After nearly 20 years working at NYC agencies big and small, in 2018 Mike McNamara moved to Copenhagen with his family and started freelance outfit McNamara Strategy. Though he traded bagels for rundstykker, he did not give up his advertising roots and used the move as motivation to start his own thing. Luckily, he could recruit from a talented pool of likeminded strategists who had also seen the light, and in the past year has built the McNamara Strategy collective around a recurring roster of partner agencies and brands all looking to scratch an itch that they can’t reach with their current resources.

Previously, Mike McNamara led Jameson Irish Whiskey’s strategic planning for North America in his role of Director of Strategy at Night After Night (formerly Phear Creative), a strategic and creative planning agency that harnessed a unique understanding of the nighttime economy to connect brands with their best consumers and build award-winning content, experiential and advocacy programs. Originally, Mike joined Night After Night to pitch Jameson and, after winning the business, he was tasked with converting the shop from a production company to a creative content and strategic services agency that produced its own work. The shop grew from six employees to close to thirty and won many awards and new clients.

Mike then came aboard Dead As We Know It, the award-winning agency that turned Kraken Rum, into a global sensation to lead strategy and revamp the agency positioning and win several pieces of new business before departing for Copenhagen.

The ‘Twenty-Something’ consumer happened to be at the heart of all the work Mike did at Night After Night, Dead As We Know It and McCann Erickson (where Mike had spent the five years before Night After Night). Mike and his teams, many of whom still work with him as part of the McNamara Strategy collective, dedicated themselves to exploring and understanding the intersection of culture, technology, the millennial consumer and the ways in which brands can authentically speak and be themselves in that space. Today, he brings that agency, category, brand and consumer insight experience with him as he leads McNamara Strategy.

Get in touch

McNamara Strategy is an experienced and flexible partner structured to deliver top-flight strategic work quickly on a freelance basis. From market research white papers to brand repositioning to strategic concepts, we’ve done and seen it all.

Set up a meeting ▸

Mike McNamara Bio