This year we have gone back to basics - focusing on the people who genuinely control the marketing campaigns that consumers see, hear and experience. It may seem that there have been a lot of rises, but in reality, a lot of people have dropped out of the table. Gone are some of the high-profile chief executives who may hog the headlines but do not have a direct influence on marketing activity.
This has led to the inclusion of a higher number of hands-on marketers - the ones genuinely guiding their charge's development. In response to the growing threat to advertising freedoms and the heavy hand of regulation, we have also created a separate list of the main influencers in the industry - from trade bodies to government departments.
The judging criteria are robust and flexible. While overseeing a brand with a hefty marketing budget helps secure a place in the list, of equal importance is how this cash is used. So while Sky may have out-gunned Virgin Media with its spiralling marketing budget, it is Virgin's marketing director, James Kydd, who comes up trumps on the list.
Those who have cultivated not only their brand but also their personal profile remain heavy hitters; from Waitrose's charismatic managing director, Mark Price, to Birds Eye's Martin Glenn. Meanwhile, those who have spoken out on big issues such as marketing to children score highly. However, just three of the top 10 marketers are women, suggesting the glass ceiling remains firmly in place.
Key: £ = Spending power; i = Influence; B = Brand; C = Celebrity; E = Entrepreneur
1. Justin King, Sainsbury's £ B C
Having beaten his own growth targets, set three years ago, and pocketed a £7m bonus in the process, King has achieved what many thought was unachievable. Sceptics may have scoffed at his 2005 'Making Sainsbury's Great Again' strategy, but you won't find many sneering now. By successfully striking a balance between making the supermarket appeal to consumers through its promotion of quality, price and ethical provenance - its entire own-brand banana, sugar and tea offering has been converted to fairtrade - and producing sales figures that have impressed the City, King has more than proved that his strategy was right. In fact, having reversed the 14 years of decline that preceded his arrival in 2004 and produced a 5.8% increase in annual sales to £19.2bn for the year to 22 March, as well as 13 consecutive quarters of growth, the chief executive can quite rightly claim that Sainsbury's has moved from 'recovery to growth'. It's difficult not to conclude that Sainsbury's truly is becoming great again, and that King has been key to the business' transformation.
2, Simon Clift, Unilever £ B
This year Clift has made dramatic progress up Unilever's greasy pole: his role as chief marketing officer has been beefed up, meaning he now reports directly to chief executive Patrick Cescau. After overseeing successful campaigns for brands such as Lynx and Dove on the personal-care side of the business, he has been asked to replicate this success across the food category, which includes big-name brands such as Flora and Knorr. Although the FMCG giant would go to great lengths to deny it, insiders say Clift has won out in Unilever's internal power struggles. The former UK marketing director and long-standing Unilever employee is described by those who know him as witty, inspiring and a champion of creativity.
3. Richard Brasher, Tesco £ i B
While Tesco's colossal marketing spend has helped propel it to a dominant position as the UK's biggest supermarket, the same cannot be said of its low-profile commercial and trading director. Brasher, who was elevated to the board in March 2004, joined Tesco in 1986 and has held several marketing, commercial and store operations positions during his tenure, most recently as UK marketing director. Last year Tesco radically overhauled its marketing strategy, with more emphasis on its fashion line Florence & Fred, and a high-profile Christmas campaign featuring the Spice Girls. However, chinks in its armour have appeared with the recent stalling of expansion plans for its US Fresh & Easy stores. Tesco may be over-extending itself and Brasher will do well to navigate what could be a tricky year.
