Unilever’s Keith Weed named WFA Global Marketer of the Year

Weed attracted 36% of the 6,000 votes to take the prize, which was launched by the WFA to celebrate the role that global and regional marketers can play in driving more effective and sustainable marketing.

“It’s an honour to be named as the first WFA Global Marketer of the Year.  This is a wonderfully exciting time to be in marketing, and this award reflects the hard work and dedication of the whole team at Unilever.  We have a clear purpose – to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our talented marketers who are key to bringing that message alive to our consumers, and helping to drive long-term sustainable growth for Unilever,” said Keith Weed.

“A big congratulations to Keith on behalf of the global marketing industry. At a time when our industry is facing serious challenges, Keith has shown immense leadership. He is the purveyor of a portfolio of some of the world’s most purposeful brands, the architect of the Unstereotype Alliance and has been a pioneer in pushing for a better online advertising ecosystem,” said David Wheldon, WFA President & CMO RBS

Weed was one of six global marketers to be shortlisted for the award, the others were:

• Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble
• Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President – Healthcare Business at Mastercard
• Hans-Christian Schwingen, CMO at Deutsche Telekom
• Jane Wakely, Chief Marketing Officer, Pet Nutrition at Mars
• Glory Zhang, Chief Marketing Officer at Huawei Consumer Business Group

The shortlist was selected by an expert jury from across the industry, following nominations from over 30 different companies in WFA membership.

Weed and the other marketers on the shortlist demonstrated outstanding leadership in three key areas:

1. Evolving their organisation to be more people-centric, better able to respond to consumer needs and building happier, more engaged teams internally.
2. Working smarter with partners, be they agencies or vendors, and ensuring that the whole team is aligned to the same goals.
3. Delivering inspiring work that genuinely makes a difference, be that cultural, social or for the business.

For more information, please visit wfanet.org/globalmarketeroftheyear

About the WFA

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is the voice of marketers worldwide, representing 90% of global marketing communications spend – roughly US$900 billion per annum – through a unique, global network of the world’s biggest markets and biggest marketers. WFA champions responsible and effective marketing communications worldwide. More information at www.wfanet.org