The 2022 GLOBAL WIM LIST


In celebration of our 18yr anniversary, we shine a light on past, present, and future influencers from the world of marketing and beyond.

The Global Women in Marketing Awards 2022-The Review


It would be easy to write off 2022 as a year of missed opportunities. A lettuce outlasted a Prime Minister, the second Elizabethan age ended and a pandemic-induced mental health crisis jostled with the cost of living as individuals and businesses alike navigated a volatile and unpredictable market.

For women in the workplace, it became increasingly apparent that we are in the midst of the biggest role back in gender equality in living memory. Lean In and McKinsey pointed to the ‘great breakup’ as women assessed their relationships with their employees and voted with their feet. The great resignation was undoubtedly a great headline, but in 2022 women embraced the great reassessment.

According to Deloitte’s Women@Work research almost half (46%) of women in the workplace feel burned out. While 53% feel that their stress levels are higher than they were a year ago. It is an ecosystem where not only are emotions closer to the surface but elevating and celebrating the leaders making a difference is business critical.

In many ways it was these challenges, the grief and grit which has been so collectively endured, which made this year’s Women in Marketing Awards so precious. As leaders from companies such as Pinterest and Dentsu Creative picked up awards, the judges and audience alike could not help but be moved and motivated in equal measure.

For Ade Onilude, the key theme for a year like no other is that of evolution. As she explained: “2022 marks the 18 year anniversary since the creation of the first Women in Marketing event. I chose Evolution as our global theme for 2022 to reflect the evolving landscape of marketing, evolution has been a thread professionally for WIM as an organisation and for me personally this year.”

I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world

Women in Marketing Award entry submission

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WIM_Awards_2022_-173 Group shot 2.JPG

Meet the transition generation

The diverse range of winners not only provided a resounding ‘yes’ to that enduring question ‘is this industry for me?’ But they underlined that it is the ‘transition generation’; the leaders going above and beyond to change the narrative, to build brands and tell stories in new and innovative ways, who are having the biggest impact on brands, business and employees alike.

At a time when women’s creative careers have been suffocated and subsumed by so many competing pressures, the award winners provided that much-needed fuel for running your own race. As one female creative director explained in her award entry ‘I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world’.

It’s an ethos that underlined so many of the award winners. In a world in which DEI is so often reduced to a panel presentation or a headline, the ethos of Women in Marketing 2022 was one of action.

For Onilude, gratitude was also at the top of her personal and professional agenda, she said: “Thank you to the WIM Team, our 2022 awards host Debbie Ellison, the class of 2022 judges, our partners, and supporters. To the Global class of 2022 winners, commended and the shortlisted-we salute your game-changing work, to celebrate our 18 year anniversary we’ve released the WIM Global List 2022, this is part two of our 2020 ten-year award anniversary list, the 2022 Global list shines a light on past, present and future influencers from the world of marketing and beyond. The WIM Global Journey continues”

The power of opening doors

To mark International Women’s Day in March this year Creativebrief shared some of the best advice given by Women in Marketing Award winners past and present.  An exercise in underlining the power of deciding what you stand for and then standing for it all the time. As Claire Gillis, CEO International at WPP Health Practice explained: “Always open the door behind you, for those women coming next. For me, the key to building your career is pacing yourself and speaking up.”

At the end of a year in which a growing number of data points underline a workplace in a state of overwhelm, the enduring power of the Women in Marketing community is the courage and collaboration that comes when you rise by lifting others.

Creativebrief is proud to be a media partner for the Global Women in Marketing Awards. Congratulations to the 2022 winners. Look out for the latest Women in Marketing Series interviews featuring the global class of 2022 winners and commended.

For the full list of winners please click here.

Women making a difference

At the end of a year like no other we look back on the best insight and interviews from the Women in Marketing community.

‘If it doesn’t exist create your own’

Tamara Littleton, CEO and Founder of The Social Element on inclusive leadership, the power of networks and the importance of self-belief

‘The corporate world is finally waking up to the fact it needs empathy.’

Belinda Parmar OBE, CEO of The Empathy Business, on why now is the time for business leaders to address overwhelm and embrace empathy

How The Hundred changed the game for women’s cricket

Jen Vile, Marketing Director at The Hundred lifts the lid on the tournament that has levelled the playing field for women’s cricket.

“Don’t do one thing 100% better, do 100 things 1% better.”

Kate Nightingale, Head Consumer Psychologist and Founder of Style Psychology on the power of human centric marketing.

‘Everything can become very transactional when we are just relying on technology alone.’

Sara Tate, former Chief Executive of TBWALondon on why building back better requires experimentation, an open mind, empathy and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.

The Global Women in Marketing Awards 2022 launch interview in association with Creative Brief


Evolution. If there was ever a year where the marketing industry needed to evolve, 2022 is it. From optimising the possibilities of hybrid working to elevating the role of creativity in an ecosystem which has become increasingly transactional, the need to evolve both as individuals and organisations is at the very top of the business agenda.

It is a need which is met with typical clarity and resilience by Ade Onilude, the Founder and Chief Executive of Women in Marketing CIC, who has identified ‘evolution’ as the theme for the Women in Marketing Awards this year.

