Before joining Frontiers Digital, Luke held the position of Head of Agency Sales, AOL UK. In addition to building and managing 70% of the company’s £42.5m 2007 revenue target, Luke was instrumental in building AOL UK’s network sales proposition as a means for further revenue growth.

Prior to AOL UK, Luke worked at Europe’s largest commercial radio group, Gcap Media, where he helped deliver record growth for the agency sales team.  He has also worked for Dow Jones across the Wall Street Journal titles and Clear Channel international, helping drive growth of their UK Outdoor properties.

In 2006, Luke was awarded “Young Media Person of the Year” at the annual Media Week Awards, with judges including Managing Directors and CEOs of the UK’s largest media companies.  Other honors include being named as one of Campaign Magazine’s “Faces to Watch” 2003.

Luke has received numerous media industry awards and market recognitions:

The winner of this award proved a track record of outstanding achievements in the media, was brimming with great ideas and has established themselves as a pivotal figure within their particular niche.
Media Week Magazine UK - Winner of Young Media Person 2006.

They’re smart, confident, talented; and what’s more they probably know it. They’re Campaign’s Faces to Watch for 2003 and if their bosses are smart, they’ll fight tooth and nail to hang onto them. They bring energy and fresh thinking to the offices of adland, ad they’re rapidly climbing a career ladder that may one day lead them to a salary of Gary Lace proportions. At 23, Luke Townsend is one of those unnervingly confident young men who instantly impress. Since leaving King’s College London, Townsend has worked for Clear Channel Outdoor dealing with the likes of Universal McCann, Initiative and Walker Media. Blessed with abundant enthusiasm, his strengths lie in his ability to understand deals from the perspective of each party involved.
Campaign Magazine UK - Faces to Watch 2003.

Luke is quite simply one of the strongest all-round people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. The most astonishing thing when you don’t know him, is that he made a Group Head at 26 and a Head of Agency at 27. Meet him and you know why straight away.
Andy Jonesco,Managing Director, AOL UK.

I’ve known Luke since his days in Outdoor and Radio but it is his passion for digital and his ability to communicate the medium relative to traditional media that most impresses. His astuteness and confidence means he avoids hiding behind digital jargon and technology and instead starts by understanding the needs of the client and then advising on how best to meet those needs. He has done more than any other media owner to highlight the relevance and importance of online to JAA and in turn our clients benefit from this.
Richard Temple,Group Account Director, John Ayling.

As Luke has experience of both radio and outdoor he really understands media as a whole. This knowledge, and his passionate belief in Online’s ability to deliver results, makes him an asset to this industry. In a market which is growing it is easy to become complacent and take the easy way, however Luke stands out from those less talented by refusing to accept the obvious route and searching instead for the right long term solution whilst making himself cognisant of all of the facts.
Mark Middlemas,Managing Partner,Universal McCann UK.

The Salamon Company interviews 100’s of candidates every year for senior executive positions in the media industry and the biggest part of what we do is fielding the average candidates for our clients. There are however a select few who sit in the “exceptional”category and Luke is one of them.

We have known Luke for over 5 years and the first client we sent him to described him as “the most engaging young man” she’d met.

Luke has an excellent business head on his shoulders with a maturity that belies his young age. He is passionate about what he does, genuinely caring with integrity, has considered professional judgment, is abnormally polite for the media industry and a pleasure to deal with. His cross media experience gives him an excellent understanding of media and makes him very marketable. This combined with his greatest asset, his personality, makes him someone to keep an eye on.
Julie Salamon,Managing Director,The Salamon Company.