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The Judges

 Our 2023 Judges

Alexander Theriaut

Alexander Theriaut

Zalando SE

Marketing Strategy Lead

LinkedIn

With over a decade’s worth of experience in brand marketing and digital media, Alexander has worked for companies across North America and Europe such as Zalando, HelloFresh, Omnicom, and IPG. He currently leads the marketing strategy team for Zalando’s partner services division, helping to drive integrated marketing strategies and bringing campaigns to life for the world’s largest fashion brands.

Alice Jones

Alice Jones

Pepper Studio

Director & CoFounder

LinkedIn

Alice has 6 years of experience in Influencer Marketing, having worked at an influencer agency before co-founding Pepper Studio in 2019. They had the idea to adopt a human approach, after finding the industry straying towards being programmatic and impersonal.

Alice has since leveraged influencer marketing as one of the most efficient spaces to drive performance, retention and awareness for countless brands such as the Financial Times, Tripadvisor and H&M, and have received industry recognition for their work, including Best Boutique Influencer Marketing Agency at the IMAs in 2021.

Ana Thorsdottir

Ana Thorsdottir

Attachment

Director of Social Innovation

LinkedIn

A Creator Economy veteran with a 15 year career, Ana has led marketing strategies for some of the world’s biggest businesses including Instagram & Meta, Mediacom, Coca Cola, Unilever, P&G, Disney, Shell, Brand USA, Adidas and many more.

Named as a ‘trailblazer and evangelist’, she is a passionate speaker and advocate for Creators, and a driver of progressive conversations about equality, diversity and inclusion in branded campaigns.

Ashley Garland

Ashley Garland

Danone UK & I

PR & Influence Manager UK & I

LinkedIn

Ashley currently leads PR & Influence strategies across multiple business units within Danone UK & Ireland, with the objective of delivering and driving growth for some of their most iconic brands such as Alpro, Actimel and Evian.

Ashley carries over 8 years’ experience in PR & Influencer Communications having worked across a range of household FMCG & Health brands with large global footprints. Passionate about the powerful tool of influence, Ashley is a self-proclaimed risk taker and approaches all his professional work and personal outlook in the industry with 2 values in mind, simplicity and authenticity, which he believes has helped him develop award-winning influencer and media partnerships that have been rooted in culture and insights.

Ashley Rudder

Ashley Rudder

Whalar

Chief Creator Officer

LinkedIn

Ashley is the Global Head of Creator Partnerships for Whalar, the leading global creator commerce company. She is still in the business of helping people reach their potential alongside the honor of providing career support, creative guidance, and serving as a relevant and understanding advocate for the talented artists that deliver award-winning campaigns for Whalar’s brand partners.

Ashley’s team is responsible for all global creator sourcing, identification, and execution – including negotiations, contracts, and creative consultation on all creator-led campaigns.

With 20+ years of experience in digital branding and driving brand awareness, she has a proven track record in delivering best in-class campaigns at the forefront of the Creator Economy resulting in some award winning campaigns in 2022.

Bel Merid

Bel Merid

Instagram

Lifestyle & Wellness, Creator Partnerships Manager

LinkedIn

Bel leads the Lifestyle & Wellness vertical at Instagram managing top Gen Z creators within verticals such as Fitness, Food, Art, Wellbeing and Sustainability across the UK and Scandinavia. Her expertise centres around community building both offline and online as well as providing creative strategy and amplifying impact across Instagram and Facebook.

Previously Bel worked for start-ups within Blockchain and AI as well as within creative agencies servicing brands such as Bumble, Nike, Instagram and Royal Bank of Scotland. Bel led the production for Prada-owned shoe brand Church’s which was viewed over million times on Instagram and featured in Vogue Italy as one of the best AW19 campaigns. She also created the first ever Covid-19 and Climate Innovation series which was praised by the UK Government. Bel loves to operate between the intersection between tech, media and culture and has an MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics.

