There aren’t many industries where twenty-somethings run multimillion-pound accounts, plan the Conservatives’ billboard election campaign or host events that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg clears his diary for, but the media world is one where talented people with ambition will go far. Fast.
This year’s 30 under 30 list - narrowed down from more than 120 strong entries - has a greater emphasis on digital expertise than previous years. Our rising stars are breaking new ground in seo, social media, mobile marketing, and data and technology and - as their industry elders are only too aware - these skillsets will represent the growth areas of their business and shape its future direction.
Judge Kathleen Saxton, founder of recruitment firm The Lighthouse Company, says: "Digital dominated the entries this year, and I expect to see this mirrored in the makeup of leadership teams at agencies and media owners over the next few years. There is still much to be done to bring a digital perspective to the authentic DNA of traditional companies."
However, entrants with a passion for using traditional media in new ways also stood out, such as Carlise George, who hopes to use augmented reality and 3D to turn magazines into a new medium. Or Lindsay Flemons, who is introducing new revenue streams such as branded video zones and mobile to C4.
Here we present the first 15 of this year’s impressive 30 under 30 winners. Read on to see who has a "big, big future" at OMD; who has risen from receptionist to running a team of 15 within five years; and who turned down lucrative jobs at Magic Circle law firms to make waves with an online video start-up.
As last year’s overall winner Harry Dewhirst notes: "From entrepreneurs to account directors, the standard of the entrants was extremely high. I was impressed with what this year’s winners had accomplished so early on in their careers and I have no doubt this is just the beginning."
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1) Fiona Axe, 26
Sales manager, Ad2One
Axe has been promoted three times since joining Ad2One four years ago to become the company’s youngest sales manager globally. Managing a team of six, Axe is responsible for advertising revenue across 50 UK publishers, and has increased spend from client HP 832% year on year. She has successfully managed the transition to manager, mentoring junior team members and inspiring 100% staff retention in her original team. Jo Pike, commercial director, says: "Fiona is focused on revenue both of short and long-term value, which is rare in someone of her age."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Kate Winslet, because she is a strong British woman who can laugh at herself.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
Owning my own beach bar somewhere hot and sunny.
2) Kirsty Barnes, 27
Associate director, Starcom MediaVest Performance
Barnes started in the media industry client-side as head of media for Capital One, where she saved £1.5m per year by leading the initiative to take the firm’s aggregator and affiliate business in-house. So it wasn’t long before she was snapped up by Starcom MediaVest Performance to oversee the agency’s Flybe, Europcar and Bupa accounts, before expanding her role to take on management of the SMG Affiliate Group. Steve Parker, managing director, says: "As a client of MediaVest, Kirsty was a natural leader, obsessive about the value we could add to her business. We just had to have her."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Uma Thurman, because we share a similar approach to our disciplines and she displays her inner strength by taking on challenging characters in style.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I’d love to have a core role at board level, either within the agency discipline or back on the client side where I started my career.
3) Lyndsey Best, 28
Company director, Agenda21
Best is "quite simply one of the most tenacious, dedicated and hardworking people" her managing partner Rhys Williams has ever met, with natural client handling skills and the ability to drive significant growth from both existing and new business. After just seven years, Best has risen to the position of company director, overseeing day-to-day operations, salaries and staff training and development. The fact this has been achieved while commuting in from Kintbury, near Newbury - which has given her an unparalleled ability to sleep on trains - makes her rise even more remarkable.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Dolly Parton, because everyone teases me about being from the country.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I want to be doing something where I am still pushing the industry forward and taking other people along with me.
4) Tom Briant, 27
Classified sales team leader, IPC
Briant impressed the judges with his 30 reasons for why he should be included in Media Week’s 30 under 30 list, which included generating £473,000 in new business, spending an average of 382 hours on the phone each year, and being chosen for IPC’s fast-track scheme to management. So it didn’t matter that the judges were unsure what he meant by taking "a fish slap in the face"; Briant’s enthusiasm for his job and determination to succeed in magazine sales shone through. Advertising manager Amy Bowler attests: "Tom has shown exceptional ability in all aspects of sales and encourages others around him to reach the same high standards."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Boris Johnson, because no other man could pull off my hair.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
Being promoted to ad director or running my own media agency.
