Claire Beale,
Global editor-in-chief, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10
There can surely be nobody working in marketing or with marketers who doubt the role a great marketer plays in building businesses, driving profits and boosting the economy at large.
Yet too often marketers remain in the shadows of our industry, either reluctant or unable to claim the limelight for their work and showcase their own talent. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that too many corporate boardrooms still regard marketing as a cost rather than an investment, too few marketers still make the transition into top management, and marketing is still too infrequently involved in a company’s strategic decision-making. This much we have sound evidence for. The increasing belief that marketing is failing to attract the best graduates may be based more on anecdotal supposition than hard facts – but given the failings listed above, it would be no wonder if that was exactly the case.
So it’s never been more important to shine a bright light on the achievements of the most effective and influential marketers; they might not all enjoy public applause but our industry and those coming up behind need powerful, inspiring marketer role models like never before.
You’ll find 100 of the very, very best over the next few pages – the women and men who are building brands, serving consumers, improving bottom lines, fuelling economic growth and proving the enormous value of marketing as a business imperative.
But even the world’s best marketers have role models too. This year, our top 100 achievers voted for Unilever’s Keith Weed as the clear winner of our Marketers’ Marketer accolade. From his impeccable governance of some of the world’s biggest brands to his mission to drive a more responsible, sustainable business culture, Weed enshrines the values of marketing excellence and the opportunities of marketing to make a lasting difference.
We salute all the people honoured in this year’s Power 100 list and we hope that they will inspire the brightest minds to follow in their footsteps.
Alex Aiken, Government Communication Service
Executive director
Aiken found himself dealing with a new administration after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, but the upheaval has not blown him off track.
Zaid al-Qassab, BT Group
Chief brand and marketing officer
The addition of the EE brand has supercharged Al-Qassab’s position at BT, but he faces a challenge in creating efficiencies across the two.
Philip Almond, BBC
Director of marketing and audiences
It is not easy to market a brand everyone has an opinion on. Almond has been busy working on a brand reliant on licence-fee income and tough financial settlements imposed by the government.
Florian Alt, Adidas Football
Senior director, global brand communications
Football has cemented its place in culture through savvy, millennial-oriented marketing. Much of that is thanks to Alt, an Adidas lifer who remains curious about wider culture and technology.
Ian Armstrong, Jaguar Land Rover
General manager, global advertising
A very vocal supporter of marketing effectiveness, Armstrong calls on marketers to unite around this issue.
Matt Barwell, Britvic
Chief marketing officer
Barwell oversaw a series of brand relaunches in 2016.
Graham Bednash, Google
UK consumer marketing director
Bednash helped Google tackle a creative challenge in 2016 as it evolved from a software-oriented company to one that sells high-end smartphones such as the Pixel.
Alessandra Bellini, Tesco
Chief customer officer (incoming)
This year, Bellini was named as the successor to Robin Terrell, who left Tesco abruptly last October. She will join the UK’s biggest supermarket as it tries to "develop a differentiated brand".
Sara Bennison, Nationwide
Chief marketing officer
Bennison’s biggest achievement in 2016 was refreshing the society’s brand strategy, using the tagline "14 million members, building society, nationwide".
Darren Bentley, Moneysupermarket.com
Marketing director
Bentley is striving to build a more meaningful connection with customers by balancing the playfulness of the brand’s advertising with more serious messages about its purpose.
Nina Bibby, O2
Chief marketing officer
Despite the looming threat of a takeover, Bibby says 2016 was a strong year for O2 commercially and for its brand image.
Gary Booker, Dixons Carphone
Chief marketing officer
Booker was promoted to handle the entire group’s marketing function after the merger with Carphone Warehouse. He was responsible for the Jeff Goldblum Currys PC World spots and has continued Carphone Warehouse’s Keith Lemon ads.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Marks & Spencer
Executive director of customer, marketing and M&S.com
A month after Steve Rowe took the reins at Marks & Spencer, Bousquet-Chavanne was promoted. This added responsibility for the brand’s sustainability programme, Plan A, and its website.
Kerris Bright, Virgin Media
Chief marketing officer
Bright and her team delivered brand campaigns including the creatively excellent #BeTheFastest, featuring Usain Bolt, for Virgin’s broadband offering and "Masters of entertainment" for the relaunch of Virgin TV.
Dan Brooke, Channel 4
Chief marketing and communications officer
As chief marketing and communications officer, Brooke has championed change and is a passionate advocate of the power of a diverse pool of talent to drive a brand forward.
