media, telecoms
& entertainment
CMO, Channel 4 (for work at BT)
Zaid Al-Qassab
In his final year at BT Group, Zaid Al-Qassab continued his efforts to move the group’s brands towards being more customer-orientated and having a meaningful place in consumers’ lives. That experience will prepare him well for a new role at Channel 4. Earlier this year, BT announced it had signed a deal with the Football Association to sponsor the England team, an effort to show consumers the role the company plays in their lives – beyond being what its marketing and communications director called an “ornamental brand”.
Al-Qassab would have also had input into the launch of BT’s ‘convergence network’, which saw BT, EE and Plusnet bring together their broadband, mobile and content offerings, and the launch of a number of products including smart home, family plans and streaming partnerships with Now TV and Amazon Prime. This was another attempt to resonate deeper with customers. Al-Qassab is also a non-executive director and member of the Advertising Standards Authority Council, a trustee of WaterAid and helps men’s health charity Movember.
Anna Bateson
Chief customer officer, Guardian News and Media
Finding an alternative to a paywall or advertiser-funded content has kept Anna Bateson busy. It has also kept both readers and the business happy at The Guardian, whose approach to supporter-funded journalism has defied all expectations. Since joining the media firm in 2017, Bateson led its 2018 rebrand and redesign and was heavily involved in its move towards supporter-led journalism.
Its ‘pay what you feel’ strategy helped The Guardian break even for the first time in the financial year 2018/19. Bateson has previously stressed the importance of “innovation and experimentation” in helping compensate for declining revenue. Success can be attributed in part to its emphasis on open and independent journalism. She says marketing The Guardian as a “safe space” for integrity has contributed to its resurgence. Bateson and her colleagues have shown other news brands that paywalls are not necessarily the only way to fund independent journalism and has set a precedent for audiences willing to pay for content.
Nina Bibby
Nina Bibby, CMO, O2
Making consumers’ lives easier seems to be top of Nina Bibby’s agenda. Whether demystifying contract costs or using technology to improve interactions, she is driving through initiatives to help. O2 enjoyed strong customer growth last year helped by initiatives such as custom plans, which allow users to pay for their handsets and access cheaper contracts more quickly. With oversight of the commercial performance of its consumer and SMB mobile business as well as marketing, Bibby has helped drive this success.
She has a customer-focused approach to innovation too. Rather than technology being a solution in search of a problem, she believes it is a solution waiting for a creative idea to harness it. She cites the relationship between Alexa, O2 and the NSPCC around the ‘Parents vs Kids’ voice game, and a partnership with Spotify to match users’ music preferences with live music nearby as examples of applying creative thinking. As a member of O2’s executive committee, Bibby has championed the extension of its paternity leave from the standard two weeks to 14 weeks at full pay to any person in a paternal role.
Kerris Bright
Chief customer officer, BBC
Kerris Bright was given an enviable but challenging task when taking on the chief customer officer role in March 2018 – developing audience relationships with one of the highest regarded media brands in the world at a time of increased competition from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Trusted with a place on the BBC executive committee, Bright’s tenure has coincided with some notable successes for the corporation. Programme requests via iPlayer were up 10% to 3.6 billion in 2018/19, and 17 million people now sign in to their BBC account each month.
She also oversaw the ‘Wonderland’ Christmas ad, which encouraged people to press pause on the hectic festive merry-go-round and take time to sit and relax together. Bright is a frequent panellist at industry events and was announced as the next chair for the Marketing Group of Great Britain, where she is responsible for building the club’s line-up of inspirational speakers. She is also one of a number of senior marketers calling for greater originality from agencies who, she fears, have become bland service providers following the trend for becoming part of large, homogeneous holding companies.
Zoe Clapp
Chief marketing and communications officer, UKTV
With a remit that encompasses marketing, communications, creative and media, it’s fair to say Zoe Clapp has a big part to play in the recent success of the broadcaster, which has grown into a significant media player. Its original programming, supported by the in-house production and creative teams led by Clapp, are helping drive success. UKTV Originals shows such as Taskmaster topped ratings across its six channels last year. Elsewhere, its on-demand service saw a 36% increase in views, taking it to 140 million.
Clapp has also invested time in developing a brand academy to provide continuous learning for its marketing, media, communication and social teams. It offers insight and inspiration from across the industry to help employees with their career. Perhaps unsurprising then, UKTV has been shortlisted for Team of the Year at the Marketing Week Masters awards. Away from UKTV, where she is a member of its executive committee, Clapp is committed to improving the fortunes of TV and the effectiveness of advertising. She is a non-executive director of TV marketing body Thinkbox and ISBA. She is also keen to give back by teaching the Future Leaders programme for Creative Equals.
Shadi Halliwell
CMO, Three
In the two years since joining Three, Shadi Halliwell has looked to reshape its positioning, media mix and marketing culture. Joining Three marked a return to the mobile sector for Halliwell, who spent almost 25 years at O2 before joining Harvey Nichols. She has led a reinvention of the mobile brand to try to make it more than just the plucky upstart with the quirky advertising. She has overhauled its social strategy, launching a content studio and pulling output in line with its business and marketing strategy.
