The awards are judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders and experts, the judging is a rigorous two-stage process including pre-scoring to determine shortlists and a judging meeting where entries are discussed and evaluated in detail to decide the winning entries.
From a transparency perspective, we may video aspects of the judging session to show on the evening and give entrants an insight into why a winning entry was chosen.
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Judges
Lauren Clews | Social Media Manager | United Utilities
Lauren manages the social media channels and content for United Utilities, the largest listed water company in the UK serving more than 3 million homes and businesses in the North West. It’s Lauren’s role to showcase how United Utilities invests in its customers, communities and people. Lauren oversees how the company also uses social media to educate customers to change behaviours for the better and generates helpful customer service content. Lauren’s a trained journalist and has been at United Utilities for the past 10 years, having started her career in the internal communications team.
Rachael Courtney | Senior Social Marketing Lead | Virgin Media
Rachael has worked in PR & Events for over 17 years, with 15 years running Social Media for big brands. Previous roles have included heading up social at Cineworld and Three, where she was responsible for a number of award-winning social campaigns. Rachael now leads the social strategy and team at Virgin Media.
Batool E Azra | Chief Client Officer | IAL Saatchi & Saatchi
There is no such thing as failure. There are only results. In just under a decade, Batool has blossomed in the chaos of creativity that is the advertising industry. She is a true inspiration inside and outside the Saatchi network and is among the youngest women in the industry to lead business operations. Only a few minutes into a meeting with Batool and you know you’ll enjoy working or traveling with her. Capitalizing on this strength, Batool has not only formed immovable relationships with multitudes of clients but also chiseled her trusty client relationship team to be more future-focused. This is why they only present clients with holistic advertising solutions that drive unmistakable results. The past couple of years were a whirlwind of emotions and accomplishments. Having achieved it all behind the figurative curtains of advertisers, Batool now wishes to move beyond her comfort zone. She got a taste of the other side of the fold by entering the grand juries of prestigious award shows such as The Dragons of Asia Awards, Global Content Awards, MENA Agency Awards, MENA Search Awards and New York Festivals Advertising Awards. In doing so, she got a sneak peek into the kaleidoscope of advertising cultures around the world. She is a true champion for growth and one of the pioneering minds that led the agency’s drive towards experimenting with cutting-edge advertising solutions. Batool believes that the two keys to her success in transforming lifeless brands into superstars is trust and transparency. This is why her quest to making impossible possible has been a rollercoaster ride she would gladly relive a thousand times.
Ellie England | Commercial Director | Microsoft
Passionate about digital, women in technology and making a tangible impact in Diversity and Inclusion, Ellie began her career in sales working in an inner city secondary school 'selling' the importance of modern languages to disaffected teenagers. She got in to the world of digital advertising working for Google for 6 years, before eventually relocating to Manchester and joining Microsoft. As a Commercial Director for Microsoft Advertising, for the past 7 years. Ellie has been spearheading the continued investment in the North of the UK and beyond, leading a growing team of Account Managers and Directors and juggling life as a proud mother of two under six children.
Jack Francis | Social Media & Content Manager | eBay
I've worked in social media for just over 7 years now, both in agencies and in-house. My delightful role at the moment is looking after eBay UK's social media presence with the team. This spans across organic content, paid media, influencers & working collabortively with other marketing team across the different markets It's our job to lead the way in best practice when it comes to social media, understanding what resonates with the customer & how we can keep them engaged in a crowded social landscape.