Onilude explains: “Evolution is key for marketing as a function and marketing as a profession, one cannot ignore the macro and micro impact on marketing. I think that’s what makes marketing interesting and necessary. In the current evolving landscape it’s even more important to recognise the role women continue to contribute to the industry despite challenges.”

This focus on evolution extends to the awards themselves with new awards categories launching this year. These will include Creative Marketer of the Year, Strategic Planner and Innovator of the year, an evolution of the Industry shaper category, which reflects the influence of Web3.

In the current evolving landscape it’s even more important to recognise the role women continue to contribute to the industry despite challenges.

Ade Onilude, Founder and Chief Executive of Women in Marketing CIC

The new awards categories have been created in consultation with Gabriela Lungu, Founder of WINGS Creative Leadership Lab and WIM advisor, who has been instrumental in developing and researching the new award categories.

Lungu has built her business on the insight that creativity is a practice, a skill to be learned and nurtured rather than a natural talent. This understanding feeds into the launch of the new Creative Marketer of the Year award.

While it is easy to share generic statements on the important role of bravery in marketing communications, getting to grips with the nitty gritty of what that means in practice is a different topic altogether. So what does Lungu see as key ingredients to creatively brave marketers?

“Great creative ideas in marketing and communications cannot happen without risk-taking clients,” she explains, adding: “Marketers who step out of their comfort zone and try out completely new things. New means never-done-before.”

It is following this less worn path that is key to ‘bravery’ in practice. As Lungu explains: “Never-done-before is always risky. You need bravery to approve such an idea, to put budgets behind it though you cannot tell for sure that it will work.”

However, she notes that “without this bravery, there’s no progress, no evolution.” This underpins the new award and the desire to reward those clients who push the boundaries and lead the way.

Great creative ideas in marketing and communications cannot happen without risk-taking clients.

Gabriela Lungu, Founder of WINGS Creative Leadership Lab and WIM advisor

The evolution of the awards also extends to recognising the vital role of strategists and planners in the industry. As Lungu explains: “Strategists and planners are those brilliant minds who analyse the data available, cut through the clutter, and help brands and companies find their best way into the future.”

She continues: “Considering the increasingly volatile world we’re living in, with so much complex data, so much confusing clutter, and with such an uncertain future, their role has become more important than ever. Their work is the foundation for all clever marketing decisions and we wanted to celebrate that.”

The intersection of marketing and tech is increasingly becoming important, however, women still face obstacles in tech. It’s important that they have an equal share of voice, and recognition of their knowledge – this will shape work and industry cultures, policies, and future product development.

Ade Onilude, Founder and Chief Executive of Women in Marketing CIC

Women of Web 3.0

The evolved awards are also recognising the new creative opportunities when it comes to technology and Web3. But while we can’t move for articles on the impact of the Metaverse; what is the importance of elevating women in this space?

“The intersection of marketing and tech is increasingly becoming important, however, women still face obstacles in tech. It’s important that they have an equal share of voice, and recognition of their knowledge – this will shape work and industry cultures, policies, and future product development,” Onilude explains.

With a growing number of data points underlining that women are disproportionately facing burnout and an ongoing focus on the ‘war for talent’, ensuring that women have an equal share of voice increasingly demands a new approach.

As Onilude explained in a wide-ranging and thought-provoking interview “If you are seeking to recruit and equally important retain female talent, factor in the cycle of their lives; this includes motherhood to the menopause. Increasingly, talent will be judging what companies do in these areas and in health and wellness.”

The evolution of marketing leadership

Looking back on the range of marketers, innovators, and changemakers Women in Marketing has awarded through the lens of the uniquely fragile environment we collectively find ourselves in, Onilude is clear on the key skills necessary for leadership today.

Firstly, they must be ‘visionaries’ but she is quick to note they “must know how to translate vision into corporate goals”. Thought leadership is not a substitute for real leadership.

Secondly, these leaders must champion the value of marketing and be the voice of marketing internally and externally. Thirdly she points to the importance of valuing development and recognition; both externally for the company and the industry as a whole but also for the value of the leader’s personal brand.

Empathy and resilience are also cited by Onilude as key attributes in Women in Marketing winners. Adding that the values and purpose of the company and the individual need to be aligned.

It is clear, both through her work and her eighteen years of insight into the Women in Marketing winners that for Onilude leadership is not static but rather in constant evolution. She points to the fact that the best leaders: “Embrace lifelong learning as a marketing professional and the evolution of the marketing function and role at the corporate level.”

She cites the work of previous Women in Marketing Global Award winner Abigail Dixon as key to this endeavour. Pointing to her book The Whole Marketer, as well as the practical exercises in Unit 2 (on Soft skills and leadership) and Unit 3 (focusing on Personal branding.) Underlining that while evolution must be embraced, amplifying and elevating the game-changing leaders past and present is part of both the awards and Onilude’s DNA.

The Global WIM Awards 2022 are open for entries (deadline 23rd September2022). The awards will be celebrated in Central London on the 16th November 2022. Click here to find out more.