Beth Wain

Beth Wain

Disobey

Head of Influencer Campaigns

LinkedIn

Beth Wain (She/Her) is the Head of Influencer Campaigns at the specialist games marketing agency, Disobey. As a Twitch and IronSource alum with over a decade of experience in and around the gaming and entertainment industry, Beth has worked with a variety of brands, vendors, publishers, and developers, executing impactful creative projects and advertising campaigns in the flourishing gaming and creator space.

Daren Dixon

Daren Dixon

Above and Beyond

CEO and Creative Director

LinkedIn

A proven marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, developing global, award-winning and effective campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands and talent including Sony, H&M, Levis, Google, Syco, Nike, Beyonce, L’oreal, Playstation etc .

Extensive content, digital and print knowledge, across the UK, Australia and North American markets. Proven track record of building solid relationships with clients, creatives and media agencies to identify business opportunities and drive overall revenue through strategic, creative and innovative solutions.

Excellent relationship-building skills with an in-depth understanding of cultural challenges and opportunities in the 24/7 global marketplace, with particular emphasis on millennial and generation Z culture. In addition a comprehensive knowledge of EMEA markets and media with outstanding contacts. Highly effective in rapidly changing and demanding environments.

Emily Davis

Emily Davis

Wella Company

Brand Communications Director

LinkedIn

Emily Davis is known as a strong cross-functional senior lead, always focussing on business objectives while delivering compelling campaigns. As Brand & Digital Communications Director for Wella’s professional hair & nail brands (including OPI, Wella Professionals and Nioxin) Emily has been leading the transition from a traditional communications model to digital first, dual consumer and professional marketing across owned and earned. Emily has a broad scope including social media, PR, influencer marketing, corporate communications and creative content. Before joining Wella 3 ½ years ago, Emily was working in the world of fashion, leading social media and influencer marketing at Ted Baker and Jack Wills. Emily lives in London with her husband, and outside of work can usually be found travelling, trying out new restaurants or indulging in some reality TV (a guilty pleasure!).

Emma Louise Ryan

Emma Louise Ryan

ELRY AGENCY LTD

Founder and Managing Director

LinkedIn

Director at ELRY agency LTD focusing on Talent Management along with Multi channel knowledge and an experienced Influencer Marketing specialism

Fiona Macpherson

Fiona Macpherson

Wild

Influencer Marketing Lead

LinkedIn

Originally from Germany, Fiona has spent the last 10 years living and working in the UK. During this time, she has gained a wealth of influencer marketing experience in the beauty, and fashion industry, working with global brands such as Charlotte Tilbury and Farfetch.

Fiona currently serves as the Influencer Marketing Lead at Wild, where she oversees the global influencer strategy with the focus of high ROI.

Grace Fung

Grace Fung

COTY UK & I

Influencer Marketing & Comms Lead (Luxury)

LinkedIn

With over 13 years’ experience in luxury beauty space, Grace has been included in Talking Influence’s Top 50 and currently leads the influencer marketing and PR strategies for Coty’s luxury beauty portfolio including BOSS, Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein.

Jack Shute

Jack Shute

Hello Partner

Journalist

LinkedIn

Jack is a multimedia journalist at Hello Partner, specialising in influencer marketing and the creator economy. In his role, Jack takes a global view of everything partnerships – reporting on the industry’s breaking news, interviewing thought leaders, attending the industry’s hottest events and awards shows, as well as hosting in-depth webinars.

With over 7 years of experience in content creation and journalism, Jack has worked for the UK’s biggest publications and broadcasters, including the BBC, Global, and The Independent. His previous roles have included: broadcast journalist, presenter, producer, events host, and feature writer.

As well as hosting his own award-nominated podcast, Jack has an impressive history as a content creator. He has previously worked on social media campaigns with UCAS and Stonewall UK, as well as multiple other clients and communities in his role as an online presenter for the Nonsensical TikTok agency.

