Chief customer & marketing officer, EasyJet
It was another strong year for EasyJet in 2024, reporting annual profits of £610m – a 34% boost versus 2023. The success has continued in 2025, with its most recent quarterly profit up £50m year-on-year. Leading the marketing agenda is Robert Birge, who oversaw an 11% increase in sales and marketing spend in 2024 to £257m.
Under Birge’s leadership, EasyJet is embracing a more flexible, innovative model for marketing delivery. Last November, the airline announced the launch of Parasol Studio, a new in-house creative hub designed to streamline campaign design, copy, video, translation and publishing – all in service of EasyJet’s strategic ambition to “deliver ease”.
That thinking has also reshaped EasyJet’s advertising. Its ‘Big Orange Sale’ campaign has marked a deliberate move away from traditional ‘big shoot’ formats, embracing modular, short-form content created by a network of creators across Europe. Birge’s team has also executed some innovative recruitment campaigns over the past 18 months to tackle outdated stereotyping, including a ‘talking billboard’ featuring an EasyJet pilot.
Marketing & commercial director, Wimbledon
Attracting new, younger audiences around the world is a top priority for Wimbledon, and Usama Al-Qassab is leading the charge. One of the tournament’s most distinctive initiatives returned last year for a third successive outing: a recreation of the iconic Wimbledon Hill in New York. Set against the backdrop of Brooklyn Bridge, the free event gave New Yorkers the chance to watch the finals live on a big screen, with singer Nicole Scherzinger performing a concert on opening night.
While live TV sport viewership is reportedly falling by around 7% annually, Wimbledon is growing – a trend Al-Qassab credits to efforts like this to engage younger audiences in new and unexpected ways.
This summer, Wimbledon unveiled a new brand platform, ‘There is only one Wimbledon’, created with new creative agency VCCP. The global campaign highlighted the tournament’s “special magic” and unique psychological intensity through a bold hero film and supporting activations. Other recent initiatives include Wimbledon’s first official esports tournament and Championing Nature – a community programme launched in partnership with Emirates.
Usama Al-Qassab
Robert Birge
Vice-president of marketing – Adidas
Roy Gardner has demonstrated a clear passion for sports marketing, having built his career around some of the sector’s most recognisable names. With senior roles at Reebok, Helly Hansen and Leeds United under his belt, he returned to Adidas in 2016, where he now leads marketing for Europe. His guiding principle? Finding “the sweet spot that combines the art and the science” to drive real business impact.
That mindset has proven valuable during a crucial phase for Adidas, which is midway through a global turnaround under CEO Bjørn Gulden. In 2024, marketing spend rose 12% to €2.84bn (£2.4bn), fuelling a brand revival that delivered a 12% uplift in sales. Adidas also launched new brand platform ‘You Got This’, expanded its presence at major sporting events, including the UEFA Euros and Paris Olympics, and it added new partnerships with the French Rugby Federation and Premier League football team Aston Villa. FC.
Momentum has continued into 2025, with Q1 marketing investment up 14% and revenue up 13%. As Nike stumbles, Gardner is helping Adidas push for global category leadership.
Sales & marketing director, Great Western Railway (GWR)
Amanda Burns returned to Great Western Railway (GWR) in January 2023, bringing with her deep sector knowledge. She spent four years at GWR previously, from 2016, leading its now-iconic Famous Five campaign, which is credited with generating £200m in revenue and 14.9 million additional journeys, as well as driving record brand awareness and NPS.
Nearly a decade on, the campaign is still going strong. Burns, a firm believer in the power of consistency, launched the latest iteration of the platform in March this year. ‘A Thrilling Engagement’ quickly became one of the year’s most loved ads, topping System1’s creative testing for predicted long-term effects. Last year, research by System1 and the IPA held up GWR as the UK’s most consistent brand.
Now overseeing marketing, revenue, pricing, research and external comms, Burns leads a team tightly aligned on performance evaluation and forecasting. Other recent activity includes a Paddington-themed train livery to mark the release of Paddington in Peru, reflecting GWR’s long-standing with the nation’s favourite bear.
Amanda Burns
Roy Gardner
CMO, Center Parcs UK & Ireland
March 2025 marked a step change for both Sara Holt and Center Parcs. Taking on her first board-level role, Holt became the company’s CMO, a new position created to unlock what the business describes as “huge opportunities”. She’s now leading efforts to elevate the marketing and product experience, with a focus on driving both long- and short-term growth.
Holt brings a strong track record of commercial and creative impact. In her previous role at Merlin Entertainments, she led a 150-strong team, managed a £30m marketing budget and oversaw a £700m P&L. She helped return the business to visitor growth post-pandemic and launched its first enterprise-wide brand campaign last year, uniting household names like Alton Towers and the London Eye under one identity in a “milestone” moment.
A fellow of the Marketing Academy and active member of WACL’s campaigning committee, Holt is also a champion of inclusion and mentors talent from marginalised groups. Being on the Center Parcs board, she’s now focused on building her influencing skills – recognising that leadership at the top demands a shift in approach.