4. Dianne Thompson, Camelot £ C
The 'first-lady of marketing' retains a prime position in this year's Power 100 following 12 months during which she dispatched all challengers for the National Lottery licence. Investing £20m in the bid, the licence was a 'must-win' for the Camelot chief executive. Technology was at the heart of the bid and new games on BSkyB and broadband can be expected from the Lottery operator when the renewed licence comes into effect in 2009. Yorkshire-born Thompson's career started more than 30 years ago as a marketing trainee with the Co-operative Wholesale Society, followed by stints at ICI Paints and Woolworths. She sits on the Press Complaints Commission and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, The Marketing Society and The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
5. Roisin Donnelly, Procter & Gamble £ B
Donnelly, Procter & Gamble's corporate marketing director and head of marketing, has had another great year presiding over the UK's biggest advertiser. The period-drama fan is known as an instinctive marketer who loves working out what makes consumers tick. Donnelly is renowned for being approachable, and despite her lofty position, remains committed to training junior marketers. Despite the trend toward online advertising, Donnelly has warned that FMCG budgets will not follow until robust measurement techniques are in place.
6. Steven Sharp, Marks & Spencer C
The fact that Marks & Spencer managed to increase its annual profits to £1bn for the year to 29 March - the biggest since 1997/98 - was overshadowed by a management restructure in which chief executive Sir Stuart Rose flouted corporate best practice and upset investors by taking on the role of executive chairman. Nonetheless, it is testament to Rose, and, more particularly, his mercurial marketing director Steven Sharp, with whom he has worked as a double-act since they met at Debenhams in 1989, that the retailer has produced such stellar results. Although at face value it appeared that Sharp's role had been diluted following the appointment of head of clothing Kate Bostock and head of food Steven Esom as additional members of the board, this was a mere sop to the City and the Rose/Sharp axis remains as strong as ever. Yes, M&S faces challenges in the year ahead, but don't bet against it rising to meet them. Already, Sharp has announced that M&S will start trialling Heinz-branded food products in some of its high-street stores, while its decision to introduce a 5p charge for carrier bags for non-clothing goods was quickly aped by its rivals.
7. Mark Price, Waitrose i B C E
The energetic, self-styled 'chubby grocer' has ensured that Waitrose continues to punch above its weight in marketing finesse and brand reputation. Price has led the public agenda with policies that have real substance aimed at giving farmers a fair deal. This year the seasoned marketer has even moved to trademark his nickname - a testament to his rising profile. Not short of ambition, managing director Price has plans to make Waitrose a national player and banish perceptions that it is too pricey when compared with its rivals. The supermarket aims to double sales to £8bn by 2016, and with Price at the helm, rivals have good reason to feel nervous.
8. Gavin Patterson, BT £
BT's upward-looking consumer chief continued his rapid rise through the ranks last year, being promoted to chief executive of BT Retail as part of a reshuffle triggered by the departure of group chief executive Ben Verwaayen. Patterson is now responsible for the company's biggest division with annual revenues of more than £8bn. A product of Procter & Gamble's marketing hothouse, Patterson left the world of FMCG for the media industry when he joined Telewest, moving to BT in 2004 having risen to the position of managing director. In addition to launching the telecoms company's long-running consumer advertising campaign featuring 30-something character Adam, played by former My Family star Kris Marshall, Patterson is also responsible for helping the BT Broadband offering beat all expectations to sail past the 10m customer mark last year.
9. Jill McDonald, McDonald's £ B
McDonald's senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, UK and northern Europe, had a great 2007, which was widely recognised as the year of the Big Mac comeback. The world's biggest fast-food chain and one of its most controversial companies recorded a strong set of figures in the UK - its best for a decade and just shy of its best-ever. The UK operation managed to eclipse its counterpart in the US, where sales have been sluggish. McDonald has focused her efforts on crystallising the firm's policy on the thorny issue of marketing to children. Unlike her contemporaries at rivals such as Burger King, she has steadfastly refused to stop targeting children through advertising activity on the web, arguing that healthy foods account for 70% of the chain's Happy Meal offering.
10. Alan Bishop, COI £ i
Bishop remains the country's most creative civil servant and is firmly ensconced in his role as the COI's chief executive, which he took up five years ago. He has re-established the position of the COI internally and led a drive to make the government department more flexible. Agencies have tipped their hats to Bishop for sticking his neck out to invest in branded content and digital activity. The department also worked tirelessly on the successful bid campaign for London 2012.