Women in Marketing CIC comes to University of Hull


Women in Marketing CIC was invited to share their journey during the diversity and inclusion series for Hull University. The conversation between Dr Haseeb A Shabbir, Hull University and Maria Andrews, Director, Women in Marketing CIC live recording took place on Thursday 22 April (at 13.00). It provided an opportunity to tell the story of the incredible women from numerous cultures and countries around the world on how marketing excellences and the empowerment of women is shared and celebrated. WIM is there to create an unique and diverse community of women championing women. See the link for the full interview at the end of this article.

In addition, to complement the discussion held between Maria Andrews and Dr Shabbir Ade Onilude, Founder & CEO of Women in Marketing CIC spoke with Dr. Haseeb Shabbir, Faculty of Business, Law and Politics, University of Hull to provide further insights into the Women in Marketing journey.

Dr. Shabbir: Ade, I wanted to personal thank you for agreeing to let Maria Andrews talk to us, it was a really interesting talk. I wanted to ask you though directly – what nudged you into action to create this social enterprise in the first place which has become a transformational movement now?

AO: Thank you for the opportunity to help us share the story of women disruptors in marketing. Let me rewind back to 2004 when I was an active member of the Greater London Region of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I felt the sector did not celebrate the power, innovation and creativity of women marketers near enough as to what was clearly evident in the ground. It was for this reason I proposed to the Greater London Regional Board of the CIM to formally celebrate International Women’s Day and from here the very first Women in Marketing event was created. My vision was to create a space for primarily, although not exclusively, for senior women from across the marketing and communications sectors to showcase, highlight and educate the rest of us. The celebration of women in marketing, in essence, was a response to the status quo male dominated nature of the sector, especially at board and senior leadership levels. In our first year in 2004, we attracted 175 attendees and it soon became a flagship annual event for the Greater London Region. The event went from strength to strength and in 2010, I consolidated the event into the first Women in Marketing Awards ceremony and haven’t really looked back but I forever remain grateful to the CIM for that initial support I received. It was during the 2010 awards ceremony, which also gave a platform for NGOs and nor for profits, social enterprises to exchange and speak to leading commercial marketers, where we also invited and celebrated women in NGO and in not for profit marketing that I first met Maria too, who of course is currently the Chair of CIM’s Charity and Social Marketing Group .

Dr. Shabbir: In 2016 you shifted to formally becoming a community interest company, why was that? What was the logic behind this?

AO: Well, we really wanted the community to be at the heart of what we were about and the feedback we were fast gaining was that the Awards Ceremony was very much a communal celebration of women in marketing. I used to receive emails from women marketers on how they felt inspired that finally top women marketing “voices” could be heard and celebrated and before I knew it a community of 20,000 had emerged from our twitter account and from our newsletter. The community aspect therefore represented a new beginning for us and a wider recognition that women marketers are “also” an “important” community, which deserve their own dedicated “space” and “voice”. As Maria discusses in her interview with you, this community soon became global. Our supporters therefore come from all corners of the global family we inhabit and this adds to our vision that we are about unifying the women in marketing spirit as crossing mature economies and emerging economies. Since those early days, we have evolved from being a UK centric space to a global space for expressing women marketing champions, hoping to inspire the future generation of women marketers. Women marketers, for me adopt a more holistic approach to practising marketing and this is why the inter-sectionalities of race, gender and age for instance are so important to get right within the marketing landscape. We have some way to go, as you rightly discussed with Maria, indeed a along way to go, but we remain hopeful that with time, the voices of women marketers will become increasingly appreciated globally.

Dr. Haseeb Shabbir: Who have been your mentors along this journey Ade?

AO: Haseeb, I guess there are too many names to mention here, I have so much support from global champions in marketing such as Heide Gardner, VP of DEI at the IPG group, who really enjoyed being interviewed by you I must add too! The legendary Global CMO Antonio Lucio, is another personal highlight for me, and his video we have shared below for your readers. I’m indebted, of course to Twitter too, who featured me in their global campaign, alongside the iconic Ava Duverney, Director of Selma. I’ll share the link below but the whole idea behind Twitter’s #Hereweare campaign was to raise the voices of women and I felt privileged to be a part of this.
https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/twitter-oscars-ad-hereweare-women-empowerment-1202717037/

Dr. Haseeb Shabbir: During the pandemic, the pressures on women as boundary spanning workers globally has been immense. What is your advice for them?

AO: My advice would be for the mainstream sectors to celebrate their roles, to celebrate their resilience, creativity and innovation. Still, too often the global voices on subjects such as resilience, creativity and innovation are male dominated or Western centric. For me, women marketers globally represent the best examples of resilience, creativity and innovation. This is why we celebrate dynamic women marketing disrupters so that others can be inspired by their work and some of these were discussed in your interview: Alice Yu Yuebo (Singapore), Patricia Weiss(Brazil) and Carolina Pinherio Co-Founder & CEO Inbrax(Chile). I asked them to send me a brief note on the impact of receiving an award from us on their careers.

