International Women’s Day: celebrating the 20 most influential women in marketing

“Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #EmbraceEquity.”

International Women’s Day (8 March) is upon us. The globally celebrated day honours women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

With the first International Women’s Day (IWD) gathering in 1911, IWD has occurred for well over a century and is supported by over a million people.

Within the marketing industry, women have been trailblazing the way for innovative and impactful work over the past year. The IPA’s recently published 2022 Agency Census found that the number of female employees in agencies increased by 24.1% in 2022, while the number of men increased by 13.2%. This means women now account for 54.8% of all employees. However, women only held a 37.5% share of C-suite roles.

While many brands and agencies have been busy releasing their IWD campaigns, Marketing Beat makes it its mission to shine a light on some of the most influential women in the industry.

Vicki Maguire – Havas London chief creative officer

“Vicki Maguire is a rare breed – a world-class creative, a woman leading the charge and a force for modernising our industry.”

The Havas London chief creative officer discovered a love for copy when Paul Smith told her to stop trying to draw and write her ideas down instead. Since then she has worked on campaigns for some of the best agencies in the world, including Grey, Widen + Kennedy, Mojo and Amsterdam International.

In January 2020, Maguire was appointed Havas London’s first female chief creative officer and won the agency its first Cannes Gold Lion in nearly a decade for the Black Plaque Project. In 2021, Maguire also claimed one of the highest-profile gigs in the industry – Cannes Lions jury President.

Karen Martin – BBH London CEO

Martin joined BBH after 14 years in Australia’s ad industry. She was managing director of Host Sydney. Prior to Host, Martin worked at BMF (B&T’s Australian Agency of the Decade) as a key member of its ‘Account Management’ team.

Martin joined BBH London in April 2016 as managing partner, and has led Tesco business to 20 consecutive quarters of growth. In March 2018, Martin was promoted to managing director, overseeing the running of 60 Kingly Street, as well as continuing to lead the Tesco and Barclays businesses, amongst others. Martin was promoted to CEO in June 2020.

Sue Frogley – Publicis Media UK CEO

As CEO of Publicis Media UK, Frogley leads over 1,500 people across its £1 billion billings operation which includes media agencies Spark Foundry, Starcom and Zenith. Under her leadership, Frogley has delivered five years of consecutive growth, topping many industry new business rankings in 2021 with multiple wins across the business including Lloyds Banking Group, Confused.com, Zoopla, E-ON, Lindt and Primark. Frogley has been dedicated to creating a unique and dynamic culture across Publicis Media which culminated in moving all its agencies under one roof at the former BBC Television Centre in 2019.

Nadine Young – Starcom UK chief executive

Young leads an integrated media team charged with delivering transformative models and ways of working. She’s seen an impressive 2 years for new business including add Aldi, Primark and AB InBev to Starcom’s client roster.

Prior to working at Starcom, Young spent nine years in New York, initially at Mindshare and then as CSO at Vizeum.

Young is most driven by the chance to shape people’s careers; she loves mentoring whether in formal settings or one-to-one and is a huge champion of gender equality.

Sarah Golding – The&Partnership CEO

In 2001, Golding joined The&Partnership as new business director, where she was part of the team that pitched for and won Anchor Butter, British Gas, Argos, Big Yellow, Ocado and The One Account.

Now CEO and partner, Golding is incredibly proud of those long enduring client relationships she has built – not least British Gas, one of her first wins, celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.

In 2017 she was appointed president of the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) – the second woman in over 100 years.

Carmen Vasile – AMV BBDO managing director 

Carmen Vasile is managing director at AMV BBDO. She joined AMV in 2007, becoming one of the most valued talents leading Mars Petcare globally. Under Vasile’s leadership, Mars Petcare, in partnership with BBDO, has “transformed” its creative work across over 70 markets, “bringing refreshed vision, unparalleled ambition and an unwavering belief in the power of creativity to create mutual value”.

Recently, she has also taken on leadership of the agency’s Essity account while still being the global lead for Mars within the network.

Denise Truelove – Mars Petcare global vice president of brands

Currently in the role of global vice president of brands for the consumer pet food brands at Mars, Truelove has been praised for having a “unique blend” of creativity and practicality. She has most recently been recognised for her leadership and the launch of the ‘SHEBA HOPE Reef’ purpose platform and the ‘CESAR purpose platform’ with a mission to make the world a dog friendly place. According to Mars, her efforts on SHEBA not only kickstarted the world’s ‘largest coral restoration program’ but pushed the boundaries of marketing and creative with a campaign featuring a first-of-its-kind YouTube channel aimed at growing coral. SHEBA HOPE REEF also won two Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2022.

Antonia Faulkner – Samsung Ads head of marketing and analytics, Europe and APAC

Faulkner is head of marketing and analytics, Europe and APAC, where she leads the strategic marketing team to promote the product capabilities and data insights from Samsung Smart TVs.

Since joining in 2021, Faulkner has applied her experience in high-growth innovative tech businesses in Europe and APAC, and has been instrumental in the successful launch of the business in Samsung Ads’ key target markets.

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Jennifer Kattar – Realtime Agency global head of marketing

Having worked in digital ads and tech for 9 years in paid social, with the last 2 years serving as head of marketing for Realtime, Kattar specialises in branding and storytelling, and has a “knack” for bringing Realtime’s expertise to life via webinars, case studies, whitepapers, media awards, and PR.

Based in the US, she works part time at Realtime as she also works as an Influencer on Tiktok and Instagram and enjoys content creation, cooking vegan dishes that don’t taste vegan, and exploring beaches in Miami where she lives.

