B2B
CHARITY & PUBLIC SECTOR
CONSUMER GOODS
CONSUMER TECH & AUTOMOTIVE
MEDIA, TELECOMS & ENTERTAINMENT
ONLINE & DISRUPTORS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
RETAIL
SPORT, GAMING & GAMBLING
TRAVEL, TRANSPORT & HOSPITALITY
meet the judges
TOP100 hOME
methodology
The top100 list
RUSSELL
PARSONS
METHODOLOGY
JO
PETTIFER
The most common answer to the question: “How are you?” when I have asked marketers over the past 18 months is: “You know, busy”. It’s always delivered with a resigned air. Fact is, there is unlikely to be another period of your working life as busy, as stressful, as challenging.
There have been plenty of shocks that sent tremors through one or two verticals, few that have upended so many at the same time. And none that have forced not just a change in the way in which you do business, but in the way you work and go about your lives. For marketers, you have had budgets eviscerated, supply disrupted and points of sale denied. All the while looking over your shoulder as jobs became less secure.
There has been plenty of cause for despondency and plenty of cause for gloom over the past 18 months. Even more cause then to celebrate achievement. And there's plenty of it.
Today we unveil our Top 100 most effective marketing leaders, in partnership with Salesforce. Selected from a longlist by our judges, the Top 100 is made up of 10 vertical sector groupings of 10 senior marketers at large companies, based or with a significant presence in the UK. Their achievements, therefore, are many and varied. But there is one thing they all share - they are all marketing leaders, effective in serving their companies and their customers.
Marketers everywhere have shown incredible resilience, innovation and poise. Helping lead their companies through forced and accelerated transformation, applying their considerable strategic nous to tackling new challenges and demonstrating empathy, curiosity and foresight when forced to think and act differently, and fast.
There are, of course, issues that need addressing around trust and influence, and we will continue to address and analyse those in Marketing Week. But for now, let’s celebrate the depth and breadth of talent in the Top 100 and across marketing that should give everyone working in the industry cause for great optimism as we emerge out of the pandemic.
Russell Parsons
Editor-in-chief, Marketing Week
Our industry has gone through enormous change over the past year, as have many others. Our number one job has been to help our customers, our teams as well as out communities as we move to an increasingly all-digital, work-from-anywhere world.
Across the industry we have seen exceptional innovation with experiential hybrid marketing, where safety and health is critical, but meets the real-world interactions we are craving. That’s what makes the 2021 Marketing Week Top 100 more important than ever before as we celebrate great marketing leadership and initiative through what has been one of the most challenging years in recent times.
Digital has become an imperative to the survival of many businesses and we need to be able to service customers from anywhere. From now on, remote work will just be work. Ecommerce will just be commerce. Video meetings will just be meetings. As we continue to develop our digital experiences, marketers can build a brighter future and provide pathways for everyone to connect, humanise and engage. Inclusive marketing strategies mean even more opportunity for personalisation.
Marketers are now change agents and it requires leadership like never before. This year, the Top 100 marketers will demonstrate a resilience to driving incredible business success, brand health and innovative marketing strategies while putting values and purpose at the centre. Businesses have looked to their values more than ever as customers continue to re-evaluate their brand perceptions during this period. It has provided an opportunity for rapid innovation, with marketing having been at the forefront of the customer experience.
It’s been our privilege to partner with Marketing Week, to hear and learn from incredible organisations and leaders on their journey through this period and their inspirational work.
Congratulations to everyone who made the list.
Jo Pettifer
Vice-president, UK and Ireland marketing, Salesforce
The final 100 marketers were chosen on the basis of a number of factors:
BUSINESS SUCCESS, which included, but was not limited to, company results, brand health scores and alignment of marketing to business strategy.
INNOVATIVE THINKING AND LEADERSHIP THROUGH CRISIS, including the introduction of new initiatives, product development and digital transformation, particularly in light of the pandemic.
IMPACT AND INFLUENCE, which included involvement in industry and sector initiatives, as well as evidence of internal influence.
A long list for 10 vertical sector groupings was chosen by senior members of the Marketing Week editorial team. Names and justifications were then passed to the judges who ranked them according to the criteria and a final 10 for each grouping was determined. Those considered for the long lists were the most senior marketer of their brand, company division or unit. They must have worked for a UK brand or company, or had responsibility for the UK market, and must have achieved against the set criteria in the 12 months to June 2021.
CRITERIA &PROCESS
CHARITY & NOT-FOR-PROFIT
FOOD & DRINK RETAIL
GENERAL RETAIL
MEDIA & TELECOMS
REGULATED INDUSTRIES
TRAVEL, LEISURE & HOSPITALITY
consumer goods, tech & luxury
FINANCIAL SERVICES
FMCG
Food & drink
analysis
methodology
judges
analysis
methodology
judges
consumer goods, tech & luxury
BACK TO TOP
How marketers can win the struggle to hit sales targets
The future of one-to-one personalisation in the age of machine learning
How brands can control their data destiny
webinars on Marketing Leadership
Sponsored by Salesforce
BACK TO TOP
How marketers can win the struggle to hit sales targets
The future of one-to-one personalisation in the age of machine learning
How brands can control their data destiny
webinars on Marketing Leadership
Sponsored by Salesforce