Alice Yu Yuebo from Singapore, won the Winner Award to One to Watch in 2019 and this is what she has to say:

“The WiM award is actually the first industrial and global award I have received in marketing field and I was really flattered to stand among other outstanding women marketing leaders around the world”

Patrícia Weiss from Brazil, also serves on our Global Advisory Council now and was the 2017 Winner for Branded Entertainment, she is the Chairwoman for Branded Content Marketing Association – BCMA South America and Portugal notes:

“Because of the constant exchange of knowledge with incredible people from different cultures and backgrounds who are part of the WIM community, and the significant reflections we make together, I find myself more motivated and empowered to not give up on my dreams and to cause changes in my territory of operation. WIM is inclusion and pure diversity. It’s empowerment and transformation”

Carolina Pinheiro, the Co-founder and CEO of Inbrax Chile won our Best Leader in Marketing Agency award in 2018 and notes:

“Having had the honor of winning the WIM – Agency Side in 2018 was clearly a watershed in my career and it impacted me in 2 great ways. The first of them was to leave behind the impostor syndrome that is a shadow for many professionals and executive women, and I am no exception; winning this award meant me to believe more in myself, to value myself. On the other hand, the award put me in the spotlight, I began to have more visibility, and my opinion took on another weight in the industry”

Dr. Shabbir: Any final words of advice for young aspiring women marketers?

AO: Believe in yourself, and don’t give into the imposter syndrome that Carolina mentions as we, like many sectors, are in a space where leadership positions are occupied by men and tend to still be Western centric and yet we are better disruptors, equally if not more equipped for creativity and innovation and of course the resilience of women globally is all too evident. Celebrate women globally from emerging economies and not just from the “mature” economies. Never give up and believe that anything is possible. Read about women champions in your fields and feel inspired, learn how they did it, and never believe that you cannot. Look at cases like Eleanor Miller, another one of our award winners and the Director of Marketing for Mental Health First Aid England and learn how and what she had to go through to deliver 64,000 mental health training sessions during the pandemic. Or Mischon de Reya, LLP – our 2019 WIM Company of the Year, who incorporated the essence of the WIM Inclusion Charter with their commitment to diversity inclusion championing the development of their female talent and acting as a benchmark in the legal sector.

The stories behind female marketers are to inspire everyone, men and women.

Hope everyone enjoys and learns something from Maria’s interview with you, even its one thing that takes them forward in the journey to celebrate female marketers.



Acknowledgements & Thanks

Agnisha Gosh from Integrated Marketing Lead Asia 3M, Singapore; Alessandra Di Lorenzo CEO of Forward, Last Minute Media Company, UK and Kate Knightingale from Style Psychology Ltd, UK.

Women in Marketing Africa Joins The Unstereotype Alliance South Africa


London, UK; Women in Marketing (WIM) CIC are please to announce that the Women in Marketing Africa hub, WiM Africa, has joined the Unstereotype Alliance. WiM Africa joins Unilever South Africa, Google South Africa, Facebook Africa, Kantar South Africa, The Loeries, The Marketing Association of South Africa and The Association for Alcohol Responsibility and Education (aware.org.za), plus many others, in working to eliminate harmful stereotypes in advertising and the media.

The Unstereotype Alliance is a global thought and action platform, convened by UN Women, that seeks to eradicate harmful gender-based stereotypes in media and advertising content. Stereotypes are a pervasive and powerful barrier that stands between societies and the dividends of gender equality. With the vision of an unstereotyped world, the Alliance unites industry players as a force for positive change. A growing and influential coalition, their members and allies span multinational brands and advertising networks, industry associations, awards festivals, media companies, not-for-profits and social change consultancies that share their common objective.

Gender stereotypes are culturally driven, and the Alliance takes a localised approach with National Chapters currently in Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Japan, the UK and UAE with many more to follow.

Andrea Opoku, WiM Director and Africa Ambassador commented “We’re delighted to be a member of the Unstereotype Alliance in South Africa and part of such an important initiative aimed at achieving Gender Equality (SDG #5). As a community of marketers, advertisers and creatives we are in a unique position to be able to influence content that portrays harmful stereotypes which affect us all. We are excited to be part of a larger collective to drive forward this change.”

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NOTE TO EDITORS

About Women in Marketing CIC
Women in Marketing (WiM) CIC was created in 2004 by Ade Onilude out of a need for women in the marketing, advertising and communications professions to be recognised, celebrated and empowered to fulfil their potential. The first WiM event coincided with International Women’s Day on Work-Life Balance. Since then, the annual WiM events have grown and tackled topics such as ethical marketing, the creatives, branding and diversity in marketing, with the purpose of provoking discussion and inspiring women across the sectors and the wider business community.

The popularity of the events led to the introduction of the first WiM Awards in 2010. Past award winners have included senior executives from HP, Burberry, Google, Facebook, Hearst UK, Havas, Diageo and Ogilvy & Mather UK. Over the years, WiM has enjoyed the support of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the Marketing Academy and sponsor organisations such as ITV, Mondelez, Vodafone, Havas Worldwide and HP.

Through their work WiM seeks to:
Educate & Inspire – Sharing knowledge from industry thought leaders and influencers
Connect – Bringing together key industry people for collaboration and growth
Recognise & Reward – Celebrating and championing the work of women in the sector, and their male advocates
Advocacy & Philanthropy – Supporting gender specific global initiatives.

