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.
Become a Judge Previous Judges
Head judges
Paris de Reuck | Freelance Marketing Consultant | Content & Community strategist | @
Paris has worked in social media and SEO for thirteen years, with eight years spent heading social media, influencers and editorial teams at MediaCom and OMD. Paris now works directly with companies and startups helping them find creative ways to grow through social media advertising, content and influencer marketing.
Laura Thomas | Head of Paid Social | MediaCom
Over the last decade, Laura’s worked in various roles across PR, digital and advertising, including running her own business focusing on consultancy for two years, and has delivered social training for companies including Econsultancy and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. In the last five years, Laura’s progressed through various roles at MediaCom North including Head of Display & Head of Digital Media Strategy and within those roles has developed multi-award winning campaigns for clients like New Balance and Missguided. Laura now holds a dual role as an Investment Director responsible for Media Innovation and Social at MediaCom North. In Social, Laura is responsible for leading the paid social product and team across the group – ensuring growth and best practice. In Innovation, Laura works with media owners to give clients across the group access to the most innovative and exciting ways to activate media, enabling them to engage with their audiences on a deeper level and build greater emotional connections. Having worked in social media for different types of businesses, Laura is a passionate believer in the power of using social media to drive meaningful business outcomes and behavioural change.Judges
Athar Abidi | Head of Social Media | British Heart Foundation
Greg Allum | EVP, Marketing | Fuzzy | @GregAllum
Greg Allum is an established client-side and agency marketer with over 10+ year’s experience leading high-performing teams. He is currently Vice President, Display & Social at LQ Digital driving forward the agency’s paid social media capability and leading its growing team. Prior to joining LQ Digital, he worked for Jellyfish as Global Head of Social leading a team of 25 and responsible for >$75m annualized media spend and also consulted on the Toyota/Lexus account for Group M agency m/six. He has significant in-house experience at brands including British Gas, Legal and General and more recently Sony Electronics where he was European head of social and creative strategy.
Joanna Bodley | Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing & Marketing | Manchester Metropolitan University
With over ten years’ experience, Joanna Bodley has seen every side of the industry from creative to comms and large to small agencies, as well as in-house teams. She has developed, implemented and overseen social and digital strategies and provided guidance for a wide range of clients like The Co-operative Bank, Gumtree and Chewits. She has a keen understanding of the complexities involved in making digital, social media, content and advertising efforts a success. She harnesses this as a speaker and professional educator, having delivered training for numerous organisations, including Econsultancy. Jo is now a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and course director for their MSc Digital Marketing programme, sharing her experience with the next generation of marketers. She also runs her own consultancy, Jo & Co.
Carlotta Bonafini | SEO Product Owner | Vodafone
Carlotta is leading the SEO team at Vodafone UK, where she is overseeing the development of their new digital strategy. She started her professional career in the marketing field working for Expedia in the search department. She directed many regional projects before moving into a global position where her initiatives created outstanding results whilst pioneering new processes. She supervised both creative campaigns and technical projects, and launched many impactful ideas. Carlotta graduated from London Metropolitan University and Milan Catholic University and has been living in London for over 9 years. Passionate about high-tech, she is working on improving her coding skills and is always eager to expand her technical knowledge
Michael Bonfils | Global Managing Director | INTL MEDIA MANAGEMENT CORP (SEM INTERNATIONAL)
Michael Bonfils is the CEO and Founder of Int’t Media Management with the trade name of SEM International specializing in International SEO/SEM, multilingual content marketing and display solutions. With over 30 network offices around the world, Michael has been critical to the global digital marketing successes of many of the world’s largest corporations. Michael often speaks and writes on the latest trends in global search marketing and has contributed his time to many major national publications and events. In addition to being the founder of his global advertising agency, he is currently a board member of a number of organizations in technology and advertising as well as a former judge for the US Search Awards.
Adriaan Boot | Founder | Impactful
Adriaan has founded his agency, Impactful Online Marketing, and helps his clients on their paid marketing campaigns on search and social media platforms. He loves spending and earning money for his clients and making the business impact measurable through Google Analytics. In the past few years Adriaan has worked on the Google Ads campaigns of big online brands like YourSurprise.com, Vergelijk.nl, SnappCar, Daikin and Freelance.nl. This helped in being honored by Google with the Google Premier Partner status.