Adam Guerguis | Director of Product Development | Paystone
Based in Montreal, Adam has more than 10 years in search marketing and growth hacking experience. His latest job was Head of Operations for airbnb organic growth. He also has been working with very exciting brands in several industries, languages, and sizes like Yahoo!, MSN, Groupon, UNHCR, Skrill, Paysafe card, and others. Adam is also a digital marketing trainer, guest speaker, mentor, digital marketing blogger since 2010, and a MSc. Marketing Candidate. In his free time, Adam likes coding and reading about marketing,
Trond Lyngbø | Senior SEO Consultant
Trond Lyngbø is the founder of Search Planet and a senior SEO Consultant. He has over two decades of experience in SEO, e-commerce, content strategy and digital analysis. His clients include multinational Fortune 500 corporations and major Norwegian companies. Trond has helped grow businesses through more effective search marketing and SEO strategies. He is most passionate about working with e-commerce companies and web shops to develop and expand their omni-channel marketing initiatives. As a regular columnist at Search Engine Land since 2011, Trond was top listed internationally for 5 consecutive years, and voted as one of the top SEO's to follow by the Search Engine Journal in 2019. His work was primed by Forbes.com, being presented as one of the world's 25 leading SEO specialists. Trond is one of the co-authors of the book Google It: Total Information Awareness (2016)."
Jennifer Mangold | Director of Global Social Media | Indeed
Jenn has more than 15 years of experience in the tech industry, building award-winning, in-house, social media programs and campaigns. She is passionate about brand and community building using social platforms. After starting her career in SEO, she transitioned to Social Media and is currently the Director of Global Social Media at Indeed. She leads a team that ‘Help People Get Jobs’ around the world. During her career, she has participated in many integrated brand initiatives driven by Social activations, including three Super Bowl campaigns and being among the first brands to leverage real-time content in a campaign with the Facebook team, live from the Eiffel Tower. She oversees social media strategy, advertising, creator partnerships, and employee social advocacy. Prior to Indeed, she led the Global Social Media team at Vrbo, part of Expedia Group.
Abbi McGregor | Social Media Manager | Barclays
Abbi has had a long career in Financial Services which has given her a deep understanding of customer needs, motivations and behaviours. An avid consumer of social media herself, she has lead on a number of social media campaigns for Barclays UK across a range of segments from home-ownership to wealth management and everything in between. Most recently her focus has been on engaging at an ultra-local level with customers and communities across the UK working with agencies, professionals and colleagues to build the value of the Barclays brand.
Natalie Messingham | Social Media Marketing Lead | Marks and Spencer
Natalie started her marketing journey on the graduate scheme at Tesco, where she worked across community marketing launching the Farm to Fork project, colleague insight, local marketing and then in the social media and digital content team. She then joined Dixons Carphone to transform the Carphone Warehouse and Currys channels, launching some epic collaborations including 'Big Narstie and the Samsung S9' launch. Natalie is now leading social media for M&S Food, which involves driving social expertise across M&S, developing their strategy for each of their core channels, and creating engaging social-first content for M&S’s 8m+ followers. She's excited to see the creativity and stepping outside of the box with this year's awards entries.
Elaine Miller | Global Operations Manager | Tribe Global
Elaine is the Global Operations Manager at Tribe Global, a leading network of award-winning communications agencies in more than 100 cities around the world. Elaine has been supporting the growth of the network and championing independent agencies and businesses for more than five years. In her current role she enjoys managing the TribeOpen global event series and has welcomed speakers including Dolce & Gabbana, TikTok, Dyson, the former Head of the Spanish Secret Service and many more to Tribe events.
Paul Morris | Marketing Specialist
Paul has 22 years’ experience leading Marketing, Digital & Ecommerce both Agency & Brand side. Paul was previously Director of Digital/ Ecommerce at Marshalls PLC, Head of Marketing at Tesco Bank, global Digital/ Ecommerce Director at PZ Cussons (brands including St Tropez, Imperial Leather & Original Source), led Digital marketing at the Co-op Group (Food > Funeralcare) and have through the line experience of working both client and agency side with brands including Wickes, Laterooms, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Cash Generator, Stagecoach & Silverstone.
Daisy Morris | Strategist & Founder | The Selfhood
Daisy Morris is a social media strategist and Founder of social media consultancy and online community, The Selfhood. Clients and collaborators of Daisy range from tech companies such as Microsoft and Adobe, to mental health organisations such as Mind and The Selfspace. Daisy is on a mission to make URL feel as human as IRL and has a community first approach to her work.
Xavier Naudeau | CONSULTANT
Xavier is a digital data-driven consultant who thrives on understanding consumers' behaviour to optimize their Search Journey through Digital. After ten years of combined experience between SEO, Web Analytics and Data, he now works within Business Intelligence at Philip Morris International to provide critical insights on consumer performance for smoke-free future campaigns.