Sally Cowdry, Camelot
Consumer and retail director
The fast-talking marketer is proud of the National Lottery story over 2016. Among the highlights were reaching the landmark figure of providing funding for 500,000 individual projects and the #IamTeamGB campaign.
Martin Coyle, Molson Coors
Marketing director
Coyle is focused on different drivers for the two ends of his portfolio. To bolster Molson Coors’ premium brands, Coyle set up a combined sales and marketing unit.
Ian Cranna, Starbucks
Vice-president marketing and category (EMEA)
Cranna has been at Starbucks for 13 years, but the level of activity at the brand has never been higher. He demonstrates a determination to keep moving the brand forwards.
Paul Davies, Microsoft
Consumer marketing director
At a brand level, 2016 was the year people realised Microsoft was "very much back in the game", Davies says. The standout for Davies was establishing Surface as a "credible brand for consumers and businesses".
Danielle Davies, Netflix
Director of marketing, Europe
Davies is a seasoned marketing leader and with stints at Vodafone, Starbucks and Gap under her belt, she has enviable experience across a broad spectrum of brands.
Leah Davis, Team GB
Head of marketing
To the extent that Davis’ job is comparable with commercial marketing roles, Team GB in 2016 was a clear-cut case of the product speaking for itself.
Barnaby Dawe, Just Eat
Chief marketing officer
Dawe controls Europe’s largest takeaway ordering website and with the recent acquisition of rival Hungry House, he will now lead Just Eat’s marketing strategy as it expands its presence into North America.
Johnny Devitt, Paddy Power Betfair
Chief marketing officer
Paddy Power’s mega-merger with Betfair last year reunited Devitt with the brand where he cut his teeth as a marketer. Since then, he has overseen the building of a central data and insight function.
Peter Duffy, easyJet
Chief commercial officer
Duffy’s stock continues to soar. Last year he was elevated to the post of chief commercial officer, a move that gave him sole oversight over revenue generation at the budget airline.
Jeremy Ellis, TUI
Marketing and customer experience director
When you bear in mind that chief marketing officers are renowned for regularly moving from one job to the next, Ellis is a marvel because he celebrated 25 years at TUI.
Mark Evans, Direct Line Group
Marketing director
Evans has been instrumental this year in launching new and growing existing motor and home insurance propositions, such as Direct Line Plus’ emergency plumber service.
Kristof Fahy, Ladbrokes Coral
Chief customer officer
Ladbrokes’ recent merger with Coral has created the UK’s largest retail bookmaker. As a result, Fahy has taken on the new role of chief customer officer.
Claire Farrant, Lidl UK
Marketing director
Farrant took over as marketing director in 2015 and has championed Lidl’s mission to be bold with its comms. It is a strategy she says will remain in place for 2017.
Stefan Feitoza, Procter & Gamble
Marketing director, Northern Europe
Feitoza succeeded Roisin Donnelly to his current role in September, having already spent 16 years at the FMCG giant. He has also taken on the role of commercial operations leader for hair care.
Paul Ferraiolo, BMW
Marketing director
It has been a year of change for BMW, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. Ferraiolo launched a media review, eventually handing its £20m UK account to MEC.
Nigel Gilbert, TSB Bank
Chief marketing and communications officer
Gilbert joined TSB soon after the spin-off to establish it as a separate entity and "an economic force for good and a challenger to the cartel of the big five high-street banks".
Mark Given, Sainsbury's
Director of marketing planning and propositions
Given moved up the Sainsbury’s marketing hierarchy following the shock departure of the supermarket’s marketing director Sarah Warby last month. It coincided with him launching the debut campaign by Wieden & Kennedy.
Dominic Grounsell, Travelex
Global marketing director
One of the first marketers to book an ad on Facebook, the former Unilever and BT marketer has his hands full leading the digital transformation at Travelex.
Noel Hamill, EE
Managing director, marketing
Hamill’s star rose with BT’s acquisition of EE and a subsequent restructure. Following Spencer McHugh means he has big boots to fill but also more to play with.
Anna Hill, Disney UK and Ireland
Chief marketing officer
Three years on and Frozen shows no signs of losing its place in public consciousness. Hill must take some of the credit for the franchise continuing to boom.
Mike Hoban, Morrisons
Marketing communications director
Hoban, known for his no-nonsense style, wanted to put the retailer on a sounder footing last year. It’s an achievement he’s gone some way to meeting.
Tony Holdway, Domino's Pizza
Sales and marketing director
Holdway, who hit the headlines by running the #SaveBHS campaign, is hoping to pioneer more ways to order and receive food but believes that 2017 may be the industry’s toughest year yet.
