This is a profile image of Jonathan Gordon

Jonathan Gordon

PartnerNew York

Focuses on helping clients get the most from their marketing, with an emphasis on using analytics to maximize returns across all channels

Jonathan leads McKinsey’s global work in marketing and brand strategy, helping consumer companies construct marketing strategies and build capabilities that drive top-line growth. Since joining McKinsey in our London office in 1995, Jonathan has served many consumer clients across a range of categories. His client projects span financial services, packaged goods, and automotive, and his recent work includes:

  • marketing-led growth program for a leading credit card issuer
  • business transformation for the luxury division of a global automotive player
  • analytics transformation at a large media player
  • mass and premium portfolio strategy for a leading beer company
  • brand re-design for a regional bank
  • brand strategy for a rapidly growing cosmetics brand
  • sports sponsorship strategy in beverage and electronics

Jonathan recently co-authored the McKinsey Quarterly article “The Dawn of Marketing’s New Golden Age.” He is a major contributor to our knowledge, and his work has been published in leading journals, including The Economist, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, and Financial Times. 

Before joining McKinsey, Jonathan worked as a brand manager at Procter & Gamble. Originally from Ireland, he graduated from the University of Oxford with first-class honors in biochemistry.

Video

How do you make marketing analytics pay off?” McKinsey on Marketing & Sales, January 2014

What is marketing analytics worth?” McKinsey on Marketing & Sales, December 2013

Published work

The big reset: Data-driven marketing in the next normal,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021

How marketing leaders can both manage the coronavirus crisis and plan for the future,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020

The dawn of marketing’s new golden age,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2015

Why can't we be friends? Five steps to better relations between CFOs and CMOs,” McKinsey, December 2013

How CMOs can get CFOs on their side,” Harvard Business Review, November 2013

‘Smart analytics’ can tap up to 20% of lost ROI,” The Economist Group's Lean Back website, November 2013

Big Data, Analytics and the Future of Marketing and Sales (eBook), Forbes, July 2013

Marketing learns to speak the C-suite's language,” LinkedIn.com, April 2013

5 steps to squeeze a lot more ROI from your marketing,” Forbes, March 2013

Retail Marketing and Branding: A definitive guide to maximizing ROI, Wiley, 2013

CMO owns the growth agenda,” McKinsey on Marketing & Sales, January 2013

Big data and advanced analytics: success stories from the front lines,” Forbes, December 2012

Meet the ghost of marketing future: $200b for growth,” Business Insider, December 2012

Getting beyond the buzz: Is your social media working?Financial Times, October 2012

How to get beyond the social buzz,” Forbes, July 2012

Measuring marketing's worth,” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2012

Education

Oxford University
Masters, biochemistry