11. Andy Duncan, Channel 4 B C
Recovering from a turbulent 2007 was always going to be the biggest challenge for the Channel 4 chief executive, but he has weathered the storms of controversies surrounding the Celebrity Big Brother racism row and phone-in scandals on flagship shows Deal or No Deal and Richard & Judy. Duncan received plenty of publicity earlier this year as he unveiled the 'Next on 4' statement of promises, a clear attempt by the broadcaster to make its case for retaining its public-service status in the digital age. Selling the vision for C4 requires a keen appetite for hard work and Duncan will be responsible for taking it into the next stage of its development. Those who have observed him in recent months have been left in no doubt that he still has great enthusiasm for the job in hand.
12. Amanda Mackenzie, Aviva C
Mackenzie, who has been a Power 100 regular since 2003 when she was director of marketing services at BT, moved to Aviva from British Gas earlier this year. The flame-haired marketer, having positioned the utilities company as the champion of energy efficiency, decided the time was right to move on and now faces a mammoth task at the insurance group. Last month, Aviva confirmed plans to phase out the Norwich Union brand name in the UK over the next two years. Under her remit as global group marketing director, Mackenzie is charged with rolling out the Aviva moniker, which it already uses in the majority of its international territories.
13. Catherine Sleight, Coca-Cola B
Straight-talking, Yorkshire-born Sleight may hold one of the highest-profile marketing roles in the UK as marketing director, Coca-Cola GB, but the iconic status of main brand Coke and the pressures from sustained consumer interest in healthy eating mean it is also one of the toughest. This year, Sleight has reinvigorated the Dr Pepper brand with its first TV campaign for four years; rolled out redesigned packaging for Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coca-Cola; and is preparing a summer launch of Glaceau, a mineral-water drink designed to finally rid the company of its Dasani headache. Ensuring the latter is a success will be her biggest challenge to date.
14. Philip Almond, Diageo £ B
Faced with demands for a pre-watershed ban on alcohol advertising, and tax hikes to combat binge drinking, Diageo's marketing director GB is operating in a tough market. It is fortunate, then, that the former Burger King marketer is known for his pragmatic, down-to-earth approach. Almond's level head and safe pair of hands will come in handy this year - core brands such as Baileys have suffered and the premium spirits market as a whole is stagnant. While the most iconic brand in Diageo's portfolio is surely Guinness, Almond's tipple is a cocktail.
15. Rupert Howell, ITV B
Having joined ITV last year as managing director of brand and commercial, Howell has also taken up the mantle of vice-chairman and director of the Advertising Association. Best-known as the man behind the 'You've been Tangoed' soft-drinks commercials, Howell's priority this year will be to build channel brands, despite deciding not to increase ITV's £15m advertising budget. ITV also has a string of online brand assets in Friends Reunited and ITV.com, and has begun devising marketing strategies that embrace the opportunities of the internet. Howell is considered the leading internal candidate to eventually take over from executive chairman Michael Grade following the surprise departure of managing director of global content Dawn Airey to Five.
16. Tim Davie, BBC B
The big news surrounding the BBC's low-profile director of marketing in the past 12 months has little to do with his performance at work and more to do with his earnings, when disclosure of figures in the TaxPayers' Alliance Public Sector Rich List 2007 revealed him to be the top-paid public sector communications officer, grossing £406,000. However, despite his short tenure at the BBC, supporters will say Davie, who is responsible for all marketing activity as well as the broadcaster's audience services department, is worth the money. He has taken a lead in growing the corporation's digital offering and the success of the iPlayer brand was a major achievement. BBC executives believe the iPlayer will become the industry standard in Britain and plan to launch it in the US this year.