Martin Bryant | Media and Tech Consultant
Martin Bryant is a consultant, speaker, writer, and educator in the fields of technology and media. He works to help technology companies craft a narrative around their products and business. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of international technology publication The Next Web, and Community Editor at Tech North, where he shone a light on the stories of startups and entrepreneurs in the North of England.
Dave Chaffey | Co-found and Content Director | Smart Insights
Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and content director of marketing and e-commerce learning platform Smart Insights. Dave is author of 5 bestselling books on Ecommerce including Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice and Digital Business and E-commerce Management. He has been recognised as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have shaped the future of Marketing by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.His podcast is What's New's in Marketing.
Sarah Cook | Group Head of Social Media and Content Strategy | Legal & General
Nicole Correia | Senior Social Media Executive | Ocado
Nicole started her social journey from her student halls bedroom when she worked with local businesses and start-ups. Since leaving uni, her career has taken her from major players like Coca-Cola, Schweppes and Lucozade and even a stint with Pokemon. In her current role at Ocado Retail, she is responsible for maximising the 'value' Ocado's followers provide the business and, mutually, the value that social media provides Ocado customers. This includes constantly seeking out trends, opportunities and efficiencies from content creation, amplification and community management - which she knows she'll see lots of in this year's submissions.
Rachael Courtney | Head of Studio Three | Three
Rachael has worked in PR & Events for over 17 years, with 13 years running Social Media for big brands. In her current position she leads the social media team at Three UK and has been responsible for a number of award winning social campaigns.
Alan K'necht | K'nechtology Inc.
Umar Khan | Senior Digital Strategist | Nakheel
Umar is a passionate digital marketer with over 9 years of experience in managing high budget digital marketing campaigns. With experience and expertise on all the verticals of Digital Channels including SEO, Google Ads, Social Media, Content Marketing, CRO UX and others. Umar is currently linked with Nakheel as the Senior. Digital Strategist. He also conducts digital marketing workshops & regular classes for well-known educational institutes in Dubai
Laura Lesser | Culture & Innovation | O2 (Telefonica UK)
Laura is a creative and media specialist for brand marketing with experience across leading telco, retail and FMCG brands. She volunteers as a Comms Director at the Conscious Advertising Network and is passionate about technology and ways for brands to be relevant in customers' lives. Currently leading culture and innovation in the marketing communications team at O2 including brand campaigns, CSR initiatives and sponsorships such as The O2 and England Rugby.
Edgar Linayo | D2D Brand Manager | Nestle
"Strategic-design thinker and curious by nature" - I am truly passionate about design, innovation as well as brand building. I have over 15 years of experience focused on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). As a brand builder, I have been blessed to be part of paramount projects for acclaimed top global brands such as Ariel®, Bold®, Pampers®, Always®, Tampax®, Tess®, Naturella®, Vicks®, Ruffles®, Twistos®, Lay's®, Maggi®, Purina®, among many others. Furthermore, I have worked with praised local and regional brands. I took part of the global team at Bacardi Limited, the largest private family-owned company full of passionate employees and iconic brands as Bacardi® Rums, Grey Goose® Vodka, Bombay Sapphire® Gin, Martini®, and shaped by their rich history of spirited entrepreneurship. Nowadays, I am working at Nestlé as part of the central team overseeing EMENA projects.Carla Marshall | Head of Content Marketing | vidIQ
Carla Marshall is the Head of Content Marketing at vidIQ. She was previously Editor in Chief at TubularInsights.com, and the Community Manager for the ReelSEO YouTube Channel. She is YouTube Certified and specializes in video optimization and organic marketing.
Debra Mastaler | President | Pitch Hawk
Debra Mastaler is an experienced traditional marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) specialist with a deep skillset in link building, SEO content strategy and media relations. She has owned Alliance-Link since 2001 and specializes in combining big idea content and smart SEO to build links, traffic and brand growth. Debra is a regular conference speaker, trainer and contributor to numerous search and tech sites and is OMCP certified link building trainer.
Dylan McLaren | Founder | Content Merchants
Dylan has worked as a strategist, copywriter, attorney, creative director, and director. Working with some of the biggest brands in the world in dynamic digital campaigns. After many years in the legal and advertising industries, he founded Content Merchants. An anomaly agency helping global clients navigate digital landscapes through innovative content marketing solutions and strategies. Dylan believes that targeted, integrated, interactive, mobile communications are the future of branding and marketing around the world.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.