Aedamar Howlett, Coca-Cola
Marketing director
A former country manager for Coca-Cola Ireland, Howlett inherited a challenging situation, but one she calls "a marketer’s dream", when she succeeded Bobby Brittain in August.
Craig Inglis, John Lewis
Customer director
Inglis has created advertising that interests the public as much as the marcoms world. He says his focus for the coming year will be on "ensuring we’re entirely focused on our end-to-end omnichannel experience".
Anthony Ireson, Ford of Europe
Director, marketing communications
At Ford Europe, Ireson has been helping the automotive brand as it increases its focus on software services in a bid to implement a more holistic customer experience.
Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair
Chief marketing officer
For Jacobs, Ryanair’s continued expansion in digital has been a success and he plans to be "Aldi on price and Amazon in digital" in the coming year.
Margaret Jobling, British Gas
Director of brand marketing
British Gas’ new focus of marketing is the connected home. For Jobling, this means smarter homes with precision marketing to match, with more emphasis on data-led, one-to-one communication.
Catherine Kehoe, Lloyds Banking Group
Managing director, group brands and marketing
For Kehoe, 2016 has been a tale of two campaign launches – bringing cartoon character Top Cat back to the screens for Halifax and evolving the iconic black horse for Lloyds.
Annabel Kilner, Made.com
Commercial director
Incredibly tenacious and a smart lateral thinker, Kilner’s vision has been key to the growth of the online furniture brand Made.com.
Richard Larcombe, Tesco Bank
Brand and marketing director
Larcombe has been enjoying a new challenge over the past year after joining Tesco Bank. He has been busy with the PayQwik app, which lets shoppers go wallet-free into the store.
Chris Macleod, Transport for London
Marketing director
It was a time of change for Macleod as Boris Johnson vacated the London mayorship for Sadiq Khan. As a direct result, Macleod was called on to launch a new bus fare.
Alistair Macrow, McDonald's
Senior vice-president, chief marketing officer
In the past year, Macrow has helped as McDonald’s continued upgrading its stores to the "Experience of the future" format, with self-order kiosks, food cooked to order and table service.
Michael Magee, Mars Chocolate, Europe and Eurasia
Vice-president marketing
Magee has a classical FMCG marketing background, spanning Cadbury Schweppes and Kraft Foods. While he has worked for some of the world’s most popular brands, he has also experienced failure.
Sarah Manley, Burberry
Chief marketing officer
Burberry’s ethos has been to let the brand – and not its executives – do the talking so Manley’s profile is relatively low given the status of this most celebrated British luxury brand.
Pete Markey, Aviva
Brand communications and marketing director
An early champion of the use of data, insight and intelligence, Markey says the winning businesses of the future will be data-driven and customer-focused.
Michelle McEttrick, Tesco
Group brand director
It is two years since former agency executive McEttrick joined from Barclays to steer Tesco’s resurgence. Since then, it has eschewed glossy campaigns for ads that focus on improved services.
Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook
Vice-president, Europe, Middle East and Africa
When the mayor of London announced the appointment of ten female business leaders to his new business advisory group to boost economic growth in the capital, Mendelsohn’s name was right at the top.
Jonathan Mildenhall, Airbnb
Chief marketing officer
Mildenhall possesses unique qualities that many dispassionate marketers lack – a deep infatuation for the brands he leads. He has overseen a ramping up of Airbnb’s global marketing as its footprint has grown exponentially.
Sheila Mitchell, Public Health England
Marketing director
Mitchell’s team will have spent 2016 building a new awards cabinet after the public body cleaned up for its Sugar Smart app campaign and its Stoptober work.
Martin Moll, Nissan
General manager, marketing communications
Moll has wasted little time in making his mark at the marque, overseeing three major launches for the brand and a number of product engagement campaigns in 2016.
Keith Moor, Santander
Chief marketing officer
Moor describes 2016 as a "tough year" caused by economic uncertainty. However, he is pleased Santander’s brand scores are all on the up.
Barry Moore, Adidas
Director, brand marketing; general manager, London
Moore has had a good year, with Adidas’ shift to brand experiences paying dividends. He is also heavily involved in implementing Adidas’ six key global cities strategy.
Simon Morris, Amazon
Global creative director
Amazon has been something of a wallflower in brand marketing but under Morris lost its shyness in 2016 with a Lucky Generals ad for its Fire Stick, starring Jeremy Clarkson.