17. Salman Amin, PepsiCo UK £ B
Martin Glenn's successor made a name for himself last year over his refusal to run PepsiCo ads around Celebrity Big Brother, in the wake of a race row that had blighted the previous series. The boycott forced Channel 4 to tighten up its editorial procedures and interventions policy to calm other brands' nerves over the series. Amin was promoted to president of PepsiCo UK and Ireland in 2005, making him the company's most senior international marketing executive, in charge of promoting all PepsiCo brands outside the US and Canada and confirming his position among the UK's marketing elite.
18. Angus McIver, Morrisons B
McIver's appointment last September as marketing and communications director, making him Morrisons' first board-level marketer, came as a surprise to many. However, the former Prudential marketing head has had a glittering first six months in the role. Morrisons' Christmas trading figures speak for themselves: the company reported its highest growth since its £3bn takeover of Safeway in 2004 following an increase in adspend to £29m in the final quarter of 2007, nearly a third more than that of Asda and Sainsbury's for the same period. McIver, who is charged with continuing the supermarket's £450m rebrand and co-ordinating its marketing functions, was chosen for his strength of insight and loyalty, areas in which Morrisons has previously invested little. The Scotsman's impressive CV includes six years at Procter & Gamble followed by 10 years at PepsiCo, before joining Prudential in 2003 as director of insight; he was promoted to head of marketing last April from his role as director of insurance, succeeding Alison Wright.
19. David Wheldon, Vodafone B
Vodafone's global director, brand and customer experience, has had a stellar career on both sides of the fence, with posts including European marketing director at Coca-Cola. Despite being at the helm of the UK's biggest-spending mobile brand, Wheldon has had an unsettled few months at Vodafone. The company's head of brand and marketing, Dominic Chambers, recently left as part of a senior management restructure that has cast an air of uncertainty over its UK marketing strategy. However, Wheldon is aiming to get things back on track with the latest instalment of the 'Make the most of now' TV campaign featuring McLaren Mercedes' Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. The company will also focus on its nascent WAP and mobile internet service, which is designed to make it easy for 10m Vodafone customers to access websites via their handsets.
20. Clare Salmon, RSA £ C
The marketer who famously acquired a shocking-pink Porsche to match her Gina slingbacks remains a colourful name in the industry. Since her much-publicised departure from ITV, where she was director of marketing and commercial strategy, Salmon has moved up the ladder to control marketing for insurance group RSA, which recently rebranded from Royal & SunAlliance, across 127 countries as group strategy, marketing and customer director. A keen horse-rider and polo player, Salmon is a member of the group's executive board and a non-executive director of Allianz Trust, the UK's biggest generalist investment trust business.
21. Phil Rumbol, Cadbury £ B
A drumming gorilla has become a symbol of the turnaround story at Cadbury, banishing the dark days of salmonella scares and 'racist' chewing-gum ads. Its marketing director has been on a virtual roller-coaster since joining the confectionery company in 2006, and for the moment he is riding high. However, the follow-up ad to 'Gorilla' - 'Trucks' - has not been as well-received, while choosing Joss Stone as the face of Flake may not be that inspired, as memories linger of her cringe-worthy appearance at last year's Brit Awards.
22. Rick Bendel, Asda £ B
Bendel's first full year as marketing director of the UK's second-biggest supermarket has produced market-beating monthly sales growth. With a performance like this, Asda has become the jewel in Wal-Mart's crown. Bendel has Asda in his blood; his love affair with the supermarket began 17 years ago when Archie Norman, then chief executive, recruited him as one of a series of experts for a surrogate board. Bendel went on to head Publicis, the agency that held the Asda account for 17 years. How the brand responds to a tightening of consumer belts will be Bendel's next challenge.
23. Paul Geddes, Royal Bank of Scotland £ B
As well as being the man to hassle for Six Nations rugby tickets, Geddes has also built himself a steely reputation as a financial marketer. The firm's chief executive of consumer banking is a popular figure on the marketing circuit, and climbs our Power 100 as a result of moving the NatWest and RBS brands in a more customer-focused direction. The Oxford graduate has had a colourful and diverse career, leaving him with a CV that encompasses many of the country's leading brands. He undertook stints on Pampers and Max Factor at Procter & Gamble, before taking on the head marketing jobs at Comet, Superdrug and Argos.
