The Drum Social Buzz Top 50

Social Buzz Top 50

Welcome to The Drum’s inaugural Social Buzz Top 50 – a list of the 50 most influential people in social media marketing in the UK.

In a bid to identify the trailblazers in this dynamic space, The Drum initially invited the industry to nominate notable individuals via thedrum.com. We then put the longlist to our esteemed panel of judges from this year’s Social Buzz Awards jury, who ranked individuals based on career success to date and participation in the industry.

Topping the list is Bruce Daisley, managing director UK of Twitter. He receives the additional honour of being named Individual of the Year at the Social Buzz Awards 2014.

Joining Daisley on the list are individuals of all different backgrounds, with one thing in common: their love of, and commitment to, all things social.

Click on each individual’s name to see their profile and career outline.

Rank	Name	Job Title	Company / Organisation
1	Bruce Daisley	head of Europe	Twitter
	Bruce Daisley’s entry into the digital world came at Capital, and then Emap radio, where he took up the role of digital sales director and created a customer-focused digital team. Having previously... View Profile
2	Nicola Mendelsohn	Vice President, Global Business Group	META
	Nicola Mendelsohn is the Vice President, Global Business Group at Meta. She previously served as Vice President for Europe, Middle East, and Africa – a role she held since 2013. She is also a non... View Profile
3	Jeremy Waite	head of digital strategy	Salesforce Marketing Cloud
	Jeremy Waite is head of digital strategy EMEA at Salesforce Marketing Cloud, where he leads digital offerings for the business and supports clients in shaping their campaigns. He cut his teeth... View Profile
4	Katy Howell	chief executive	immediate future
	Katy is a pragmatic (often sweary) marketer. Named 4th most influential social media marketing expert by the Drum, Katy Howell, is CEO at social media agency - immediate future. She regularly... View Profile
5	Stephen Waddington	chief engagement officer	Ketchum
	Stephen Waddington is chief engagement officer at Ketchum for Ketchum, an international PR firm with 2,500 practitioners across more than 100 markets. He is responsible for driving the integration of... View Profile
6	James Whatley	strategy partner	Digitas London
	James Whatley is strategy partner at Digitas UK where he works at the nexus of brand, content, and customer experience. You can find him on Twitter @Whatleydude. View Profile
7	Laura-May Coope	director and co-founder	Social Life
	Laura-May Coope co-founded Social Life, alongside Radio 1’s digital innovation producer Alistair Parrington. The agency works with clients such as The X Factor, Sony Music, Converse and MTV bringing... View Profile
8	Aman Matharu	PO1 digital lead	PepsiCo
	Aman Matharu has worked in the digital space for over 10 years and has been the driving force behind PepsiCo Beverages' digital drive. In the first 18 months working for PepsiCo, he was... View Profile
9	Danny Whatmough	head of social, EMEA	Weber Shandwick
	Danny Whatmough has led social campaigns for some of the world's leading brands including IBM, P&G, Nestle, Unilever, Motorola and Electrolux. He previously headed social media for Ketchum... View Profile
10	Nadya Powell	managing director	Sunshine
	Nadya is on a mission to deliver business change by harnessing the power of creative thinking. As the co-founder of Utopia she is doing exactly that - Utopia 'Re-wires Business for Age of... View Profile
11	Jerry Daykin	global digital partner	Carat
	Jerry Daykin currently leads global media partnerships for the Mondelez business, as well as supporting Carat's chief digital officer in driving social media best practice across a range of key... View Profile
12	Marshall Manson	managing director, EAME, Social@Ogilvy	Ogilvy & Mather Group UK
	Marshall Manson spent ten years working in US politics, before making the jump to digital and social, helping to build a successful digital public affairs practice at a large agency in Washington,... View Profile
13	Dom Burch	senior director, marketing innovation	Asda
	Dom Burch is the founder and MD of Why Social, a strategic marketing consultancy, and former senior director of marketing innovation and new revenue at Asda. Trained in PR, Dom has spent the last... View Profile
14	Tamara Littleton	chief executive	The Social Element
	Tamara Littleton founded social media management agency Emoderation in 2002. The company is now worth £10m and works with a large variety of brands and agencies including MTV, Saatchi &... View Profile
15	Michael Litman	founder	Burst, Brands on Vine