WiM now serves a global network of influential individuals.
https://womeninmarketing.org.uk

About WiM Africa
The Women in Marketing (WiM) CIC Africa hub, WiM Africa, is headed by WiM Director and Africa Ambassador Andrea Opoku. WiM Africa launched in Durban, South Africa at the prestigious Leories Creative Week with a focus on the role the marketing and advertising industry has to play in stereotypical representations of women in society and culture. The South Africa chapter brings together women (and male advocates) in marketing, advertising and communications, and the associated creative professions, from across the country to connect, network, share ideas, experiences, best practice and celebrate each other’s achievements.

WiM Africa’s mission is to address the gender imbalances in the marketing, advertising and communication professions at all levels of seniority and show future generations of young women coming through the ranks what is possible. In doing so we safeguard the long-term profitability of the sector.

WiM Africa serves a growing community in South Africa and has plans to expand into West and East Africa.

About The Unstereotype Alliance
The Unstereotype Alliance is a thought and action platform, convened by UN Women, that seeks to eradicate harmful gender-based stereotypes in media and advertising content. Stereotypes are a pervasive and powerful barrier that stands between societies and the dividends of gender equality. With the vision of an unstereotyped world, the Alliance unites industry players as a force for positive change. A growing and influential coalition, our members and allies span multinational brands and advertising networks, industry associations, awards festivals, media companies, not-for-profits and social change consultancies that share their common objective.

Gender stereotypes are culturally driven and the Alliance takes a localised approach with National Chapters in Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Japan, the UK and UAE with many more to follow. Now, the Unstereotype Alliance harnesses the collective influence of 152 members, including 45 from our global membership and 107 at a national level. As diversity and inclusion are increasingly recognised as drivers of effective advertising, the work of the Unstereotype Alliance continues to grow as not only a social imperative, but a case for better business.
https://www.unstereotypealliance.org/en

About UN Women
UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Unstereotype Alliance, convened by UN Women, leverages both the United Nations’ global reach and recognition by 193 Member States as well as the private sector. Advocating against gender stereotypes is a priority area for UN Women, as a global champion for empowering women and girls and addressing harmful masculinities. By bringing together industry leaders under the auspices of the United Nations, the Unstereotype Alliance makes a powerful contribution towards a more equal world where people are represented in all the complexity of their culture and communities.

For media enquiries email hello@womeninmarketing.org.uk

Women Everywhere – Maria Andrews, WiM Director, on purpose-driven marketing


As members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, my first encounter with Ade Onilude was hearing about the Women in Marketing network, then, a special interest group.

At the time, I was Marketing Communications Director for Women for Women International, an NGO that supports women survivors of war to rebuild their lives. It was vital to collaborate with an organisation that reached and connected with people who had the drive as well as compassion in using their skills as marketers to raise awareness of the charity and encourage support.

Ade gave me that platform in 2011, where I was able to introduce the charity to a group of dynamic individuals and the following year the Women in Marketing Awards 2012 supported Women for Women International.

The journey for my career in working in the not-for-profit sector and my drive to use my marketing knowledge and skills to make a difference for social good, has lead me to work for charities who core mission is to improve lives and give people the opportunities to become self-sufficient and create a better future for themselves and their communities.

Entering a new decade, brings the realisation that we still have a long way to go to improve lives and live in a more equal society. Particularly given the five-year milestone in measuring our progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, it becomes more obvious that eradicating poverty, achieving zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality – the top 5 SDGs – is still an ongoing process. I am also afraid to say that key performance indicators of economically prosperous countries and many charities are not nearly on track as we would like them to be.

Yet, we can all play our part and make sure that the SDGs are progressing positively, because more of us care and are raising our voices to bring organisations, governments and people of influence to account.

This March sees the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. 2020 is therefore a pivotal year for the accelerated realisation of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere.

Everyday, I am inspired by how people can change their lives for the better. At Book Aid International, where I am Head of Development, we send brand new books to libraries, schools, universities, refugee camps and hospitals in Africa to enable people to read, access knowledge and improve their own lives. Our programmes focus on encouraging young women to explore subjects in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by creating STEM Study Hubs in libraries. A special space where the next generation can learn, read and gain an education that gives them an opportunity to start a career of the future.

Women everywhere have the ability and the skills to become philanthropists, in the time you make to support another person or the actions you take in joining together to make a change. Being able to use my skills for social good keeps me motivated and energised to keep trying every day.

Spotlight on Ruth Walker Highly Commended One to Watch WIM Awards Global 2019


To understand why so many people enter the Women in Marketing Awards every year you need look no further than Ade Onilude, a woman so determined to keep the limelight off herself and shine it on others. I say people too because the awards are fully inclusive, men are encouraged to apply.

The awards themselves are always a lavish affair, 12 months in the making and this year’s awards did not disappoint as the photos of the night show. The 2019 global event was a homage to Studio 54 and brought to life by Ade the WIM team and sponsors.

While the Women in Marketing Awards recognises those excelling in their field, it’s also an invaluable networking event. I had the pleasure of meeting countless inspirational marketers on the night.

I’m delighted to say that I was highly commended for the One To Watch category. There aren’t enough words to fully express what it means to me. I’ve known what I’ve wanted to do since I was 5 and I was proud of that driven, tenancios girl in that moment.