24. Sally Cowdry, O2 B
One of the most career-focused women in the business, 39-year-old Cowdry has been striving to make a name for herself since taking up the marketing director position at the mobile network in August 2006. Most recently, Cowdry has repositioned the operator's UK marketing activity under the strapline 'We're better, connected', representing its most significant strategic shift since its launch in 2001. This followed a busy 18 months, during which the Millennium Dome was rebranded as 20,000-seat venue The O2, which has since hosted concerts by Prince and Led Zeppelin. O2 Bluebook, a social networking site enabling users to publish their 'mobile lives' on the web, was launched in March this year. Cowdry's biggest challenge for the year ahead will be to ensure that O2 continues to stand out from rival network operators in an ever-more competitive market.
25. James Kydd, Virgin Media B
There is no doubt that 2007 has been a challenging year for Kydd, whose employer has faced an unprecedented marketing assault from rival BSkyB. The hard graft that went into the Virgin Media launch secures the marketing director's place in the Power 100. A bold marketer, he swooped to clinch the Big Brother sponsorship in the wake of the show's racism scandal. Against a backdrop of rising customer figures for Virgin Media - it attracted 24,000 in the last three months of 2007 - Kydd's strategy will be at the heart of the drive to reach a target of 5m by the end of the decade.
26. Nigel Gilbert, Lloyds TSB B
Rising up the ranks this year, Gilbert's success reflects the mark he has made on the Lloyds TSB brand since his arrival as group marketing director two years ago. Among his achievements have been securing the brand's position as the official banking and insurance partner of the London 2012 Olympics, and the introduction of the bank's customer proposition 'For the journey', which has received heavy TV exposure. Before joining the bank, Gilbert enjoyed a varied career in advertising, culminating in the position of chairman and chief executive of Lowe Asia Pacific.
27. Martin Glenn, Iglo Birds Eye C E
Alpha-marketer Glenn has had an eventful year as the chief executive of Iglo Birds Eye. Despite having moved out of advertising some years ago, Glenn retains a keen interest in the discipline. This resulted in the ousting of Bartle Bogle Hegarty as the brand's advertising agency in favour of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, with which he worked in his former role as PepsiCo president. Known for having a hands-on approach to marketing, Glenn oversaw the roll-out of a £25m marketing campaign for Birds Eye featuring Madness frontman Suggs.
28. Chris Townsend, LOCOG i
There is no doubt that Townsend has a big job on his hands now the afterglow of London's successful Olympic bid has been clouded by the PR disaster of the torch relay. The ex-Transport for London marketer's task as commercial director is to raise £2bn to fund the operational costs of London 2012. Well-respected in the industry, Townsend worked in TV for 12 years and held senior roles at BSkyB, where he rose to the position of customer marketing director.
29. Philip Hanson, HBOS B
They may continue to rate highly in lists of the most irritating ads, but the Halifax TV spots featuring Howard Brown and his entourage of all-singing, all-dancing colleagues have lasted a long time. The mastermind behind the campaign is not a man to embrace the spotlight, but he has one of the most complete CVs in the business. Hanson was brand manager of Kit Kat and worldwide brand director of Johnnie Walker in the 80s; a marketing director for PepsiCo in Germany and France in the 90s; and has risen from general manager of group marketing at Halifax to his present director's role at HBOS. It remains to be seen how Halifax's advertising review will affect its future strategy.
30. Lorraine Twohill, Google B
Lorraine Twohill arrived in the UK from her native Ireland in 1999, and planned to stay for just two years. However, she now seems firmly settled at Google, which she joined in 2003, and where she is now vice-president of marketing, EMEA. The experienced practitioner was previously head of marketing at online travel firm Opodo, where she led the launch of the company across Europe. In her current position she oversees all Google's consumer and business marketing in the EMEA region.