	Michael Litman has been working in the digital space since 2008, cutting his teeth in digital PR at Splendid and Consolidated before moving into the digital advertising landscape and working for... View Profile
16	Nick Dutch	head of digital	Domino's Pizza Group PLC
	Currently head of digital at Domino’s, Nick Dutch says that over the past 12 years he’s “covered the lot”. Having begun his career on a work experience placement at Zenith, he then moved on to... View Profile
17	Richard Costa-D'Sa	chief executive	Deep Focus London
	Richard Costa D'Sa's career launched in 2004 when he joined digital agency i-level, running the Gillette, Sony and William Hill accounts before progressing to director at the agency's... View Profile
18	Akhil Suchak	head of social media	Bauer Media
	Now at Bauer Media, Akhil Suchak was brought in earlier this year as part of a series of new senior appointments to strengthen its digital division, Xcel Media. In this newly created role, he... View Profile
19	Gareth Price	head of research and insight	The Social Partners
	Gareth Price leads The Social Partners' research and insight offer, working with clients such as Allianz, Avis, Dairy Crest, New Amsterdam Vodka and Wilkinson Sword. In 2015, he was awarded... View Profile
20	James Kirkham	James Kirkham, Head of COPA90	Leo Burnett, Holler
	James Kirkham is the head of COPA90, the definitive youth football media brand. COPA90 has transformed under James’ leadership into the voice of a generation, resonating with its young audience... View Profile
21	Jim Dowling	managing director	Havas SE Cake
	Jim Dowling is managing director at Havas Sports and Entertainment Cake, responsible for day-to-day leadership of the agency. He has over 20 years’ experience overseeing planning and strategy for... View Profile
22	Ally Branley	social media marketing manager	Channel 4
	Initially a freelance programme-maker, Ally Branley moved from TV production to digital and began to specialise in social media almost 10 years ago. She has managed Channel 4's social media... View Profile
23	Amanda Neylon	head of digital	Macmillan Cancer Support
	Amanda Neylon is head of digital at Macmillan Cancer Support and is responsible for all of the charity’s online channels. With over ten years’ experience in the digital world, she started her... View Profile
24	Tim Lion	senior manager, social & digital marketing, Europe	Activision Blizzard
	After more than a decade in film and television production in Australia, Tim Lion began at Sony in Europe in 2011. In the last two years as head of social, he has consolidated Sony’s social comms... View Profile
25	Shira Feuer	head of digital marketing solutions	The Walt Disney Company
	View Profile
26	Tim Pritchard	head of social	Manning Gottlieb OMD
	Two years ago, Tim Pritchard re-joined Manning Gottlieb OMD, the agency he joined as a graduate in 2006, to head up the agency's social media offering. During his tenure he has steered the... View Profile
27	Alex Miller	founding partner	Byte London
	Alex Miller launched marketing technology agency Byte London in January 2014 alongside Jam's former chief strategy officer Jamie Kenny. Since its launch Byte has acquired several notable... View Profile
28	Jack Wallington	director of community	The Student Room Group
	Having worked in the digital space for over 15 years, Jack Wallington has managed social, content and community platforms for the likes of Cancer Research UK, Sony and Warner. He was appointed by... View Profile
29	Graeme Winston	social media associate director	Starcom MediaVest Group
	Graeme Winston has worked in media for just over ten years, spending eight of those in the digital industry. Throughout his career he’s held roles at various agencies including Mindshare and Carat... View Profile
30	Holly Dewsbury	senior agency lead UK and Ireland	Twitter
	What’s been your biggest career highlight to date? Being made head of a social media department at the age of 25. Long nights, hard work and challenges helped me build up to the promotion and... View Profile
31	Marc Shelkin	founding director	The Social Shop
	Prior to launching The Social Shop in 2013, Marc Shelkin held senior roles at several London marketing recruitment agencies including Purple, Twist or Stick and Source. He founded the consultancy... View Profile
32	Chris Hamilton	Editorial Director for McCann LIVE	McCann London
	Chris Hamilton is editorial director for McCann LIVE at McCann London and was previously head of social media for BBC News. Hamilton started out as a general reporter at the Press Association... View Profile
33	Will Gilgrass	social media manager	Red Bull UK