Rejoice Ojiaku | Freelance SEO Specialist & Content Strategist | B-Digital
Rejoice Ojiaku is an SEO Specialist & Content Strategist, as well as the Co-Founder of B-DigitalUK – a platform for showcasing and empowering black talent in the UK digital marketing scene. Her expertise lies in SEO, Diversity and inclusion, all bolstered by strong personal branding both online and offline.
Pankaj Pilaniwala | Product Manager | Google
Pankaj is a Product Manager at Google. He is a tech enthusiast, product leader and coach. He has over a decade's experience in the tech industry and has built and launched some critical and successful products worldwide. His recent creation at Google will intersect with the developer's experience on Play Store and how they quickly integrate with the Commerce Platform. In his role as a Product Manager at Google, Pankaj is responsible for the development and launch of products that are both technically advanced and user-friendly. His strong background in technology helps him make informed decisions when it comes to product design and development. His understanding of the developer's experience on the Play Store enables him to quickly integrate products with the Google Commerce Platform. Pankaj's passion for technology platforms drives him to create products that are user-friendly and feature-rich. Through his hard work and dedication, he has managed to build a reputation as an expert in product management. With his experience, Pankaj is constantly working with teams at Google to ensure the success of their product launches. Pankaj is also an active coach and mentor, offering advice to new product managers starting out in their careers. He believes in giving back to the community through speaking engagements and mentorship events. His enthusiasm for the tech industry has made him one of the most sought-after speakers among tech professionals around the world. For Pankaj, creating and launching successful products are not just his work but also a passion. As he continues to push the boundaries of product development, Pankaj’s goal is to bring innovative and user-centric products to life that have an impact on people's lives. With his eye for detail and problem-solving skills, we can expect great things from Pankaj in the future. He is truly an inspiring innovator who is making waves in the tech industry. With his passion for technology and dedication to innovation, Pankaj has established himself as an authority on product development. As he continues to craft world-class products, we can look forward to Pankaj’s impact on the tech industry for years to come.
Erin Portsmouth | ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT | NHS GREATER MANCHESTER INTEGRATED CARE
Erin is a Chartered public relations practitioner who worked for ten years in private sector marketing and communications consultancies, and for the past thirteen years has worked in the National Health Service. She is currently Associate Director of Strategy, Planning and Development for the Oldham team within NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, where she oversees a strategic portfolio that also includes communications, engagement, public affairs, equality and diversity, organisational development and governance. She has a Masters degree in public relations, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and served on the CIPR North West Group Committee as a volunteer for ten years, also holding a three year term as Chair. She was appointed to the Board of Trustees of homelessness charity Emmaus Salford in 2017, and is a Non-Executive Director of Oldham Community Leisure.
Omar Qureshi | Creative Director | SadaPay, Pakistan
Omar Qureshi is a multi-disciplinary Creative Director at SadaPay, Pakistan, and a MarCom Professional who believes in & practices constant innovation, explosive thinking coupled with real-time collaboration. Omar unlocked his way to becoming a Creative Director at SadaPay in 2020; since then he’s been spearheading a team of Creatives that's taken SadaPay’s branding, visual & content game to the pinnacle of the FinTech Industry in PK. With a keen eye for aesthetics & detail, his work is known for its thoughtfulness, precision, and consistency. And, with agency & client experiences across a range of industries including chemicals, transport, luxury & publishing, Omar has had the opportunity to work with brands such as SWVL, IAL Saatchi & Saatchi, JS Bank, National Foods, and Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited in various creative domains; which has not only helped him create what he creates best, but has also paved way for him to be on the panel for Grand Jury on platforms ie New York Advertising Awards. Post 6 in the evening, Omar can be either found reading Marty Neumeier, booking hostels on hostelworld.com, or helping 2,900+ creatives & marketers in Pakistan find authentic jobs through Pakistan Creatives – A Job Search & Apply Community platform built exclusively for all-creatives.