Andy Murray, Asda
Chief customer officer
Murray was drafted in to join the Asda board a year ago, coinciding with its plan aimed at "prioritising investment to better address the fast-changing needs of its customers" and rejuvenating ailing sales.
Anthony Newman, Cancer Research UK
Director of brand, marketing and communications
Newman has focused on campaigns that truly integrate social media and TV, rather than prioritising TV, and overcome struggles with marketing that challenges the status quo.
Liam Newton, Carlsberg
Vice-president marketing
Newton succeeded interim marketing boss David Scott last May and helped turn around a business reeling from its flagship brand being scrapped by Britain’s biggest retailer, Tesco.
Michele Oliver, Mars Chocolate
UK vice-president of marketing
Oliver is the marketer behind the much-lauded Maltesers ad campaign, first broadcast during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games opening ceremony, with disability and diversity at its heart.
Stefan Olander, Nike
Vice-president of digital
Nike’s history in experimental and influential products mean Olander is a key force in the industry. He remains focused on creating a seamless experience for customers that transcends traditional boundaries.
Rachael Pettit, Uber
Head of marketing, UK & Ireland
Pettit was busy forging a number of brand partnerships in 2016. It was also the year in which Uber launched its first major ad campaign.
Hugh Pile, L'Oreal
Chief marketing officer, Western Europe
Pile, formerly the marketing and innovation director for Diageo in Vietnam, arrived at L’Oréal in 2014 as UK chief marketing officer. His responsibilities include driving innovation, pushing the digital offering and improving media efficiencies.
Ed Pilkington, Diageo
Marketing and innovation director
Pilkington is a Diageo veteran having joined the company in 1995, and has held various marketing roles. Throughout his career, Pilkington has built a reputation as being a champion of effectiveness.
Jamie Queen, Thomas Cook
UK marketing director
The highlight of Queen’s 2016 was the launch of the "You want, we do" campaign, which differentiated Thomas Cook’s own-brand hotels in what he describes as a "fresh and modern way".
Haseeb-Ur Rahman, Nestle
Business unit head of marketing, biscuits division
What does it feel like as the marketer for one of the world’s most iconic chocolate brands – Kit Kat? "It’s always an ice breaker at dinner parties," Rahman says.
Dan Ramsay, BT
Consumer marketing director
If it has been punishing going up against the biggest UK advertiser, Sky, in pushing BT Sport, cricket fan Ramsay can look forward to 2017 when he will be selling BT Sport’s Ashes coverage.
Nick Robinson, Anheuser-Busch InBev
Marketing director
Robinson oversaw bold UK campaigns for each of AB InBev’s key brands. Corona introduced new platform "This is living", and upgraded its SunSets music festival into an urban party in London.
Bozoma Saint John, Apple Music and iTunes
Head of global consumer marketing
"Self-proclaimed badass and badmamajama. Generally bad. And good at it." One look at Saint John’s Twitter profile shows that she is no ordinary marketing executive.
Syl Saller, Diageo
Chief marketing and innovation officer
Known for her marketing acumen and personal and inspiring approach to leadership, it is no surprise that the no-nonsense American-born marketer has been named as the new president of The Marketing Society.
Aline Santos, Unilever
Executive vice-president, global marketing
The future, Santos believes, will see more people seeking utility content from businesses and a shift by brands towards sustainability. She remains passionate about child development and women’s empowerment.
Sheena Sauvaire, Topshop
Global marketing and communications director
With 11 years of service under her belt at Topshop, Sauvaire knows how to reach its young customers. She is looking forward to working on content and events for Topshop’s "Our future voices".
Rebecca Snell, Lego UK
Head of marketing
From the advent of the flagship store to the launch of the Lego Batman Movie, the Lego brand continues to expand beyond the brick. Snell wants to ensure it is accessible through multiple consumer touchpoints.
Kathryn Swarbrick, PepsiCo
Marketing vice-president for Europe
Swarbrick, an experienced food and beverages marketer, was promoted to this multi-region role in November 2015 after joining the company in 2012 from Heineken.
Musa Tariq, Ford
Chief brand officer
Tariq seems determined to retire with the best marketing CV ever. At 34 years old, he has worked at some of the world’s most desirable global brands, recently joining Ford from Apple.
Max Taylor, EE
Managing director of digital, communication and innovation
Following its purchase by BT, Taylor has taken on a prominent role at EE, driving the brand’s digital transformation. There is no longer a chief marketing officer.