Jeanette Okwu

Jeanette Okwu

BEYONDinfluence

CEO & Founder

LinkedIn

Jeanette is the Founder and CEO of BEYONDinfluence, an influence & brand ambassador marketing agency helping clients ride the next wave of marketing. She is a champion and an independent thought leader on social and emerging technologies, with a track record of building and implementing effectively integrated marketing and communication initiatives by putting data and storytelling front and center.

Influence marketing has proven to be the lightning rod helping people and brands to stay connected during these unprecedented times of the Covid19 pandemic and social unrest. As the only marketing discipline that delivers results at scale, Jeanette is poised to help businesses to master influence marketing at scale and is on a mission to create harmony between creators and brands by bringing trust and relevance to advertising.

Jim Meadows

Jim Meadows

THG

Director of Influencer & Media

LinkedIn

Commercial business builder & experienced strategist with a focus on brand long-termism, shaping the future of creative production and effectiveness.

Joe Gagliese

Joe Gagliese

Viral Nation

CEO

LinkedIn

Joe is Co-Founder and CEO of Viral Nation, a global digital and social innovation group that powers the social ecosystem through integrated solutions that align strategy, talent, media, and technology. Viral Nation works with tens of thousands of influencers across the social landscape and fuels growth for the world’s leading brands, including Amazon Prime, The Coca Cola Company, Hasbro, Meta, Oculus, Sonos, Tencent, Walmart and Uber.

A recognised expert in influencer marketing and social technologies, Joe is regularly cited in outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, WIRED, CNBC, Vox, Business Insider, Forbes, and Inc.

Johanna Voss

Johanna Voss

Talent Manager

CEO & Founder

LinkedIn

Johanna is a talent manager, trusted by social media influencers who want clarity on how to build their brands, grow their businesses, earn their worth and plan strategically for the future. On behalf of her clients, she’s closed over $4M dollars of brand deals, partnerships and speaking engagements. Her clients have partnered with brands such as Kroger, Walmart, AARP, Buchanan’s Whisky, KOA campgrounds and C&H Sugar. Negotiation is something she thoroughly enjoys be it for her clients, friends or with strangers. Entering her 13th year of working for herself, she understands all about the necessary pivots entrepreneurs take along their journey.

Prior to her work in the talent management space, Johanna worked on the Presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John Kerry for more than 7 years. Johanna is a world traveler, lived in Spain three times, can often be found cycling Colorado’s mountain ranges, skate skiing or asking the question “What if you…?” Follow her on Instagram @johannavoss.

Katie Stoller

Katie Stoller

Katie Stoller

Independent Consultant for Influencers and Brands

LinkedIn

Katie is an influencer marketing veteran. She began her career in 2009 in Los Angeles working in fashion PR, dressing A-list celebrities and working celebrity gifting suites. That was the precursor to what is now influencer marketing. After LA, Katie moved to Chicago where she had a decade long career working at global PR agencies (Ogilvy, Ketchum and Golin). She then lead the influencer marketing team at Fiat Growth, a fintech growth consultancy for a year and a half. In the last year, Katie has transitioned to being an independent business consultant and talent manager. She also launched her education company called Influencer Insider Guide where she puts out valuable resources for those in the influencer marketing industry.

Keith Bendes

Keith Bendes

Linqia

Vice President, Strategy & Marketing

LinkedIn

Labeled a leading voice in the intersection of marketing and technology by Forbes, Keith has lead strategy for some of the world’s largest and most innovative brands including Bud Light, Dove, Axe, Pepsi, Nissan, and Microsoft. As Vice President of Marketing and Strategy at Linqia, Keith works with brands and agencies to develop 360 influencer strategies that drive scalable, measurable business results.

Marie Becker

Marie Becker

Connect Mgt

Influencer Director

LinkedIn

Marie is the Influencer Director at Connect Management, the fastest growing social-first talent agency in the UK. She works strategically across a team who handle a diverse roster across a wide range of verticals including creators such as Mesha Moinirad, Brandon B and Faith Kelly.

