WFA names super seven as shortlist for Global Marketer of the Year 2021

Clockwise from top left: Andrea Álvares (Natura), Conny Braams (Unilever), Rupen Desai (Dole Sunshine Company), Cristina Diezhandino (Diageo), Julia Goldin (LEGO Group), Pratik Thakar (The Coca-Cola Company), Jane Wakely (Mars, Inc).

WFA has unveiled the shortlist for the 2021 Global Marketer of the Year, featuring global marketing leaders from Diageo, Dole, LEGO, Mars, Natura, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever.

An expert jury of 15 marketing industry leaders considered more than 30 eligible names as part of the shortlisting process, with each judge nominating their top six. The seven marketers with the most votes have been shortlisted.

The shortlist includes:

• Andrea Álvares, Chief Brand, Innovation, International and Sustainability Officer, Natura: Andrea has helped empower the company’s consultants’ network, providing representatives with new digital tools, extending payment terms and supporting them during the pandemic. She has also played a strong role in helping Natura drive up its innovation index, which has risen nearly 10 percentage points in the last two years.
• Conny Braams, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Unilever: Conny is Unilever’s first-ever Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, leading the company’s end-to-end digital transformation and identifying new opportunities for growth. She believes brands have a responsibility to make sustainable behaviours easy and every day.
• Rupen Desai, Global CMO, Dole Sunshine Company: Rupen has developed a new business model for Dole – driven by a clear purpose that good nutrition is a human right – that is delivering sustainable growth. He has worked with Piñatex to turn pineapple leaves into vegan leather, resulting in a new series of Nike shoes, and helped set up the Sunshine for All Fund, which allows start-ups to evaluate and test new technology within the business.
• Cristina Diezhandino, CMO, Diageo: Cristina has re-imagined how the company’s 1,200-strong marketing team works. She and her team have introduced quarterly plans and small challenge teams to address specific short-term problems. During the pandemic she focused on enabling consumers to recreate that bar feeling at home, growing the ecommerce business, while also supporting bars and bar staff.
• Julia Goldin, EVP, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, LEGO Group: Julia’s remit covers product development, licensing and partnerships as well as marketing, research and the company’s in-house creative agency. During the pandemic she and her team devised the #letsbuildtogether campaign to support isolated children and their parents in just two weeks.
• Pratik Thakar, Head of Global Creative Strategy and Content, Coca-Cola at TCCC: Pratik has led structural changes that have allowed Coca-Cola’s marketing teams and agency partners to collaborate even more closely during the pandemic. He has created new merchandising partnerships and launched the company’s game-themed “One Coke Away from Each Other” campaign.
• Jane Wakely, Lead CMO, Mars, Inc.: Jane is driving the transformation of Mars’ marketing function, delivering a new mandate – building brands for mutual value – to create a roadmap for sustainable growth. Recent campaigns include Sheba’s Hope Reef product, where the brand partnered with National Geographic to help regrow coral at the site in Indonesia.

Vote for your favourite now

The next stage in the process will be a public vote – supported by The Drum, which is partnering the WFA on this initiative – and a jury vote with each element accounting for a half of the final score.

Industry representatives can vote for their favourite starting today and until 31 December 2021 at www.globalmarketeroftheyear.com. The winner will be announced in January 2022.

“2021 hasn’t been an easy year. More lockdowns and rapid changes in consumer behaviour combined with new demands for action on sustainability and diversity have ensured that agility is the key to success for global and regional marketers. The super seven shortlisted for this award have managed these challenges with poise and deserve our congratulations.” Mastercard’s CMCO Raja Rajamannar, chair of the expert jury and WFA president 

“Global and regional marketers have a raft of challenges and their to do list expands all the time. From their role as explainers of sustainable living to drivers of diversity and inclusion and business growth generators to drivers of digital strategy, there are many areas where their influence can pay dividends. Our shortlist represents the very best of our profession.” Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA 

This is the fifth year that WFA has run Global Marketer of the Year, the previous winners are P&G’s Marc Pritchard (2020), L’Oréal’s Lubomira Rochet (2019), Mastercard’s Raja Rajamannar (2018), and Unilever’s Keith Weed (2017).