Mike Gray

Mike Gray is a pioneer of the Out of Home industry in New Zealand having started our 30 years ago. He wrote a business plan in 1993 that secured him $10,000 start-up funding under the Enterprise Scheme from the New Zealand Government and as a result, has gone on to build the biggest digital billboard company in Aotearoa, despite being up against the corporate multi-national giants.

He was told by the Christchurch City Council in 1994, when lodging his first ever Billboard Consent, that he would never get a billboard approved in the city and to not waste his money. Rather than give up at the very first hurdle, he pleaded there must be somewhere we he could consent one. He was told if he could find a site in an industrial zone that couldn’t be seen by passing traffic the council would consider it. A billboard site that no cars would pass. An impossible challenge it seemed, but something he overcame. Just the first or many hurdles in an unbelievable but true story. He’s survived recessions, global finance crises, earthquakes, and lockdowns on his way to the top.

Go Media is his second iteration, and his story is one of grit, determination, doing the right thing, supporting the community, and backing your instincts. Recently the company took naming rights to Go Media Stadium as part of their strategy to become the number one Out of Home company in New Zealand. Backed by a team of industry legends, the company is doing some innovative and world leading work and they have created a Rocketship that shows no signs of slowing down.