CMO & executive director, On the Beach
Almost five years into her role, Zoe Harris has helped reposition On the Beach from a bargain-focused brand to a more premium, but still accessible, travel platform. Her mission to “decommodify” the brand has seen significant investment in its proposition, its loyalty offer, and bold campaigns featuring ambassador Paddy McGuinness.
The results speak for themselves. In 2024, group pre-tax profit rose 84% to £26.5m, while revenue increased by 14% to £128.2m. Harris has delivered this growth while improving marketing efficiency. Although total spend rose to £40.1m, marketing as a percentage of revenue fell for the second consecutive year. It’s part of a clear shift to brand building and effectiveness, with the brand maintaining high levels of awareness and consideration.
That efficiency is mirrored in how the marketing team operates. Under Harris’s leadership, On the Beach now focuses on one campaign at a time – a strategy rooted in “ruthless prioritisation”. Her status on the board reflects marketing’s central role in the business – and her success in making it a core driver of value and long-term growth.
Zoe Harris
Sara Holt
CMO, Formula E
Ellie Norman pulled into electric car championship Formula E as CMO in October 2024, following a two-year stint as chief communications officer at Manchester United. CEO Jeff Dodds describes her role as being akin to “chief noise officer”, charged with helping Formula E become the fastest growing motorsport on the planet.
Norman has wasted no time. Since joining, she has launched ‘Formula E: Driver’, a behind-the-scenes docuseries streaming on Amazon Prime, and the AI-powered Formula E Stats Centre, built to supercharge the fan experience with interactive, accessible insights. She also championed Formula E’s first all-women test session for an FIA World Championship – a step towards a more inclusive future in motorsport.
Norman sees Formula E not just as a sport, but as a platform for change. Under her leadership, the brand is seeking out partners who want to test innovation, activate sustainability and connect with the “electrified generation” through active participation, not passive exposure.
An active industry voice, Norman is also a non-executive director at The Marketing Society and a mentor with The Marketing Academy.
Vice-president of brand & marketing, Trainline
Jo McClintock joined Trainline in 2021 from Skyscanner, and since then has helped drive major commercial and brand growth. Ticket sales reached nearly £6bn in the year to February 2025, up 12% year on year, while adjusted EBITDA rose 30% to £159m. The business now serves 27 million active customers, with both its customer base and transaction frequency on the rise.
In the last year, McClintock’s marketing team has expanded Trainline’s ‘I Came By Train’ brand platform by partnering with Premier League clubs and Glastonbury Festival to promote eco-conscious fan journeys. ‘Bums on Board’ followed in early 2025 – a punky, tongue-in-cheek campaign fronted by comedian Asim Chaudhry.
Behind the scenes, McClintock has scaled Trainline’s marketing team sevenfold across five markets and significantly increased brand investment, all while quadrupling brand metrics. The marketing boss combines strategic thinking with commercial rigour and creative ambition. A believer in consistency, culture and “absolute clarity of direction”, she sees strong board relationships and honest conversations as key to long-term brand growth.
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McClintock
Ellie
Norman
Managing director, Paddy Power Online
After leading marketing at Paddy Power over the past seven and a half years, Michelle Spillane was promoted to managing director of Paddy Power Online in September. In her new role, she will be responsible for bringing together the betting business's brand, marketing and commercial teams.
She believes we’re “at the cusp” of a technological revolution that will make it harder for brands to cut through, reinforcing her long-held belief in the power of great creative.
That belief paid off in last year’s marketing activity. Paddy Power’s UEFA Euros campaign, starring Danny Dyer, was named the most effective Euros ad by System1, scoring 5.9 stars. Momentum continued at Christmas, with its “very successful” sponsorship of the World Darts Championship. The sponsorship included ‘The Bigger 180’ campaign, now in its second year, which raised over £1m for Prostate Cancer UK and prompted 180,000 men to get checked.
Overall, parent company Flutter Entertainment achieved a four percentage point market share gain from 2022 to 2024 in the UK and Ireland. It continued to perform strongly in H1 2025, with net income of $372m (£274m), up from $120m (£88m) year on year.
Regional marketing director EMEA, Airbnb
Regional marketing boss Lulu Skinner has been at Airbnb for nearly a decade. Her promotion to her current role in 2021 coincided with the business ramping up its investment in brand building.
Now firmly embedded, Airbnb’s leadership credits that brand investment with accelerating growth. Revenue rose 13% year on year in the second quarter of 2025, following a strong 2024 in which annual revenue topped $11bn (£8.1bn). The number of nights and experiences booked also rose by 7% in Q2, reaching 134 million.
This year marks the start of a major transformation for the business. With a refreshed proposition to be “more than just stays", Airbnb is evolving into a full travel and lifestyle platform. It launched Airbnb Services, Airbnb Experiences, Airbnb Originals and a redesigned app, supported by a global ad campaign and a number of social-only films.
Marketing will play a central role in scaling these new offerings this year. With most of a planned $250m (£199m) investment earmarked for marketing and product development, Airbnb aims to “replant the flag” of what its brand stands for, focusing on connections beyond travel.
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