5) Ailsa Buckley, 28
Communications director, Mediaedge:cia
During the recent review of the Transport for London account, the client referred to Buckley as "the one thing they would not want changed in the process". This glowing endorsement reflects Buckley’s two key attributes of determination and intelligence. Her business director Dan Friel explains: "Ailsa’s keen problem-solving skills, coupled with a natural understanding of clients’ needs, is reflected in the outstanding business results she has helped achieve. Ailsa pushes herself and her team to constantly improve themselves." One to watch for the future at Mediaedge:cia, Buckley has also earned a place on the agency’s internal Rising Talent scheme.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Christina Ricci, because my family call me Wednesday Addams.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
The really interesting thing is not knowing where media agencies will be when I am 40. I want to be part of the conversation about where media agencies are going at a top level.
6) Carl Connaughton, 29
Associate buying director, OMD
Behind every great media idea there is a person who makes the idea happen - and that person is Connaughton, who controls the media buying for Vodafone, PepsiCo and Carlsberg and is responsible for £100m of media billings. Connaughton started in TV, but last year’s move to multimedia has allowed him to expand his team to 10 and immerse himself further in his clients’ business to deliver cross-media solutions. Head of buying Neil Johnston says: "As media trading evolves, Carl is at the forefront of the changes we are making at OMD UK. He has a big, big future ahead of him."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
John Cusack, because he makes unconventional choices and always plays fast-talking, unique and quirky characters.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I want to have found new ways to show people things they might like to buy and to be spending some of the money I earned in my thirties.
7) Jo Cronk, 29
Press account director, PHD
Cronk is "quite simply a cut above her peers", says client Danni Murray at Warner Bros, because she combines "brilliant and insightful media execution" with "the kind of tenacity that delivers buying performances far ahead of where her budgets should allow". Not only that, but she conducts her formidable negotiations with such charm and panache that media owners come away thanking her for the experience, as an admiring Adam Gilsenan at Mail Newspapers can testify. If the judges needed further proof, the numbers speak for themselves: Cronk has achieved 100% of her buying targets in the last year and made savings for clients in excess of £1.66m.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Katherine Heigl, because she is young, fun, versatile and ambitious.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I’d like to be head of investment, running a motivated and inspirational team who are the best in town.
8) Sandra Denyer, 28
Group account director, TradeDoubler
Denyer’s 18-strong department is the most profitable team at TradeDoubler, handling affiliate and search for more than 200 accounts including BT, Disney, Jessops and Thomas Cook. Denyer analyses her clients "inside out" to devise a plan that will deliver ROI, and her attention to detail has earned her both internal and external awards, and invitations to speak at digital media events. A motivating team leader, exceptional client service skills and the force behind some of TradeDoubler’s biggest client wins in the last two years - what more could you want?
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Sandra Bullock, inspired by her character in Miss Congeniality - she is a serious actress but also able to laugh at herself.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I want to be managing director of a digital performance-based company - I would love to spearhead something new in the digital space.
9) Oliver Disney, 29
Business development director, McCann Erickson Central
How Disney finds the spare time to run a nightclub (Reverb in Birmingham, if you’re interested) remains unclear - but his forays into house music have not hindered his rapid rise to become business development director for the second-largest integrated communications agency outside London. Disney’s aggressive new business strategy has maintained his office as the number one agency across McCann Erickson EMEA for the past three years, and has attracted blue-chip clients including Alliance & Leicester, Avis Europe and Whitbread. Dean Lovett, chief executive, testifies: "Ollie is one of those people you can always reply on to get us a great result."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Beverley Hills Cop actor Judge Reinhold, according to a poll of my Facebook friends.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
To be living in Thailand running my own beach bar.
10) Davina Dunlea, 27
Head of display, creative and emerging channels, TBG Digital
Dunlea started at TBG Digital as a receptionist, but within weeks of becoming account executive she was checking her clients’ campaigns 24/7 and knew "instantly" she wanted to be at the forefront of digital media. Dunlea’s hard graft on clients including Sky Gaming, Betfair and the £1m Ladbrokes account was soon noticed by chief executive Simon Mansell, who promoted her to manage a team of six before adding the nine-strong creative team to her duties earlier this month. As if that wasn’t proof enough, Dunlea has also brought in £1m of new business since November 2009. Mansell says: "Davina is destined to become a key player in the digital industry."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Kristen Scott-Thomas, because she got a lucky break into acting and I feel I got a lucky break into the media industry.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
To be running my own digital agency with an emphasis on whatever is the latest technology at the time - I want to stay at the forefront of digital.