To be in the company of such incredibly talented people and have my fiancé Jordan witness the win was a moment I will treasure forever. I’m a big believer in that everything we achieve is as a team. Without the support of so many amazing people I’m sure many of us wouldn’t be in the position we are today.

The Women in Marketing Awards provide a much-needed helping hand, to raise up and encourage the next generation of marketers.

Within minutes of being awarded Ade offered me a global platform to discuss diversity issues very close to my heart at the World Marketing Summit UK 2019 days later. What a woman. I’m still so humbled to be recognised in this way.

Before taking to the stage we heard from the father of marketing himself Dr. Kotler whose four principles of marketing remain as relevant today as ever. From neuroscience and the ethics involved in using AI to market to people, to business transformations and the next wave of marketing innovations, the summit covered various thought-provoking topics.

The World Marketing Summit was so inspirational. I was honoured to talk on stage about Diversity and Inclusion in Marketing alongside Ade, Dr Tana Licsandru and Dr Eva Kipnis. From discussing how we can encourage a more inclusive sector, to praising those who champion others and the support needed for the next generation, I loved every minute.

So what’s next for me following this win? Simple, the only way is up. I will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in marketing, while continuing my activism for women’s rights and ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table.
I’m proof of the positive impact that the WiM Awards can have on your career, and I’m sure all the winners, highly commended and commended from the Women in Marketing Awards throughout the years are unbelievably thankful for being recognised by Ade and her team.

By Ruth Walker

WIM AWARDS GLOBAL 2019 PARTNER ANNOUCEMENT WITH MARKETING LEGEND PROFESSOR PHILIP KOTLER


We’re excited to announce a special partnership with the marketing legend, Philip Kotler. Read on to see his reasons for supporting WiM and all about his talk at his World Marketing Summit

Why Professor Kotler is supporting the WiM Awards and WiM as a strategic partner with his inaugural UK World Marketing Summit

Professor Kotler’s vision has always been one of transformative marketing, one that breaks the mould, and challenges the status quo of advancing marketing to new and better boundaries for the world. His vision of making the World a Better place Through Marketing is exemplified by the Ade Onilude and her creative and transformative vision behind the Women Marketing organisation. Recognising women champions of marketing is an inspiration for others, perhaps in communities that do not have the same types of freedom as those women within the United Kingdom or the States. Even within Western economies, the situation for gender equality and rights is dire and much more still needs to be done and this is why we support the WiM community as it is trying to make the world a better place through marketing.

To celebrate this partnership, we are delighted to act as the host sponsor of the WiM Awards and honoured that WiM is a founding partner of WMS UK

The World Marketing Summit (WMS)

WMS global will run in 19 countries world wide in 2019. Professor Philip Kotler’s message to UK Marketers will be a simple one – he will emphasise transformative marketing (marketing for a better world) leadership as the future of marketing. He will also propose a Post-Brexit Ecosystem approach and criticise the term Post-Brexit Marketing as misguiding UK Marketers.

His Post-Brexit Ecosystem approach will be published as an academic paper in the European Journal of Marketing in 2020 and involves a more sustainable, inclusive and transformative approach to align Great UK Marketing with the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals. Professor Kotler believes that the United Kingdom is at an ideal juncture in its history to showcase to the world what transformative marketing leadership is.

Interview with WIM Awards Global 2019 Presentation Partner:

Presented

WiM: Presented Ltd are specialists in presentation design. We speak to their Co-Founder and Director, Philippa Leguen de Lacroix.

Philippa, your company Presented uses PowerPoint to an incredibly high level. Why would a large marketing department outsource to a company like yours, instead of keeping presentation design in-house?

Presented: The presentation design industry is growing rapidly, with standards improving year on year. Our clients want a number of things from a presentation: good design, to engage their audience, to get their message across and ultimately achieve their goal. A well-planned presentation strategy can do this, and it’s an area of expertise that both small and large companies often can’t fulfil in-house.

Here at Presented, we’re pushing the boundaries with animation, interactivity and creativity. We’re offering our clients solutions they never thought possible. Additionally, PowerPoint is easily editable and re-usable for future events.

WiM: Presented boasts some very high-profile clients, are they all using PowerPoint? In your opinion what’s the future of the software? Are there other presenting future trends that we should be aware of?

Presented: Yes, about 95% of our work is in PowerPoint. Microsoft gets a bad press but they continuously improve PowerPoint’s capabilities. We see it handle so much now, in the right hands it can do surprising and incredible things. For those reasons, plus the fact that it’s used by most of the business world, we believe PowerPoint is here to stay. Of all the software we use PowerPoint is by far the most flexible in terms of what it can do, and ease of use for the end-user (a huge plus point for our clients).

As for future trends, we’re always ready to adapt to new technologies. AR and VR are in the news more and more, as it becomes more affordable and accessible we expect to see it used in presentation environments. But right now, something we already adopt for our clients is interactivity options. Features like hidden menus, triggered animation, live polls and quizzes are becoming increasingly popular.

But, whatever the latest trend, ultimately the key is to stay focused on your presentation goal. Then plan carefully what PowerPoint capabilities, effects and add-ins will best help you to achieve this.