	Will Gillgrass joined Red Bull at the start of 2014, prior to this he was a senior content producer at Somethin’ Else for three years. During his time there he worked on several shows for BBC... View Profile
34	David Parkinson	owner and managing director
	David Parkinson is owner and managing director of brand consultancy Brave & Heart. Prior to launching his own business he developed his career through IT, project and programme management and... View Profile
35	Robin Grant	global managing director	We Are Social
	Robin Grant has been working in digital marketing for 18 years. Six years ago he co-founded We Are Social alongside Nathan McDonald, a former account director at MRM Worldwide. We Are Social now... View Profile
36	Ron Peterson	general manager	AKQA
	Ron Peterson manages AKQA’s London office working with brands such as Nike, BBC and Google. Ron began his career in management consulting at KPMG and at the age of 26, he founded and led his own... View Profile
37	Robbie Dale	creative director	1000heads
	Before heading agency-side, Robbie Dale cut his teeth running Casting Call Pro - a social network for professional actors He has spent the last seven years as creative director at 1000heads... View Profile
38	Andrew Grill	global managing partner, IBM social consulting	IBM
	Andrew Grill is global managing partner with IBM Social Consulting, based in London. In this global role, Grill along with his team is responsible for developing and delivering a truly consultative... View Profile
39	James Cuff	head of SEO, content and social media	Confused.com
	Currently leading the SEO, content and social media teams at Confused.com, James Cuff defines the strategic direction for organic search, content and social media marketing. Cuff inherited a social... View Profile
40	Jen Rankine	community manager	Whitespace
	Jen Rankine started her career at Schuh, where she worked her way out of the stockroom and into the brand’s HQ, taking on a community role that saw her build the brand’s social presence and following... View Profile
41	Kate Cooper	chief executive	Bloom Worldwide
	Kate launched Bloom Worldwide in 2011 after stints as commercial director at AMV and head of social media at the Cabinet Office. Toyota was Bloom's founding client and the agency still leads... View Profile
42	Joe McEwan	head of digital and communities	innocent
	Joe McEwan joined Innocent eight years ago. He spent most of his early years there creating content and responding to smoothie drinkers as communities manager before stepping up to his current role... View Profile
43	Jude Brooks	former head of social, Tesco (now freelance)	Jude Brooks Ltd
	Formerly head of social media at Tesco, Brooks was responsible for shaping the supermarket’s strategy and plans for social media to change brand perception and deliver against business perspectives... View Profile
44	Steve Cater	communications partner	YunoJuno
	Having begun his career at VCCP, Steve Cater spent five years at Cake playing an instrumental role in creating the agency’s social offering with clients including Sony, Ikea and Carphone Warehouse... View Profile
45	Sedge Beswick	global senior social media manager	ASOS
	Sedge Beswick is global senior social media manager at online fashion retailer, ASOS.com, where her role’s main focus is ensuring the brand is leading and innovating within the digital space,... View Profile
46	Sean Meehan	Social Media Marketing Manager	Boots UK
	Sean Meehan is an experienced Marketing Manager with specialisms across Social Media and Content Marketing, including experience across both brand and agency sides. Starting agency side in 2011,... View Profile
47	Kate Day	director of digital content	The Telegraph
	After starting in newspapers as a reporter for a local paper in California, Kate Day’s media career has taken her around the globe – working in India and Bangladesh before arriving in London to... View Profile
48	Paul Fabretti	global director, social media	Microsoft
	Paul Fabretti's diverse background covers development, digital marketing, PR and brand. According to Fabretti, this helps him understand the role that each plays in developing integrated... View Profile
49	Amy Kean	regional director, strategy, APAC	Mindshare Worldwide
	Amy Kean admits that she had “initial ambitions to be a do-gooder” and work in educational policy, but says she quickly realised she was far better “socially and emotionally” suited to PR. After... View Profile
50	Ally Dowsing-Reynolds	head of digital strategy and social media	Brass
	In 1998, Ally Dowsing-Reynolds joined one of the UK’s first ‘new media’ agencies, Brand New Media, planning and managing campaigns for Heinz, Hula Hoops, Irn Bru and P&G. She later became a... View Profile

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