Tanja Grubner – Essity global innovation, brand and communications director

Grubner is the global marketing and communications director of the ‘Feminine Care Category’ at Essity and is passionate about growing businesses by building brands with a purpose that are worthy of being invited into culture.

In the last 20 years, she has lived across three continents, worked across a broad range of brands and FMCG categories in regional and global roles. According to Essity, she always has innovation, sustainability but above all the consumer in mind. She believes in brand bravery, championing change and creative effectiveness.

Helen Lee – Wunderman Thompson head of growth and marketing EMEA and UK

One of Lee’s proudest achievements at the agency is helping Wunderman Thompson UK to hold an ‘Agency of the Year’ title for five years in a row. She has a passion to see other women rise and reach their full potential at work and she is the co-founder of RISE, the agency’s women’s network. In 2022 RISE launched Magpie, an award-winning self-serve mentoring app that has recently expanded to the agency’s male talent, and launched across all Wunderman Thompson’s APAC offices.

Meghan Stabler – BigCommerce senior vice president of marketing

Stabler is a highly experienced business executive with “deep” experience in all aspects of marketing, product management, strategy and digital transformation. Her background includes startup, pre- and post-IPO, turnaround and enterprise SaaS software firms. From cybersecurity to ecommerce, digital to mobile, Stabler has worked across every aspect of today’s technology landscape.

She currently serves as senior vice president at BigCommerce, a leading ecommerce company. Stabler was previously a senior advisor at CA Technologies (acquired by Broadcom) and has held key leadership roles in several technology firms over the past two decades.

Jade Raad – Little Dot Studios director of brand strategy

After spending over a decade at Channel 4 in various roles winning a range of awards and accolades, Raad joined Little Dot Studios in 2019 is now the director of brand strategy. Raad has since developed, built, and led the agency’s brand offering. The division enables brands to ‘broadcast’ to their audiences and grow them meaningfully across digital platforms with an audience-first approach. Clients include Brew Dog, Farfetch, Gagosian, and Goodwood.

Previous roles have spanned sponsorship, digital activation, and linear and digital branded entertainment across brands like British Gas, L’Oreal and O2. Raad also founded and managed London-based theatre company Debut Productions.

Sheri Brissenden – The Frameworks partner

Brissenden is in charge of “making sure everyone’s happy”. She takes overall responsibility for the agency’s global HR function, ensuring every Frameworker is empowered, motivated and fulfilled in what they do. An experienced Fortune 100 communications and marketing leader, Brissenden has spent 30 years in a career almost equally divided between client and agency work. She has held senior marketing roles at IBM and Lanier Worldwide (now part of RICOH), CNN and Coca-Cola and, for the past 14 years, she’s been a partner at The Frameworks.

Louise Martell – Yonder Media chief strategy officer

Martell’s career spans 25 years, working for the likes of PHD, MediaCom, Vizeum and OMD. In local, regional and global leadership roles, Martell has “shaped” the way brands show up in our lives – from cars to chocolate bars, movies to makeup. Previously strategy lead at the OMD/Media Arts Lab, she was responsible for Apple’s EMEA communications strategy.

Now chief strategy officer for Yonder Media, Martell is creating strategies that meet audience expectations for more valuable experiences. She brings her expertise in aligning creative, content and messaging to fast track effectiveness for clients. Martell believes that the industry has a responsibility to audiences rather than algorithms, and that we must aspire to offer “more than just distraction”.

Sarah Parkes –  Talon group chief sales and marketing officer

Sarah Parkes is group chief sales and marketing officer at Talon, leading sales and marketing internationally, most recently spearheading Talon’s global “Think Outside” repositioning and rebrand – and a key member of the board. Previously, she has held board positions at Hearst and Primesight. Passionate about equality, she’s an active WACL member – as well as board sponsor for Talon’s DE&I committee, ‘Belong’.

Emma Harris – Glow London CEO

Emma Harris founded brand engagement agency Glow London in 2014. Since then, Glow has worked with several household brands such as Twinings, Virgin and Lloyds Banking Group, focusing on brand engagement and the importance of culture, social-first, change management, industry trends, and people issues.

Prior to working at Glow, Harris was the Marketing Director at Eurostar for over a decade and helped to drive performance during the years of the recession and lead the change from Waterloo to St Pancras.

Jenny Tsai – WeArisma CEO

Ex-Hearst Director Jenny Tsai is the founder and CEO of WeArisma, an influencer data and analytics company that works with brands like Coty, Salvatore Ferragamo and Ann Summers.

Before founding WeArisma in 2015, Tsai’s role at magazine publisher Hearst saw her lead international digital strategy as the company’s then youngest digital media director. Her remit was to grow and monetise the audience for iconic brands such as ELLE and Cosmopolitan across more than 50 countries outside of the US.

Siu-Lan Choi – Household executive creative director 

Choi is a multi-award-winning creative director with over 20 years of experience inspiring teams to champion problem-solving through strategic design thinking and helping businesses tell their stories.

Having worked with Harrods, Waitrose, Sony PlayStation and Fairmont Miramar, her eclectic background in design includes fashion, food retailing, tech and hospitality. Specialising in creative engaging physical spaces and experiences that range from high-end to high-street, Choi ‘s portfolio encompasses a diverse range of clients across the globe.

Rachael Barnes – Wolff Olins marketing and content director 

After working as a journalist for 20 years, Barnes made the switch to agency life in marketing and communications directors roles, first at M&C Saatchi and now at branding consultancy Wolff Olins. She is reportedly driven by what makes a great story and showcasing the best work and, “most importantly, the incredible talent behind it”.

Barnes is said to always be in search of opportunities to shine the spotlight on other people’s achievements and support both senior and rising star talent to get the “recognition they deserve”.