Women in Marketing Launches The Global WiM Awards 2019


Women in Marketing (WIM) CIC are pleased to announce the 9th annual global Women in Marketing Awards – recognising and celebrating the achievements of women in the marketing, advertising and communications fields around the globe. For the third year the Awards will be open to global entries, with the awards in 2018 being received by winners from South Africa, the USA, South America and the Middle East. The awards ceremony will take place on the 13 th November 2019 at an exclusive private members club in central London with historical links to music icon David Bowie and Jimi Hendricks. The event will be hosted by Tamara Gillan, CEO of Cherry London.

In 2004, Ade Onilude, a then member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Central London team, identified a need for women in marketing to be recognised and celebrated. This led to the first WiM event coinciding with International Womens Day on Work-Life Balance. Since then, the annual WiM events have grown and tackled topics such as ethical marketing, the creatives, branding and diversity in marketing, with the purpose of provoking discussion and inspiring women in marketing and the wider business community.

The popularity of the events led to the introduction of the awards in 2010; celebrating the achievements of women in the industry. Past WiM Award winners have included senior executives from HP, Burberry, Google, Facebook, Hearst UK, Havas, Diageo and Ogilvy & Mather.

Every year the WiM Awards reflect industry trends to recognise innovative work. For 2019 we focus on the ground-breaking work being done to improve the lives of people with the introduction of two new categories in the Health and Wellness sector: Best Marketing Leader in Creating Change in Health & Wellness Award and Health & Wellness Public Campaign Award. All thirteen award categories can be viewed here.

The judging panel for this year’s awards comprises of influential individuals, identified and chosen to reflect the global reach of this year’s awards and high standard of entries expected. The panel comprises of:

  • Tamara Gillan – CEO, Cherry London
  • Gini Sharvill – Global Brand Manager, Haagen Dazs
  • Henry Windridge – Head of Brand, Middle East & Africa, Discovery
  • Patrícia Weiss – Chairwoman of the Branded Content Marketing Association (BCMA), South America
  • Nicola Kemp – Managing Editor of Bite at CreativeBrief
  • Asha Ranchhod Patel – Head of Marketing, Google South Africa
  • Faisal Ahmed – Digital Marketing Consultant
  • Mack McKelvey – Founder/CEO, The Credentialed, USA
  • Carolina Pinherio – Co-Founder & CEO, Inbrax Chile
  • Gabriela Lungu – Founder, Wings Creative Leadership Lab
  • Helen Hammond – CEO & Founder, ELE Global
  • Doug Zanger – Senior Editor, Adweek
  • Maral Kalajian – Head of Marketing & Communications, Watty
  • Louise Ridley – Freelance Journalist

The 2019 Global WiM Awards is now open for entries from brands, agencies as well as individuals around the world and hopes to highlight the need to recognise diversity and the inclusive behaviours of the industry.

A huge thank you to the WiM Awards sponsors for their continued support:

  • IPG – Headline Agency sponsor
  • AXIM Global – Inspirational Leader in Customer Experience Award category sponsor
  • Profiles Creative – Best Leader in Marketing Award category sponsor
  • Intuit – Change Maker Award category sponsor

“This year’s ceremony is set to be an amazing evening celebrating the achievements of the stars of the marketing world. I look forward to meeting fellow colleagues, female and male, from the world of marketing and business for what will be an exclusive fun-filled evening.”
Ade Onilude, Founder & CEO of Women in Marketing.

The Future of Wellness event – review by Lesley Donnelly, Director, Neon Nelly and a member of the WiM community.


Last month WiM held its first event to look at health and wellness. The Future of Wellness focused on three areas

  • Mental health
  • The transformation of women in the 40-60 year old demographic
  • The future of wellness.

Thank you to our speakers Claire Gillis (pictured above), CEO International, WPP Health Practice; Simon Blake OBE, CEO, Mental Health First Aid England; Zana Morris, Founder, The Clock and Library Gym and Victoria Buchanan, Senior Strategic Researcher, The Future Laboratory.

Special thanks to Natasher Beecher (pictured above), Creative Director, Ogilvy Health & Chair of WPP Health Practice Roots for hosting, and her lovely dog Brodie who stole the show!

 

The purpose of the latest WiM event, held on 10th April 2019, was to explore the changing attitudes to health and well-being in the workplace, and to explore what role Women in Marketing could play to build a better future.

The event was generously hosted by Claire Gillis, International CEO, WPP Health Practice at their London offices – where the sign on the wall declares ‘Be Well, Do Well’. Speaking with Claire’s team confirmed that they really try to deliver on those values by providing a diverse range of support such as breathing sessions to connect mind and body, meditation groups and education on better well-being practices such as standing desks.

The event was kicked off by Simon Blake OBE, of Mental Health First Aid England, who for a decade has provided training to organisations. Their vision is to normalise society’s attitudes and behaviours around mental health, by developing the skills we need to look after our own and others’ wellbeing.

Simon explained that MHFA England is focused on scaling best practice through systemic change in employers’ processes and structures – there is a strong business case for improving employee well-being, aside from the fact that it is the right thing to do.