Richard Taylor, Macmillan Cancer Support
Executive director of fundraising, marketing and communications
As a former fundraising and marketing director at Cancer Research UK and as chair of the Institute of Fundraising, Taylor is at the forefront of setting standards and learning within the charity sector.
Russell Taylor, Samsung
Vice-president corporate marketing UK
Taylor’s mission to make Samsung a "loved" brand won’t have been made any easier by the Note 7 exploding battery fiasco. Nonetheless, the brand’s excellent sports marketing work deserves credit.
Cindy Tervoort, Heineken
Head of marketing
After ten years in marketing roles for PepsiCo in the Netherlands and the UK, Tervoort succeeded Jacco van der Linden in 2015. Her driving idea is "building brands with a clear point of view and purpose".
Lisa Thomas, Virgin Enterprises
Managing director and global head of brand
As the woman responsible for the Virgin brand globally and its accompanying commercial activities and licences, Thomas has stepped into a huge and incredibly complex job.
Laurent Tiersen, IKEA
Country marketing manager
Having worked for Ikea since 1999, Tiersen took up the most senior UK marketing role last April, and has overseen a wealth of marketing activity.
Jennelle Tilling, KFC, Yum Brands
Global chief marketing and innovation officer
After racking up 13 consecutive quarters of sales growth and uniting 125 countries around the iconic "It’s finger lickin’ good" tagline, Tilling has much to celebrate.
Paul Troy, Confused.com
Chief marketing officer
Troy masterminded the relaunch of Confused.com in the second half of 2016, resulting in the brand growing its share of the car insurance market ahead of all its competitors.
Paul Trueman, MasterCard
Senior vice-president, product advancement, enterprise risk and security
Having led the launch of MasterCard’s "Priceless London" marketing programme in 2011, Trueman has since changed gears, with a focus on cyber security and fraud.
Gary Twelvetree, Visa
Executive director, brand and marketing
Last year was a busy one for Twelvetree. As payment services sponsor of the 2016 Olympic Games, Visa Europe’s campaign invited a comparison between its services and an athlete’s heart.
Patrick Venning, Pernod Ricard
Marketing director
Venning heads up a large portfolio of brands from big players to high-end single malts. The company launched its "connected cocktail library" gadget and again led the way in tech innovation.
Mark Vile, Comparethemarket.com
Marketing director
The Comparethemarket.com brand has gone from strength to strength as parent company BGL Group prepares for a float. It is the most widely used comparison site and has the most single-site users.
Francesco Vitrano, Mondelez
Marketing director, chocolate
Vitrano says that his priorities are helping his marketing team to thrive, protecting the legacy of the Cadbury brand, and innovation.
Troy Warfield, British Airways
Director of customer experience
Warfield swapped the car rental world for his British Airways executive board-level role just over a year ago. He says he is focused on "making sure marketing is not just a one-way communication".
Dan Warne, Deliveroo
Managing director, UK
Last summer, when couriers were striking outside the Deliveroo premises over pay, Warne left his office to address the demonstrators and invite every one of them to speak to him.
Andrew Warner, Monster
Vice-president of marketing
Warner says 2016 was a "big year at Monster". The hiring of Mcgarrybowen to lead comms strategy and creative development across Europe resulted in the brand’s biggest campaign in seven years.
Helen Warren-Piper, Premier Foods
Marketing director grocery
Warren-Piper lists the return of the Oxo family after 17 years as one of her big achievements in the past year, together with leading the Bisto Spare Chair Sunday campaign.
Keith Weed, Unilever
Chief marketing and communications officer
As the top marketing tsar at one of the world’s biggest advertisers, Weed is not content with just growing the business ahead of the market.
David Wheldon, RBS Group
Chief marketing officer
Spirit, audacity and charm. These are some of the qualities Wheldon’s admirers say he has in spades. The veteran marketer is known for his no-nonsense approach.
Katherine Whitton, Barclaycard
Chief marketing officer
Whitton says 2016 was a "very special year" for Barclaycard, which marked its 50th anniversary with a TV campaign and social game.
Lisa Wood, Atom Bank
Chief marketing officer
Wood has been involved in developing both Atom’s brand identity and its main customer interface, the app, from concept to its full launch.
Nicholas Wright, UBS Wealth Management
Chief marketing officer
In a sea of homogenous marketing activity, Wright must be credited for his genre-defying marketing strategy. The wealth management leader has placed content marketing at the heart of its strategy.
Adam Zavalis, Aldi
Marketing director
After the big four supermarkets hit back at the discounters, the challenge for Zavalis was to maintain Aldi’s reputation for low prices while winning new customers with the "wider story".
