Dr. Barış Onay
Helping event and media businesses turn digital complexity into sustainable growth
I help B2B event and media leaders make sense of their data, digital, and marketing, and turn it into double-digit organic growth.
With over 20 years’ experience leading transformation in private, PE-backed, and publicly listed organisers, I combine strategic perspective with hands-on delivery. I’ve built and scaled digital capabilities from the inside, and now advise C-suites and investors on how to do it faster, cleaner, and with lasting results.
Services
Executive Team Workshop
Align your leadership on where to play, how to win, and where to stop
A focused, data-driven session that brings senior teams into alignment on digital strategy. Through discovery interviews and a structured workshop, we surface trade-offs, set priorities, and turn decisions into a 90-day action plan.
Outcomes: organisation-wide alignment, faster execution, and immediate next steps for the next quarter.
Digital Maturity Assessment
Benchmark your digital fitness and know exactly what to fix first
A 4–6-week diagnostic that benchmarks your people, platforms, and customer experience against best practice. You’ll receive a clear maturity score, gap analysis, and a practical roadmap of what to tackle now and what to plan for later.
Outcomes: clarity on current state, prioritised initiatives for growth, and reduced risk on future tech or data decisions.
Project Advisory
Accelerate digital transformation and growth without adding headcount
Ongoing or ad-hoc strategic support to fast-track initiatives across Strategy, CRM, data, digital product, and demand generation. You get sleeves-rolled, battle-tested help from someone who’s built, scaled, and fixed complex event operations before.
Outcomes: faster time-to-value, lower execution risk, and embedded know-how for your team.
Selected Projects
Bridge2Food’s CRM Change and Marketing Transformation
I helped the new B2F management complete a six-month team and systems overhaul. I advised the MD and internal teams and supported the development of a digital strategy, implementing HubSpot, updating payment systems, and improving marketing operations.
Incisive Media’s CRM Change
I provided project advisory to the CMO and team at Incisive Media during their HubSpot implementation. This six-month project involved assisting the team in managing their implementation partner and maximising the value of their new system investment.
Montgomery Group’s Digital Transformation
This one-year project began with CEO advisory and an Executive Team Workshop and evolved into a full digital transformation. After a key-man risk emerged, I provided change management and ongoing project advisory as the group overhauled its digital leadership and team, data architecture, CRM (HubSpot), and marketing solutions.