She has signed partnership deals with the likes of Snapchat, to offer users free data, and with designer Henry Holland to launch Three’s 5G broadband in London. Halliwell has also put greater emphasis on marketing levers other than communications, such as its retail assets and online channels, rather than letting TV or other advertising take the load. The aim now is to move Three beyond mobile and meet raising expectations. The plan appears to be paying off, with key perception measures on satisfaction and reputation on the up, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex.
Debbie Klein
Group chief marketing, corporate affairs and people officer, Sky
Debbie Klein has wasted no time since joining from The Engine Group in 2018. With a remit that encompasses brand and marketing and company communications, she is tasked with promoting original content and the evolution of Sky Q and Now TV. Since taking on the role last June, she has been tasked with ensuring there is a consistency to its masterbrand across the territories, particularly following its acquisition by Comcast. She heads Sky’s ‘Bigger Picture’ initiative, which aims to “inspire more people to participate in sport”.
Klein also sits on the investment committee of the Sky Ocean Ventures initiative, a vehicle that will see the broadcaster partner and invest in ideas that reduce plastic waste. A life-long champion of diversity and inclusion, last year she commissioned and spoke on research that identified a large gap in the way different generations see equal opportunities and inclusion in the workplace.
Tony Miller
VP of digital marketing and CRM, EMEA, The Walt Disney Company
Tony Miller has played a pivotal role in transforming Disney’s digital and customer experience strategies in the EMEA region, which has helped the media and entertainment giant to excel in recent years. He has led efforts to align media partners and suppliers throughout the region and has played an integral role in a number of major partnerships, including Philips for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Renault for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Miller has been central to Disney’s digital transformation before and after the introduction of GDPR. This has included best practice on how to collect, store and use customer data for personalisation, marketing optimisation and effectiveness. He has put great emphasis on using data to prove the ROI of marketing value through brand engagement and customer satisfaction. He is a big believer in instilling a strong development programme for his team and training them in areas in which they need to upskill to make sure Disney stays ahead.
Olga Puzanova
UK marketing director, Spotify
In the UK and beyond, Spotify is central to the success of new music and podcasts. Olga Puzanova’s aim, however, is to make Spotify central to music culture and first choice for podcasts. In September, the brand effectively ‘took over’ UK Twitter when a deal to celebrate International Podcast Day saw Spotify occupy every first promoted tweet during the day with something from its expansive podcast collection.
To try to reach new, younger audiences, Puzanova is partnering with Picturehouse Cinemas for a ‘turn off your mobile’ campaign, as well as linking up for a second year with influencer marketing agency New Stance to target audiences ranging from students to listeners aged over 35, taking activations beyond the events it participated in last year. She also played a key role in its annual end of year ‘Wrapped’ campaign, which saw Spotify users receive personalised listening data and a campaign that included a live feed of data displayed on the iconic Piccadilly Lights from suscribers who had been invited to post their end of year ‘wrap’.
Lisa Thomas
Group brand director, Virgin Group
The custodian of Virgin brand values, Lisa Thomas is building a framework to ensure there is a consistency of experience across all Virgin Group brands. Thomas is to trying to create and embed a new masterbrand strategy, a process that has already been under way for a year. As part of efforts to meet its strategic objective, Thomas helped launch loyalty programme, the Virgin Group Loyalty Company, last year, which saw existing scheme Virgin Red integrated with Virgin Atlantic.
Aside from being in charge of the whole Virgin identity, Thomas is an active participant in industry events, particularly focusing on forwarding women’s talent and is the incoming president of the Women in Advertising and Communications, London (WACL).
B2B
ONLINE AND DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING AND GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT AND HOSPITALITY
CHARITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH AND AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS AND ENTERTAINMENT
BACK TO TOP
B2B
ONLINE AND DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING AND GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT AND HOSPITALITY
CHARITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH AND AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS AND ENTERTAINMENT
ONLINE AND DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING AND GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT AND HOSPITALITY
B2B
CHARITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH AND AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS AND ENTERTAINMENT
B2B
ONLINE AND DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING AND GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT AND HOSPITALITY
CHARITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH AND AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS AND ENTERTAINMENT
ONLINE AND DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING AND GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT AND HOSPITALITY
B2B
CHARITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH AND AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS AND ENTERTAINMENT
B2B
ONLINE AND DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING AND GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT AND HOSPITALITY
CHARITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH AND AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS AND ENTERTAINMENT
hOME
hOME
meet the judges
meet the judges
methodology
methodology
analysis
analysis
TOP100 hOME
TOP100 hOME
meet the judges
meet the judges
methodology
methodology
analysis
analysis
FURTHER READING
Bringing brands
back into line
The Future of the CMO/CIO Relationship
The Business Case for Customer Journey Mapping
From Marketing Week's 'Intelligent 1:1 Customer Journeys', sponsored by Salesforce
From Econsultancy
How marketing is shifting sales’ focus
Why digital’s growth keeps defying the critics
Giving brands a voice