Her 6 years’ of industry experience have seen Marie work across the entire breadth of the influencer marketing industry, from brand to agency and even in-house at TikTok looking after some of the UK’s hottest names. This has provided Marie with an extensive knowledge of content, marketing, strategy and talent – and developed her successful track record working with top tier creators, globally renowned brands and agencies such as TK Maxx & Homesense, H&M, Havas, JBL, WizzAir, Zenith, Ogilvy and Rimmel London.

Maximillian Osborne

Maximillian Osborne

ThisThat

Co-Founder

LinkedIn

Co-Founder at ThisThat – winner of the best tech in influencer marketing 2022 – a global leader in measurement and strategy – on a mission to help the most ambitious digital marketing teams in the world.

Mayra Alcántara

Mayra Alcántara

Warner Bros Discovery

Comms and Publicity, Director

LinkedIn

Mayra Alcántara is one of the youngest and most talented C-level professionals globally, with expertise in the digital and communication fields. She has developed strategies for over 25 industries across Latin America, the United States, and Europe. Currently, she is leading the talent, publicity, public relations, and communication areas at Warner Bros Discovery. She was recognized as one of the top 100 brightest minds in Digital Marketing in LATAM in 2022.

Mayra has extensive knowledge in managing teams, focused on leading Gen-Z teams, providing strategic planning and operation for national and international brands. In her previous role as VP of Influence and Digital Marketing at another, she led the largest team specializing in Influencer Marketing in LATAM, as well as overseeing the social media and performance marketing areas. Thanks to her expertise, Mayra Alcántara has had the opportunity to collaborate with various national and international media outlets, sharing valuable information about the influencer marketing industry. Her contributions have been translated into more than five languages.

Megan Atherton

Megan Atherton

The Hut Group

Head of Influencer Marketing

LinkedIn

Megan started her career at ASOS in one of the first in-house dedicated influencer teams, working both agency and brand side for a number of fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands since. For the last (almost) 2 years she’s led the Core Beauty influencer team at THG globally, with a huge focus on growth and scale strategies across all territories. With 7 years of influencer experience Megan has developed a breadth of skills and knowledge, alongside a broad network across the influencer/social and performance marketing sphere.

Megan Harrop

Megan Harrop

IPSY

Sr. Manager of Creator & Influencer Partnerships

LinkedIn

Megan (she/her) is the Senior Creator Partnerships Manager at IPSY, leading the monthly influencer programs across all subscriptions, working with thousands of creators each month on evergreen and custom campaigns.

A DTC marketing expert with experience in Influencer, Experiential, and Brand Marketing, Megan is focused primarily on working with influencers at scale to achieve amazing results. She is passionate about the ever-changing creator economy, creator-first relationships and education, and ensuring creator content is utilised to its fullest.

Melanie Kentish

Melanie Kentish

Gleam Futures

Managing Partner

LinkedIn

Melanie is the Managing Partner of Gleam Futures, a digital talent management company who have worked with some of the digital creators in the UK since 2010. They specialise in taking ‘digital first talent’, developing IP to transcend social, licensing, brands, speaking engagements, film and publishing, achieving over 40 Sunday Times Best Sellers in 2022. Gleam have helped some of the UK’s biggest names in the industry including The Buckleys, Mrs Hinch, Zoe Sugg (Zoella) and Grace Victory.

Prior to Gleam, Mel was Global Influencer Director of Sky, where she established and grew the influencer team, and was responsible for creating and managing a 200 strong ambassador programme consisting of creators designed to bring fresh appeal to Sky from the under 35 audience. As well as working on some of the best entertainment shows such as Gangs of London, House of The Dragon and Succession, Mel also managed cinema, broadband, mobile and products, most notably, the Sky Glass launch.

