Christian Howes
Every organisation now sits on more customer signal than it can read. The question is no longer whether to listen to social and behavioural data, but how to turn it into a decision a marketing director, a customer service lead, or a board can actually act on. The gap between “we have the data” and “we changed what we do because of it” is where most programmes stall.
Christian Howes is a digital, social-data and big-data specialist who helps brands turn audience signal into commercial decisions, and a broadcast-trained host who anchors conferences, awards and panels for major UK corporates.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Christian Howes
- He reads social and behavioural data the way a broadcaster reads a room, which means boards and marketing teams leave with a view of their customers that feels observed rather than modelled.
- He has been trusted on live television, from Big Brother’s Bit on the Side with Emma Willis to BT Sport and Channel 4’s alternative election night, to make data intelligible to audiences who are not data people.
- His corporate work spans PlayStation, Diageo, HSBC, Lloyds, ASOS and Barclays, so he arrives already fluent in the commercial contexts most clients are operating in.
- He doubles as a host, MC and panel moderator, which makes him a practical choice for events that want one credible voice across keynote, stage linking and awards.
Biography highlights
- Regular social-data contributor on Big Brother’s Bit on the Side (Channel 5), 2011-2012, alongside Emma Willis.
- Television appearances on BT Sport (The Clare Balding Show, BT Sport Panel, BT Sport Live), ITV’s This Morning, BBC1 National Lottery, Good Morning Britain, and Channel 4’s alternative election night coverage.
- Co-founder of Mr Bridger, a content business developing formats for production companies and broadcasters.
- Corporate and keynote work with Sony PlayStation, Diageo, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, ASOS, UMG, Channel 4, GoCompare, Skoda, Microsoft, Teradata and Cornerstone.
- Works as keynote speaker, conference host, awards presenter and panel moderator across UK and international business audiences.
Biography
Social data arrived in most boardrooms as a dashboard before it arrived as a story. Christian Howes built a career out of closing that gap. His route in was unusual: he started by modelling Twitter traffic around the Big Brother house to predict weekly evictions, which led to a weekly sofa spot on Big Brother’s Bit on the Side with Emma Willis, translating audience sentiment back to a live TV audience.
That pattern, turning raw social signal into something a non-specialist can act on, became the core of his commercial work. He has gone on to appear as a data and digital contributor across BT Sport, ITV’s This Morning, BBC1’s National Lottery show, Good Morning Britain, and Channel 4’s alternative election night coverage. The broadcast craft is not decoration; it is the reason his corporate sessions land with marketing, CX and customer-service teams who have sat through too many unreadable analytics decks.
His corporate roster reflects where social and behavioural data actually matters in large consumer businesses. He has worked with Sony PlayStation, Diageo, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds, Barclays, ASOS, UMG, Skoda, GoCompare, Microsoft and Teradata on what audiences are doing, what they are signalling, and how customer-service and merchandising operations should respond. In 2015 he co-founded Mr Bridger, a content business developing formats for production companies, which keeps his feet in the studio as well as the boardroom.
The second half of his offer, and often the reason he is booked, is hosting. He anchors conferences, moderates panels and presents awards, and clients buy the combination: one voice that can deliver a substantive keynote on digital and data, then carry the rest of the room for the day.
Key speaking topics
- Social media analytics and audience sentiment
- Big data and consumer behaviour
- Digital marketing and branding
- Customer experience and customer service transformation
- Conference hosting, awards presenting and panel moderation
- Media, broadcast and the attention economy
Ideal for
- CMOs, brand and marketing directors in consumer-facing businesses
- Customer experience, customer service and digital transformation leads
- Conference and awards organisers needing one host across keynote and stage
- Retail, financial services and entertainment audiences working with large consumer datasets
Audience outcomes
- A clearer read on what their customers are signalling on social and digital channels, with examples they recognise from their own category.
- A practical sense of where social and behavioural data should connect to operational decisions in marketing, CX and service.
- Concrete case references from consumer brands, financial services and broadcast, rather than generic digital theory.
- For hosted events, a single credible voice across keynote, interview and awards that keeps the room with you.