He explained some key principles:

  • What happens at home impacts work and vice versa and so care for an employee needs to be holistic
  • Technology has made employees increasingly accessible and so there is a need to re-calibrate what is an acceptable balance to manage stress and that includes holiday time – everyone needs a complete break away and contact should be discouraged.
  • In addition to corporate led initiatives, subtle changes by individuals can have a big impact on well-being culture. Try changing your greeting to “how are you and what are you doing to look after yourself?”hat happens at home impacts work and vice versa and so care for an employee needs to be holistic
  • However, progress cannot be maintained if someone is consistently working long hours – good intentions are not enough and at MHFA England they push organisations to look at the hygiene factors and take bigger decisions such as redesigning job roles to have realistic hours.

Simon’s closing message was that progress has been made but much is still do and it starts with leadership role modelling new behaviours around well-being.

Our next speaker Valerie Vamanrav is tackling well-being at a grass roots level. As a successful video producer she started to find there was a lack of balance in her life leading to classic ‘burn out’. Looking for solutions, she discovered how pure organic oils can uplift our physical and mental health. The key advantage being that it is within our control and helps put us ‘in charge of our health’ – we can learn to help ourselves independent of employer initiatives.

Pure oils are powerful and can be inhaled, digested or applied topically as a massage. We breathed in several of the oils to experience the uplifting effects of citrus and also peppermint which is good for memory. The impact of inhaling was pretty instant as it reaches the hippo-campus, your decision making part of the brain and so interrupts mood and alters negative thought patterns. It was a real ‘wow’ effect from a very simple natural source that could be built into a busy routine.

Valerie’s note of caution was that the oil industry is unregulated and it is important to thoroughly research sources as only the very purest oils (such as Doterra) have the transforming impact and are safe to be digested.

Next up was Zana Morris, who has changed my life. I confess that when I read Zana’s resume I assumed she was another of those fitness evangelists whose body shouts ‘look at me, you can be like me’. But that could not have been further from the truth. She is a woman on a mission not to look good, but to help people live strong – both mentally and physically.

First though Zana told us the bad news with a brief human biology lesson:

  • We age, because from the age of 30 we have muscle wastage (around half a pound a year); we lose protein and calcium. It gets worse – the muscle comes off the heart and the brain, and so our metabolism slows down. That’s why we experience weight gain.
  • She highlighted the hidden dangers of badly planned exercise and diet, e.g.: if you exercise for more than 45 minutes your body starts eating into tissue – so trying to rectify aging by taking up an extreme sport should be done with caution. Nutrition is a minefield too – weight loss from low calorie diets is due 90% to muscle loss thus accelerating aging. We need to focus on losing fat, not muscle.
  • Just to make us feel even worse Zana pointed out how much damage our ‘successful’ careers had done to our bodies. Many of us have had 30 years of juggling a fast life with long hours, deadlines and stress without being able to see what this is doing to us internally. It is useful to think of an earlier time before technology when we might be out walking and spot a bear. When we see the bear, Cortisol is released into our system to send chemical messages to RUN. We have outgrown the bears, but everyday there is a Cortisol tug – that email saying the project is behind schedule, the late night copy re-write for the client – the problem is these chemical signals are not meant to linger for 20 or 30 years and so are producing too much sugar and have pushed up our heart rate.

But Zana then brought us out of the valley of despair with tips to tackle insulin resistance as we get older.

  1. Exercise to live strong
  2. It doesn’t have to be extreme, walking every day is great
  3. High intensity training for 8 minutes a day improves not only your muscle strength but your cognitive memory
  4. Eat to live strong
  5. Avoid sugars and remember that fat does not cause the body to release insulin so can play a part in a healthy diet
  6. Mind the gap! Fasting helps stabilise insulin so avoid grazing between meals and allow the body to reset itself
  7. Don’t eat either side of training – leave a gap of 1 to 2 hours to allow insulin to stabilise.

So having painted a pretty bleak picture about what our body does as we age, Zana gave hope that with discipline and focus on the right things we can all age strong.

The evening was closed by Victoria Buchanan who appropriately used her expertise as a Futures Analyst to paint a picture of well-being trends. Health and well-being has a commercial value as it is now a big part of all brands.

In an era where we can’t escape the news cycle Victoria explained the importance of building personal resilience – sheer volume and negativity has an impact. 39% of US adults said they were more anxious in 2018 than a year ago (American Psychology Association). And even HBR have included the need to build personal and collective resilience for the future as part of its book series.

One argument is that we are losing our resilience as a consequence of the nanny state enabled by technology – how many phone numbers can you dial from memory or are you completely dependent on your mobile? Alexa has the ability to monitor our behaviours and ask us if we have locked the door as we leave the house – is that good, or is that eroding our resilience?

Apps are useful but they are changing how we use our mental memory. 66% believe that we are too reliant and that has led to movements of ‘digital minimalism’ – practical tips to thrive without devices. In the future nations may set personal resilience targets for citizens in order to build a better society which can collectively work through challenges with positive behaviours. At an individual level there will be more focus on neuro-technology to support areas such as identifying what brainwaves cause anxiety.

For brands, the future allows for the possibility to re-frame failure as a positive experience to boost the agility and innovation of a brand by removing a fear of failure.

Event reviewed by Lesley Donnelly, Director, Neon Nelly and a member of the WiM community
Credit for all event images: Helen Watson, Senior Digital Strategist at Ogilvy Health

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