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.
The 2023 line-up will be announced soon. You can see the 2022 panel below.
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.
Judges’ Top Tips Become a Judge Previous Judges
Judges
Lauren Auguste | Social Media Manager | Howden
Lauren kick-started her marketing career with an apprenticeship and is now the Social Media Manager at Howden, a global insurance group with employee-ownership at its heart. Lauren is widely recognised as a LinkedIn expert, specialising in company page strategy, employee advocacy and paid ads. Key LinkedIn follower growths she’s responsible for include Turner & Townsend (90-380k), David Howden (0-7.5k) and Howden Broking (6-65k). As a huge supporter of personal branding and DE&I, Lauren will be looking for authentic, diverse and accessible content submissions.Gabriele Bertucci | International Marketing Manager | BrewDog
Gabriele is a London-based marketing specialist, consultant, award-winning contemporary communicator, and drink industry professional. He has worked in some of the world's leading beverage companies - most recently with Carlsberg Group and BrewDog. In 2020 he founded What's In The Glass?, a drinks-led marketing consultancy and media agency. He is a member of The British Guild of Beer Writers, an Accredited Sommelier by The Beer & Cider Academy and a professional beer judge.
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. She also runs her own consultancy, Jo & Co.
Sarah Cook | Group Head of Social Media and Content Strategy | Legal & General
Sarah has worked in communications for over 15 years: both in-house and for agencies. She is currently responsible for social media and content at Legal & General. Established in 1836, it is a leading financial services and investment management company
Rachael Courtney | Head of Social & Content | Virgin Media O2
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 in-house social media team at Three UK, and manages Studio Three, Three UK’s content studio, event space and VIP lounge.
Ellie England | Commercial Director | 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 talented media sales consultants and juggling life as a proud mother of two children, 5 and 3.
Leighton Friend | Director & Lead Digital Strategist | Pather-Friend Digital
Leighton is an experienced digital marketing strategist, whose career spans over a decade in the industry. Leighton has crafted his skills at an award-winning agency, developed digital marketing strategies for world-renowned brands, including National Geographic and Fox International Channels, and built the digital marketing presence for one of the UK's largest independent Real Estate Management companies. Leighton has recently launched his own property marketing consultancy, where he helps property companies achieve their business objectives through advanced digital marketing strategies and implementation.
Jaime Hill | Ecommerce Director | Hurtigruten Group
Jaime has over two decades of experience as a Marketing & Ecommerce professional with a successful track record leading teams and developing strategy to transform organisations’ digital capability and channels to market. She has had success in roles at brands including Avis, Barclays, Dairy Crest and Oak Furnitureland, and across a wide range of B2B and B2C vertical markets. Most recently, she joined Hurtigruten Group as Ecommerce Director for HRN & Shared Services in January 2023.. A graduate of the Institute of Digital Marketing and qualified Executive Business Coach, Jaime's professional passion is for making life easier for the customer at every touch point.
Steve Hilton | CEO | Liberty Apps
Founder of an agency started in 2008 to produce life changing smart phone applications. We've grown organically to create apps for big names including Warburtons, Microsoft & IBM. Recently spoke at TedX and International Business Festival Invited by the British Computer Society to deliver talks around the UK Presented technology talks at 20+ events regarding Culture, Chatbots & Mobile Apps Recent personal recognition includes: * Winner of the NHS Hackday * Winner of the Homeless Hack * Winner of Hacking the Future of Energy * Most notable app at the Public Health England HackX Lives to improve lives across the globe using smart phone technologies.
John Jones | Corporate and Forensic Partner | Beever and Struthers
John leads Beever and Struthers' Corporate Team, having been made a Partner in 1999. Beever and Struthers is an award-winning firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors in Manchester, Blackburn and London, and currently rank in the Top 50 firms nationally and Top 10 firms in the North West. John is a local council member of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and has been co-opted to the Partnership Steering Group of the Business Growth Hub. He was Chairman of Pro-Manchester from 2014 - 2015.
Shashank Katare | Senior Engagement Manager, Digital Strategy Group | Adobe
Shashank Katare is a Senior Engagement Manager and a leader in the Digital Strategy Group (DSG) at Adobe. Shashank is a seasoned technology and strategy leader with 13+ years of highly diversified experience across a mix of business industries including Retail, Travel & Hospitality, and Consumer Goods. He works with senior client executives, leading digital transformation & customer experience initiatives for Adobe's enterprise retail clients and provides data-driven strategic thinking to C-level executives to define vision for business transformation, personalization at scale and business value. Shashank leads opportunity identification and data driven analyses, and drives cross-functional collaboration, alignment and execution across the organization. He is an experienced people leader and is passionate about building high performing teams and building a strong organizational culture. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and HEC Paris and a B.E (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani, India.
Davina Lines | Managing Director | Mixing Digital
Davina Lines is Managing Director of Mixing Digital and the Ecommerce Club. She brings a wealth of knowledge and a big black book of digital contacts to ensure Mixing Digital’s event management services are of the highest standard. Davina co-founded Netimperative in 1999 and became Managing Director in 2002, stewarding the brand into new product launches and creating one of the most successful events programmes in the digital marketing industry. In the mid 90s Davina cut her digital teeth on New Media Age (now Econsultancy), forming part of the founding team and was responsible for the commercial development of the magazine and its early events from launch in May 1995 to 1999. In recent years Davina launched an ecommerce peer-to-peer community, the Ecommerce Club, which runs regular events in London and Manchester on topics relevant to the retail community.
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)."
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.
Anastasia Nicholl | Industry Lead, Technology and Gaming Partnerships | TikTok
Anastasia Nicholl is TikTok's Industry Lead for Technology and Gaming Partnerships where she leads the team that supports brands with their marketing and advertising campaigns on TikTok. In her role, Anastasia is responsible for delivering client success and driving revenue for TikTok, building a team that consults brands including Apple, Samsung and Microsoft on how to be successful on TikTok. Joining TikTok in October 2018 just a few months after the company was launched, Anastasia has had roles across CPG and Beauty before assuming her current position. Prior to TikTok she was Head of Client Services at Facebook and Linkedin Marketing Partner Driftrock, and was a Client Partner at Facebook for two years before that.
Erin Portsmouth | Director of Corporate Affair | 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.
Gellan Watt | Global Brand + Creative Consultant | Gellan Watt - Brand + Agency Transformation
Gellan Watt is an agency entrepreneur and NED. He founded an agency that went on to become a Top Ten Agency and UK Agency of the Year. He and his partners successfully exited their Group business at c. £60m revenue. An award-winning Creative and Strategist, today he invests in and works with a select group of brands direct, and with independent agencies direct, focusing on high growth value creation and doing great work.
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.
Luan Wise | Independent Social Media Consultant and Editor | The Lighthouse
Luan Wise is a chartered marketer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM) with more than 20 years’ experience in agency, client-side and consultancy roles. She has worked with clients across B2C and B2B, providing both hands-on support and strategic consultancy. In addition, Luan writes and delivers social media marketing training programmes for in-house teams, plus organisations including LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, professional bodies, and university business schools.