gray Movement begins here — reshaping how the world sees aging, and how we see ourselves. It starts with a simple truth: growing older is not something to hide. It’s something to claim.
For too long, culture has worshipped youth and treated age like a flaw. That narrative is wrong. Longevity is a gift. Every line on our face is proof we were here, that we tried, that we endured.
Our years do not define our limits. Our mindset does.
Openly Gray means we are at ease in our own skin — however it looks. We are still building, still dreaming, still contributing. We carry wisdom, resilience, and hard-earned perspective.
If you believe your best qualities don’t expire with age, you belong here.