Mazen Mroue | Head of Global Digital Media and Tech | Frieslandcampina
Mazen is the head of Global Digital Media and Tech, The Netherlands. His responsibilities cover media, technology, CRM, Website/SEO and innovation. Mazen oversees media pitches, digital strategies, and design of the technology ecosystem following the JBP with key suppliers such as Facebook, Google, TikTok & Snapchat. Before moving to the Netherlands, Mazen worked at the agency side for 6+ years based in Dubai, Singapore, and Beirut. His diverse portfolio covers prominent multinationals such as BlackBerry, Samsung, Emirates, Etihad airlines, and all the Richemont Luxury brands. Besides being a member of the world federation of advertisers, Core member in programmatic taskforce at Iab Nederlands, member of the programmatic committee at iab SEA+India and holding 100+ certifications across all digital platforms and technologies, Mazen won many prestigious digital awards targeting the MENA region and is looking to score more worldwide. Mazen is a big believer in training both the body and the mind to be strong. So next to his professional achievements, he is a world marathoner and Guinness World Record holder, with more than 60 full marathons completed and many ultras.Erica Myers | Director of Social | The Hollywood Reporter
Erica Myers is a digital and social media marketing strategist with 10 years experience leading global campaigns across various verticals. She started her career in media, working out of London with companies like Philips, Dell and Ubisoft. A personal highlight was launching the award-winning EDF: Energy of the Nation campaign during the 2012 London Olympics. In Los Angeles since 2014, Erica has worked with studios like Disney, Netflix and Amazon to develop and execute large-scale campaigns for new movies and television series. She is currently heading up social media for The Hollywood Reporter.
Chris Nightingale | PPC Manager – Acquisition | ao.com
Erin Portsmouth | Director of Corporate Affairs | Oldham Cares
Erin is a Chartered public relations practitioner who started her career in private sector marketing and communications consultancies, but for the past eleven years has worked in the National Health Service. She is currently Director of Corporate Affairs at NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group where she oversees a portfolio including communications, engagement, public affairs, equality and diversity, organisational development and governance. She has a Masters degree in public relations, and served on the Chartered Institute of Public Relations 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.
Patrick C. Price | Founder | Idealizer
Patrick C. Price is a longtime online marketing and social media pioneer. After having led the Swiss marketing operations one of Europe's leading online classifieds marketplaces for 7 years, Patrick decided to share his knowledge on a wider basis and founded Zurich based digital consulting agency Idealizer, which later became the European headquarters of BlueGlass Interactive (a multiple awards winning agency) with offices in London, Zurich and Tallinn. After a management buyout, Patrick went on to found www.vergleiche.ch a Swiss Consumer-Information-Portal. Patrick has been an active player in the social media industry since 2003, when he started his first video blog.
Eli Schwartz | Director of Growth | Survey Monkey
Eli Schwartz is the Director of Growth for SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading People Powered Data platform enabling curious individuals and companies – including 99% of the Fortune 500 – to have conversations at scale with the people who matter most. He oversees SurveyMonkey’s SEO and viral product strategies for the entire product portfolio of SurveyMonkey, Wufoo, SurveyMonkey Apply, and Tech Validate. Prior to his current role, Eli was the Director of APAC Marketing for SurveyMonkey based out of Singapore. In this role, he oversaw a significant expansion of SurveyMonkey’s user penetration all across the Asia and Oceania regions. Eli is also a frequent speaker at marketing and growth conferences and a regular author for popular business and marketing publications.
Sabiha Shakil | Global Marketing Consultant
Sabiha is a Marketing Consultant with 18 years of experience across the globe. She has an international marketing background having developed B2B and B2C marketing strategies across markets 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 2020 and APAC Search Awards 2021. Aside from marketing, Sabiha loves to travel and has been to over 40 countries.
Bianca Spada | Global Senior Social Media Manager | Red Bull
I am 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. I am an expert in consolidating and creating brand new social strategies to significantly increase the visibility of brands online. I have a proven record of radically turning around performance and generating 3-figure growth within 12 months of working in a company.
Kevin Watterson | Global Paid Social Brand Marketing for Mobility and Delivery | Uber
Kevin Watterson leads global paid social brand marketing for mobility and delivery at Uber. Prior to joining Uber he managed paid social accounts for B2B and B2C clients across tech, retail and manufacturing at Aimclear