John Lewis marketing director and winner of The Drum's Marketer of the Year Award Craig Inglis: ‘We regard ourselves as a publisher’

“You could argue it’s a bit overplayed and slightly clichéd but as someone who works with a brand that’s been pushing content for many years – we sort of regard ourselves as a publisher actually – I find that really exciting.

“The fact that people in the marketing community are getting really focused on producing really rich amazing content in whichever channel they’re communicating is the thing that’s exciting me most and that’s what we’re most focused on.”

Also speaking at the event on 8 May was Lynsey Hurst, senior brand manager Bulmers at Heineken, which won Brand of the Year, who said that the brewer is at “the forefront” of the digital marketing experience.

“For me I think what’s really exciting about marketing is digital. So the consumers that buy in to brands like Heineken and brands like Bulmers are really on the forefront of the digital marketing experience. So they’re tweeting, they’re on Facebook, they’re on Snapchat, and they really want brands to be engaged with them. And I think we really are on the forefront of that kind of experience with them; getting brands in to their lives and in to their social experiences with their friends, sharing the right kinds of experiences. That’s what we’re all about.”

Andrew Fairclough, head of social media insight at Carat, which won the Media Planning and Buying Strategy of the Year award for its work with Shop Direct, added that the convergence of social media and digital with traditional media is providing media planners with “new opportunities, new channels and new approaches”.