31. Kevin Brennan, Kellogg B
Kellogg's proud and consistent use of traditional techniques has not prevented marketing director Brennan from trialling buzz marketing for the launch of its FruitaBu brand. This is one of a series of innovations with which the avid Nottingham Forest supporter is involved this year. Other plans include linking up with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to promote the government's healthy-eating messages, particularly regarding salt, on Kellogg packaging. This initiative is all the more notable given Kellogg's history of clashing with the FSA over its use of GDAs, rather than the organisation's favoured traffic-light system.
32. Ken Wood, Weetabix
The Weetabix chief executive has firm control of the breakfast cereal brand, which has continued to grow and was ranked 38th overall in last year's Biggest Brands Survey by TNS Worldpanel. Wood, who claims to eat three Weetabix a day for breakfast, has boosted new product development at the group with the launch of oat-based brand Oatibix. The former group managing director at Muller Dairy has also been leading an innovative marketing approach with the 'Weetabix challenge', which encourages people to eat the cereal all week.
33. Sara Weller, Argos B
As managing director of ubiquitous catalogue shop Argos, Weller has faced a tough year as consumers tighten their purse strings. The former Sainsbury's deputy managing director has worked hard to ditch Argos' 'chav' image. This year, it launched its biggest catalogue to date. Running to 1778 pages and containing 18,000 products, the catalogue included the addition of a range of premium brands. The former Mars marketer started at the confectionery company on the same day as Sainsbury's Justin King.
34. Peter Kenyon, Chelsea FC
Since the arrival of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich at Chelsea Football Club five years ago, it has become increasingly difficult to tell the monkeys from the organ grinders at Stamford Bridge. One man who clearly does hold sway is chief executive Peter Kenyon. The man credited with the development of the Manchester United brand made some swashbuckling statements about the Blues' plans for global domination and now has the task of backing them up. Most recently, Kenyon was seen braving the weather and protesters at the Olympic Torch Relay, taking part in the procession through London as a guest of club sponsor Samsung.
35. Troy Warfield, Kimberly-Clark £
Warfield has been keen to revitalise Kimberly-Clark since he joined in October 2006 as general manager UK & Ireland, having spent 18 years in sales and marketing roles at Unilever. As well as overhauling the company's marketing approach, with a greater focus on digital, he has also moved to ramp up new product development. Last year Kimberly-Clark launched its longest Andrex product, based on the less-than-earth-shattering, albeit useful, insight that people don't like having to change toilet rolls.
36. Chris Jansen, British Gas £ B
While Jansen does not enjoy the same high profile of some of his predecessors, as the gas brand doubles its spend this year, he is set to become an important figure in the marketing community as managing director of the premier energy division. Jansen became British Gas' top marketer following the departure of Amanda McKenzie, who jumped ship to Aviva. A former head of loyalty at British Airways, he was also a managing director of AirMiles. Jansen now oversees British Gas' estimated £70m marketing spend and is focusing on establishing its green credentials in the face of growing competition from EDF. However, his real challenge will be restoring public faith in the brand following unprecedented price increases.
37. Jenelle Tilling, KFC £ B
The effervescent Tilling is a jetsetter, but has vowed to stay in the UK at least until she masters her favourite sport, golf. The KFC vice-president of marketing worked at Yum! Brands companies in the UK, US and Canada before returning to these shores in 2006. After turning around the business in her first year, the willowy Aussie has continued her good work and turned her attention to menu innovations such as higher-value boneless chicken. KFC's decision to enter the competitive breakfast market with KFC A.M. will also test Tilling's marketing reserves.
