Marketing & digital director, No7 Beauty Company
When Walgreen Boots Alliance decided to spin out some of Boots’ leading beauty brands, No7, Soap & Glory, Liz Earle and Botanics were split into a separate business unit, with Richard Bowden called upon to take the lead on marketing.
Having previously worked as brand and marketing director for Unilever-owned TIGI, Bowden brought with him a wealth of experience in building brand equity and has channelled that into driving demand for Boots' brands outside their retail heartland over the last four years.
He's achieved that through focusing on what he calls “the fundamentals”, which include consumer-centricity and distinctiveness. The reveal for No7’s 12-piece Pro Artist collection, for example, took place at an immersive pop-up at London’s Westfield to highlight its affordable luxury. Its No7 Menopause range and service has also made big waves, as has its award-winning Future Renew product line, which has become the biggest beauty launch and franchise in the UK.
A dedicated mentor, Bowden is also passionate about developing talent and is a member of the Boots diversity and inclusion leadership team.
CMO and cofounder, Ghostdog Pets
It takes vision (and a steady hand) to encourage consumers to use less of your product. But that’s exactly what Ecover and Method’s recently departed head of brand marketing and innovation, Joanna Botwood, signed off on earlier this year, with its ‘Waste No Space’ campaign. The out-of-home ads encouraged consumers to load up dishwashers ‘like the car on moving day’ or a carry-on suitcase to hammer home the message, “if it’s not full, it’s wasteful”, all part of its mission to help people reduce their environmental impact.
The campaign was lauded as “visual, simple and distinctive” and spoke to Botwood’s clarity, credibility and commitment in building a brand that genuinely sticks to its ethical and environmental principles, and in so doing continues to grow its loyal fanbase.
When it comes to leadership, she believes four attributes are critical to make brands shine: clarity, creativity, confidence and courage. These are skills she learnt in her nearly 15 years working at brands including Bacardi and SABMiller. And they are skills she will also be bringing to her new role as CMO and cofounder of pet care group Ghostdog, which she left Ecover and Method to take on full time this year.
Joanna
Botwood
richard
bowden
Chief growth and marketing officer, Unilever
Unilever raised a few eyebrows earlier this year when it announced it would increase spend on content creators to engage consumers it says are sceptical of traditional marketing techniques. And marketing boss Esi Eggleston Bracey has wasted no time implementing that increasingly social-first strategy across Unilever’s brands.
Speaking at Cannes Lions in June, she said there’s been a “fundamental” change in Unilever’s approach, with the method of “one-off” creatives broadcast to consumers having been usurped by using creators’ voices to build trust and credibility. It isn’t the only change, with the Unilever marketing leader embracing AI tools, designed to free up her local teams for more strategic work.
A fresh perspective was exactly what Unilever's former CEO Hein Schumacher said he was looking for when he promoted Eggleston Bracey to her current role in 2023. Despite previously being president of Unilever’s USA business and CEO of the business’s personal care arm in North America, Bracey has brought a breath of fresh air to the company’s marketing leadership and embraced the challenges of modern marketing.
Chief growth officer, Kimberly-Clark
Born in Brazil, before spells living in the UK, Netherlands, Mexico and Switzerland, Patricia Corsi has crafted a career dedicated to building global brands. She’s had roles spanning Unilever, Heineken and Bayer, before joining Kimberly-Clark as its chief growth officer in July 2024, tasked with working her magic across its portfolio, which includes Kleenex, Huggies and Andrex.
She has focused on creating a growth strategy underpinned by performance and partnership across her team, with creative that turns its roster of household essentials into a talking point. This year, that included a new star-studded campaign for its bladder leakage protection brand Poise, with actress Katherine Heigl taking on the starring role in an advert that injected humour and removed taboo.
Corsi also finds time to share her vast learnings with aspiring marketers, having been a guest speaker for undergrad and MBA students at the likes of New York University and the Kellogg School of Management. She’s also the founder of ‘Good Latinas for Good’, a not-for-profit that supports 100,000 Latin women to take their next step professionally.
Patricia
Corsi
Esi Eggleston Bracey
Head of marketing for Northern Europe, Kenvue
Formerly the consumer healthcare division of Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue has been fully independent since 2023, with head of marketing for Northern Europe, Angeliki Kazantzidi,
overseeing marketing for a diverse stable of consumer goods brands that includes Aveeno, Benadryl, Johnson's, Listerine and Neutrogena.
Having spent more than half her career in various roles with Johnson & Johnson prior to the split, Kazantzidi brings with her an intimate understanding of what makes those brands tick, and has already used that to make a strong case for investment. In 2024, the business said it would put another $100m (£78.75m) behind marketing following a solid start to the year and having saved a substantial amount of cash from cost efficiencies.
As a leader, Kazantzidi has also focused on building what she calls “conscious inclusion” at Kenvue, creating a robust framework and action plan that both she and her team follow in a bid to drive out stereotypes and unconscious biases from their decision-making.
CMO, Karo Healthcare
The power of Karo Healthcare’s brands, such as E45 and Lamisil, was demonstrated by a recent change of owner. US private equity firm KKR agreed to acquire the business for a reported €2.65bn (£2.29bn) in April, putting the valuation far higher than the €1.4bn (£1.2bn) agreed when former owner EQT took it private in 2022. This means Karo Healthcare has driven significant value to its business over the last few years, an achievement in which CMO Anna Hale has played more than a small role.