Eli Schwartz | Author of Product-Led SEO | Survey Monkey
Eli Schwartz is the author of the bestselling book Product-Led SEO. He is an SEO expert and consultant with more than a decade of experience driving successful SEO and growth programs for leading B2B and B2C companies. He helps clients like Shutterstock, BlueNile, Quora, Gusto, Mixpanel, and Zendesk build and execute Global SEO strategies that dramatically increase their organic visibility at scale. In the past, Eli led the SEO team at SurveyMonkey, building organic search from nearly zero to one of the largest growth drivers at the company. He helped launched SurveyMonkey’s first APAC office and oversaw international SEO pre- and post-IPO. Prior to SurveyMonkey, he led user acquisition at High Gear Media, pushing the company from 500,000 new users to 6 million every month in just three years.
Sabiha Shakil | Global Marketing Consultant
Sabiha is a Marketing Consultant with 20 years of experience across the globe. Based out of Dubai, she has an international marketing background having developed B2B and B2C marketing strategies across geographies and sectors. She has provided business and marketing strategy advice to all kinds of businesses- from Startups to Multi-National Corporations. Sabiha is a member of the Women in Tech SEO community in which she is a community speaker and mentor. Sabiha also has spoken at various international events and has judged industry awards like the Global Marketing Awards, APAC Search Awards, Global Search Awards and many more. Aside from marketing, Sabiha loves to travel and has been to over 40 countries. She's also a certified Hatha Yoga and Prenatal Yoga Teacher.
Bianca Spada | Global Senior Social Media Manager | Red Bull
Bianca is a global digital strategy expert with 10 years experience of delivering successful digital strategies and global campaigns in some of the world’s leading and cutting edge companies. She is an expert in consolidating and creating brand new social strategies to significantly increase the visibility of brands online. Bianca has a proven record of radically turning around performance and generating 3-figure growth within 12 months of working in a company.
Purna Virji | Senior Content Solutions Consultant | LinkedIn
Purna Virji is a globally recognized content strategist and Senior Content Solutions Consultant at LinkedIn. She has been crowned the Search Personality of the Year by the US Search Awards, was named by Adweek on their Young Influentials List, and was named by PPC Hero as the #1 Most Influential Expert in the world. She is a columnist and top-rated international keynote speaker who regularly speaks at conferences such as AdWeek, DMEXCO, The Next Web Conference and INBOUND. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Purna led global learning and thought leadership programs for Microsoft. An award-winning former journalist, Purna is an avid traveler, aspiring top chef, and amateur knitter in her spare time.
Polly Vodenicharova | Digital Marketing Manager | Homes for Students
Polly is the Digital Marketing Manager for Homes for Students - the largest PBSA independent student accommodation provider in the UK & Ireland. She has a passion for all things digital, combined with 5 years of experience in content creation, social media & paid advertising. Polly tries to combine a creative worldview with analytical thinking and believes that the secret to cracking social media is the Triple T(test, tailor & track). Previous work includes agency experience within a variety of fields - from Fashion to Education; Professional Sports; Tech. Outside of the UK, she’s worked on EU-funded projects & international events. Her main personal goal is to inspire and empower women who are just entering the Digital field and prove that the one number that never matters is your age.
Thomas Wakelin | Social Media Marketing Manager | Microsoft UK
Thomas is responsible for the social media strategy at Microsoft UK, covering consumer, commercial, developer and education audiences. Thomas is focused on building active and engaged audiences across all digital platforms whilst advising marketing teams on the importance of establishing brand love with customers. Thomas is an advocate for innovative, creative marketing – using the unique tools of each digital platform to make brands and campaigns stand out from the crowd!
Charlie Wheeler | Senior Social Media Manager | BP
Charlie Wheeler (he/him) is a driven and creative senior social media manager for bp. Motivated by data-driven, excellent creative and pushing the boundaries, Charlie is also a mentor and advisor to many with a passion for upskilling those around him. A fierce advocate for equality, he’s also the brains behind social media at Trans in the City – a global network for businesses to learn about and implement trans inclusion - a One Young World alumni and mental health champion.