38. David Kisilevsky, Burger King B
The fast-food chain's vice-president of marketing for EMEA has been making the headlines with a series of eye-catching innovations designed to reposition Burger King as a 'casual diner', hence his debut in the Power 100. Having previously handled the McDonald's business at ad agency Leo Burnett, Kisilevsky has extensive knowledge of the sector, which he has been putting to good use. Some may have knocked Burger King's introduction of an £85 Kobe beef special and a 6 Pack 'sharing' burger, not to mention its use of exotic ingredients such as tiger prawns and guacamole, as little more than stunts, but its rivals have had to take notice. Indeed, Kisilevsky's decision to offer Cumberland sausage and premium back bacon in its breakfast rolls stole a march on McDonald's, which promptly changed its own offering to use back bacon instead of streaky.
39. Fiona Dawson, Mars B
This Mars stalwart was unwittingly thrust into the public spotlight this year following the spectacular PR disaster that was the company's decision to drop whey in some of its chocolate in favour of rennet, an animal enzyme. An outcry from vegetarians led to a U-turn by Mars, which admitted it had received more than 6000 complaints within days of the announcement. Critics will wait to see if the decision to bring back the 'Work, rest and play' strapline for Mars Bar shows a lack of imagination or a marketing masterstroke by Mars UK's managing director.
40. Iain Newell, Heineken B
Injecting innovation into beer marketing is never easy, but this has been Newell's goal over the past year in his role as marketing director Heineken UK. Last June he took the brand back to TV after a two-year break to try to persuade British beer drinkers to adopt the Continental way of drinking lager - in smaller measures and with a bigger head. The campaign, the first for Heineken by the agency The Red Brick Road, introduced the strapline 'Get your head right and the rest will follow'. Also on the innovation front, Newell has overseen the roll-out in the UK of the DraughtKeg, which allows consumers to drink premium-quality draught beer at home. As the Scottish & Newcastle acquisition goes through, giving Heineken control of the company's brands in the UK, there is growing speculation that Newell is set to take the top job.
41. Patrick Allen, Co-operative Group B
Allen has had a lot to deal with in his first months as marketing director of the Co-operative Group. Having arrived from United Co-operatives when it merged with the Co-op last July, he was immediately charged with overseeing a £200m rebrand and refit of its 4200 stores, aimed at reviving the chain and shifting it upmarket - no mean feat in light of the competition it faces from the 'big four' supermarkets. Allen, who beat his counterpart at the Co-op, Zoe Morgan, to the top job, was not completely on board with the strategy shift during his time as United's marketing director, but has been working hard to add his own ideas to the mix. The biggest test of Allen's marketing career so far will come should the Co-operative acquire Somerfield, which could raise his relatively anonymous industry profile.
42. Richard Tolley, Dairy Crest B
Tolley's obsession with consistency and accountability in marketing seems to have wowed the bosses at the dairy company. He continues to ascend the Dairy Crest ladder and was last year promoted to the new role of group marketing development director, which allows him a strategic overview of the brand's marketing activity. He has overseen the rise of Cathedral City, which overtook Dairylea for the first time last year to become the UK's favourite cheese brand, posting sales of £138m, according to Nielsen Research. Tolley would probably be the first to admit that he is not exactly an emotionally driven marketer, but cross him at your peril; he is said to have a temper and is prone to acerbic comments if people do not meet his exacting standards.
43. Jeremy Davies, Abbey
Davies, who was hired by Abbey in 2003, makes his debut here as he successfully implements the bank's rebranding to Santander. He began his career at J Walter Thompson in 1990 and, after working in Amsterdam and Sydney, became the founder and managing director of JWT's brand and digital consultancy before leaving for cable group NTL, where he rose to marketing director. Bluff, well-spoken and entertaining, Davies is never happier than out in the field with a shotgun under his arm.
44. David Pemsel, ITV B
When Rupert Howell arrived as Pemsel's boss in October, there were some who thought the latter would get the push. They were wrong. Pemsel has created a distinct identity for ITV's digital channels. The group marketing director has also been busy on the agency front, recently appointing Bartle Bogle Hegarty to ITV's £20m ad account. Pemsel oversees ITV's marketing strategy across its portfolio, including on- and off-air promotion, press and publicity. He also sits on the board of Freeview and commercial TV trade body Thinkbox.