There have been more changes besides since Hale joined the business in 2021. The following year, Karo acquired E45 from Reckitt for £200m, a deal Hale immediately leveraged to deliver bold creative. The brand has been activating consistently since then, with its campaign highlighting skin changes for trans people earning it award recognition, as well as positioning it as a champion of diversity and inclusion.
While new ownership may bring about more changes for the company, Hale is more than ready to embrace these and continue her push towards driving brand-led growth.
Anna
Hale
Angeliki Kazantzidi
International marketing director, Elf Beauty
The rapid growth of cosmetics brand Elf in recent years has plenty to do with the fact its international marketing director, Ancella Thomas-Evans, has been helping to reframe the brand as an entertainment provider as much as a beauty business. It was an early adopter of social platforms, including TikTok, Twitch and BeReal, for example, and has delved deeper into entertainment ventures with the release of a 16-track ‘Get Ready With Music’ album in late 2024. Thomas-Evans understands that building online communities and showing up where trends are being set is what will stand it apart.
The approach builds on Elf’s legacy as a disruptive force in the beauty industry, unafraid to push boundaries and take risks. She says marketing is at the centre of everything Elf does, with around a quarter of its total net sales reinvested back into marketing and digital to ensure it is able to take this test and learn approach.
And all that boldness and risk-taking has been handsomely rewarded, with Elf recording its 26th consecutive quarter of growth for the three months ending 30 June.
CMO, Haleon
In a tough economic environment, in which brands are constantly being challenged to demonstrate growth, Haleon’s chief marketing officer Tamara Rogers has found the silver lining: a rekindled relationship between CMO and CEO. This has been possible through using data to demonstrate the power of marketing, something she argues has been one of the greatest opportunities of the last decade, and one which turns senior marketers into power partners.
Haleon was formed in 2022, after GSK spun off what was its consumer healthcare business. Rogers has proven herself instrumental in the first few years for the standalone business. She was tasked with creating a new brand from scratch, which included 11 months of rigorous testing, and ensuring no credibility was lost with healthcare providers that saw some brands as synonymous with the GSK name.
It's a process that a resilient Rogers has likened to “building a racing car while driving at 100mph”, something she has expertly handled while also dealing with many of the macro uncertainties facing the sector in recent years.
Tamara Rogers
Ancella Thomas-Evans
Marketing and digital director – consumer brands, Henkel
Following an internal restructure that saw its laundry, homecare and beauty divisions merge into one consumer brands business unit, a more streamlined Henkel says marketing has taken on an elevated role across the business, with Nikki Vadera, its marketing and digital director for consumer goods, leading the charge.
A creative and agile marketer, she oversees brands, including Schwarzkopf, Live, Bloo and Colour Catcher, and isn’t afraid to make bold moves.
Most recently, that’s included a partnership between Henkel’s Dylon Detergent, London Fashion Week, and the British Fashion Council. The brand collaborated with fashion designer Roksanda to showcase its ‘triple renew technology’ on archived fabrics used in three outfits in the autumn/winnter 2025 collection, capturing behind-the-scenes content on the tie-up to share across social channels and hosting a ‘Rethink New Laundrette’ pop-up.
It all feeds into Vadera’s plans to build a “powerhouse” of brands following the restructure. With operating profit increasing by 20.9% to €3.1bn (£2.7bn) in its 2024 financial year, it reinforces the impact that mission is having.
Chief brand and experience officer, Mars Petcare
Hailed by the business as an “exceptional marketer known for building strong, diverse and inclusive teams”, Najoh Tita-Reid was brought on as Mars Petcare’s first chief brand and experience officer in November 2023. She was tasked with accelerating its digital transformation and driving growth across its roster of legacy pet brands.
It’s never easy taking on an inaugural position, but Tita-Reid brought with her a wealth of experience. Prior to Mars, she spent nearly four years at Logitech, responsible for worldwide marketing, brand equity, creative, branded and direct-to-consumer ecommerce sites, and marketing transformation across 120 countries. That followed stints in healthcare, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods sectors, through roles at Bayer, Merck, GlobalHue and P&G.
She’s channelled all that insight into her role at Mars Petcare over the past 12 months, crafting a mission-driven marketing strategy via its platform business.
Educating pet owners is a key part of the strategy, with initiatives such as The Wildest forum for new pet owners, and its Adopt a Pet platform, looking to carve a space for the business in consumers’ everyday lives.
Najoh Tita-Reid
Nikki Vadera
new
FMCG
Maria Novell
Teresa Parker
Claire Sadler
Nick
Wright
new
new
re-entry
new
new
new
Sian Hartstill
Anthony
Newman
Philip Almond
Simon Beresford
Warren Fiveash
Rosalind Goates
new
TRAVEL, LEISURE & sport
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, UTILITIES, HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES
Media, telecoms & entertainment
GENERAL RETAIL
FOOD & DRINK RETAIL
Food & drink
FMCG
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Consumer tech, property & automotive
Charities & not-for-profit
analysis
methodology
judges