11) James Elson, 28
Group head of trading, Clear Channel
When Elson isn’t off running gruelling "ultramarathons" in the world’s most inhospitable locations, he can be found overdelivering for Kinetic clients at Clear Channel. Last year, Elson restructured the Kinetic trading team and turned new clients Molson Coors and Vodafone into top ten spenders with Clear Channel, and his commitment was rewarded with the firm’s Manager of the Year Award. Sales controller Cennydd Roberts says he has "never known a group head to command so much respect from his colleagues", while trading director Colin Bundock adds: "I know I can always depend on James to maximise opportunities for clients."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Gerard Depardieu.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I have just achieved my ambitions by completing The Death Valley Cup, which comprises The Badwater Ultramarathon and The Furnace Creek 508.
12) David Fineman, 29
Digital director, Maxus
Fineman - described by Maxus chief executive Lindsay Weedon as "mature beyond his years" - is the youngest digital lead for a top 20 media agency. Since Fineman joined Maxus in 2007, the digital department’s billings have increased from 14% to 20% of total billings, bolstered by major new business wins including BT, Fiat, Experian and Alfa Romeo. Fineman’s central role on the pitches secured him a promotion to digital director in January, and an invitation to join the agency’s executive board. Weedon, who has also entrusted Fineman with leading the agency’s new Relationship Media planning proposition, testifies: "David’s technology and operations skill-set is second to none."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
A young John Travolta
What do you want to achieve by 40?
To work as the digital lead client-side for a technology company such as Amazon or eBay.
13) Lindsay Flemons, 27
Commercial manager, Future and Digital Media Ad Sales, Channel 4
Flemons’ entry was considered this year’s best-presented submission, and her methodical approach has paid off at Channel 4, where she has become the broadcaster’s youngest-ever commercial manager. Flemons is as comfortable devising innovative commercial solutions - such as the online element of the O2 Load and Go campaign - as she is constructing compelling sales pitches, and this combination has proved a winning formula for delivering "stellar revenue increases". In 2009, Flemons generated growth of 45% year on year in a challenging market, and her team of three achieved 170% growth year on year in Q1 2010. Recession, what recession?
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Drew Barrymore, because she is successful yet approachable with staying power.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I would like to run a creative solutions team in a cross-media company.
14) Carlise George, 28
Acting brand director, More
George has had a meteoric rise since joining Bauer in 2008, rising from senior sales executive to brand director on More, which has outperformed budget since she joined the title in February. George - described by associate media director Lisa Tookey as "a natural born leader", secured the highest revenue of her team in 2009 of £1.9m and the largest cross-portfolio deal, worth £122,662. George has always aspired to work in magazines and her passion for Bauer and its brands has translated to strong relationships with agencies. Not only that, but she is an "inspirational man manager" and "an absolute pleasure to work with". Surely a publisher of the future.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Beyonce, because she is successful but still does what she loves.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
To be launch publisher of a women’s magazine - I would like to use augmented reality and digital technology to bring the title to life.
15) Wil Harris, 27
Co-founder and managing director, ChannelFlip Media
Harris is one of media’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs, turning down lucrative jobs at Magic Circle law firms to co-found technology magazine BitTech.net, which he sold to Dennis Publishing in 2008. He then left to found online video start-up ChannelFlip.com, which is set to deliver seven-figure revenue in 2010. Last year, ChannelFlip created David Mitchell’s SoapBox - a branded content partnership with men’s grooming brand Bulldog - which was the most successful show on iTunes in 2009, and later this year the company will launch two exclusive online shows starring Bafta-winning talent. Handling demanding investors while expanding a fledgling business through the worst recession for decades? All in a day’s work.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Gary Oldman, because he has the right mix of black humour and intensity that pretty much sums up my approach to work. Plus, he has my beard.
What do you want to achieve by 40?
I’d love to be working in the venture capital world to build and promote digital start-ups. Early-stage investment provides a fantastic opportunity to continue to expand the UK media landscape.
THE JUDGES
Tim Jones, HR director, Aegis Media
Kathleen Saxton, founder, The Lighthouse Company
David Emin, ad director, Mirror Group Newspapers
Justine Southall, publishing director, Cosmopolitan
Harry Dewhirst, founder, Ring Ring Media and last year’s Rising Star of the Year
Ivor Falvey, commercial director, Haymarket Brand Media
Harriet Dennys, editor, Mediaweek.co.uk