45. Kevin Peake, Npower B
Peake is one of the biggest personalities in the energy sector and relishes the task of taking on market-leader British Gas. Over the past year the head of customer marketing has introduced a number of firsts for Britain's self-proclaimed 'brightest energy company'. In March, it put its green energy package, Npower Juice, at the heart of a national TV advertising push; a month later it introduced its first bundled package, which offers a home boiler service alongside gas and electricity. However, old habits die hard and earlier this year Npower returned to its strategy of attacking British Gas in the first TV push for its Hometeam service. An avid sports fan, Peake enjoys entertaining clients at cricket matches, rugby union fixtures and in the Npower corporate box, level with the halfway line at Wembley Stadium.
46. Peter Duffy, Audi B
Unusually for a leading marketer in the automotive sector, Duffy has no background in the car business. When poached from Barclays to become Audi's head of marketing last July, his immediate task was to oversee the launch of Audi's new R8 sports model. True to his background as a marketer, rather than a car enthusiast, he has been keen to develop the Audi brand across all platforms. Duffy's tenure has seen the Volkswagen-owned marque really kick on in the digital marketing space, in particular with a big online campaign to support the release of the A4. The Audi TV channel, launched in 2005, remains at the heart of Duffy's strategy, and he recently gained a place for the channel on broadcaster Freeview's Top-Up TV service. His methods are reflected in a successful start to the year for Audi - UK sales for the year to date are up 5% on 2007.
47. Suzanne Douglas, Heinz B
Having spent three years as the general manager of marketing at Heinz Australia, Douglas' critics claim she was surprised by the colossal trading power of the UK supermarket giants. However, since the chief marketing officer's arrival in 2006 the brand has stabilised its business and picked up a clutch of creative awards for its ad campaigns. Crucially, 2007 was the year in which Heinz finally addressed its lacklustre new product development programme, leading to the launch of its Big Eat pasta meals. However, the decision to switch the production of HP Sauce from Birmingham to Holland also ensured negative headlines for the brand. Douglas, whose favourite food is apparently foie gras, may not embody the brand but has certainly stopped Heinz from resting on its laurels.
48. Katie Vanneck, Times Media B
Vanneck has made a return to her old stomping ground at Times Media, after rejoining the company she had worked for as a graduate trainee in 1996. Vanneck left Telegraph Media Group in June last year, where she had been marketing director at The Daily Telegraph, to take the role of sales and marketing director at Times Media, replacing Simon Bell. Seen by many as a marketer with vision, Vanneck has responsibility for all customer strategy and communication across the range of Times Media platforms: newspapers, products and digital. She courted controversy within weeks of her appointment when it emerged that Times Media had moved its £15m advertising account out of 12-year incumbent RKCR/Y&R in favour of CHI & Partners, with which Vanneck had worked at The Telegraph.
49. Marc Sands, The Guardian B
The Guardian has continued to outperform the market in both circulation and marketing finesse. The erudite Sands commands respect in the industry and is happy to speak his mind - a rarity in the corporate media landscape. It has been another busy year for the marketing director, who unveiled a creative strategy for The Guardian and appointed its agency, Wieden & Kennedy, to The Observer account. Sands, who sits on the Guardian News and Media board, began his career in advertising before moving to Granada/LWT as marketing director.
50. Gary Hockey-Morley, Post Office NEW
We have Hockey-Morley to thank for bringing the likes of Westlife to the Post Office in its celebrity-studded ad campaign. Despite the looming spectre of further branch closures, the Post Office's down-to-earth marketing director has shown the benefits of continuing to invest in the brand. Having scrapped the long-running 'Ants' campaign and moved the brand's account to Mother, Hockey-Morley has overseen a cultural shift at the Post Office and is happy to take a back seat to the brand.
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