Michelle Pinchard

Michelle Pinchard

Pinterest

Strategic Partner Lead

LinkedIn

Michelle is a Strategic Partner Lead at Pinterest UK who, for the past 6 years, has worked across product growth, content acquisition and creator experience. At Pinterest she helps to bring positive product features and content to market. Michelle is currently leads industry relations for UK Creator Agencies, partnering on innovative ways to work with Pinterest’s talented creator network. Before Pinterest, Michelle spent 10+ years in the music industry building digital experiences that super-served super fans. Through her work, she strives to build new ways to connect people to the things they love – from music to home, fashion to food. Michelle is passionate about working for purpose led, disrupter companies, she is on a mission to spread positivity in the digital world and help everyone create a life they love.

Nicolas Arias

Nicolas Arias

Hello Fresh

Global Associate Director

LinkedIn

Nicolas was born in Bogota, Colombia and had a minor in International Journalism and Global Communication and a master’s degree in Intercultural Conflict Management.

Nicolas’ professional experience started in an economic newspaper covering startups and internet economics, then on the marketing agency side working for clients like Mattel, Omio, 8fit, and Casper. He then joined HelloFresh in 2020, and currently heads the global influencer strategy for HelloFresh across all of its brands and territories globally

Niki Herring

Niki Herring

Wild Grace Media

Director

LinkedIn

With a career that spans over 20 years, in a variety of media disciplines, Niki, one of the former co-founders of the award-winning creator community – Channel Mum Talent (now M&C Saatchi Mum), is a leading content marketer and brand partnership specialist. A recipient of the media industry’s 40overforty accolade, and recognised in the Influencer Top 50 list, Niki is passionate about growing, and bringing a gold standard to the practice of Influencer Marketing – whilst ensuring transparency and fairness for all. She is a social mobility champion and mentor, and an advisor and consultant for brands and agencies through her consultancy – Wild Grace Media Ltd.

Ruby Soave

Ruby Soave

Student Beans

Head of Influencer Marketing

LinkedIn

Ruby Soave is an award-winning digital specialist who has been working with influencers for over 15 years – long before the term ‘influencer marketing’ was coined. She has extensive experience across global consumer, corporate and charity brands.

Ruby is currently Head of Influencer Marketing at Student Beans – the world’s leading student loyalty network – where she works with brands to deliver effective creator campaigns to Gen Z.

Ruby is passionate about responsible marketing and is committed to mentoring others.

Ryan Detert

Ryan Detert

Influential

CEO

LinkedIn

As CEO of Influential, the world’s largest influencer marketing company, Ryan Detert has
brought top influencers, Fortune 500 brands, press, and financing to his venture-backed
company. Through Influential, Detert has led campaigns for top advertising agencies and
holding companies including Dentsu, Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP, for global brands
like Walmart, Nestle, NFL, NBA, Nike, McDonalds, Pepsi, Toyota, General Mills, Unilever, and
even The United Nations and World Health Organization. Detert has also forged exclusive
partnerships with dozens of technology and media partners, including Facebook, Instagram,
TikTok, IBM Watson, Oracle Data Cloud, IRI, and WME, which came in as an investor in
Influential’s most recent Series B round of funding. Detert was honored in 2021 as one of Ad
Age’s 40 Under 40, Ad Age’s The List for 2022, and recently became a member of the Board of
Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Salvatore De Angelis

Salvatore De Angelis

Nielsen Entertainment

Global head of Digital & Creators Solutions

LinkedIn

Salvatore leads Nielsen Entertainment Digital and Social business unit across the international markets, managing a set of solutions including Monetization and branded content measurement, Audience profiling, Influencer marketing and sponsorship strategy. In his role, he helps global advertisers, publishers and rights holders in the sports, leisure and entertainment industry transform data into actionable solutions to strategically drive business results. Salvatore gives lectures on Digital Strategy, Influencer Marketing and eSports at several graduate and post-graduate master programmes.

Sedge Beswick

Sedge Beswick

SEEN Connects

Founder and CEO

LinkedIn

As one of the first in the UK to work within social media, Sedge forged her path with global brands before launching SEEN Connects: an award-winning, innovative influencer marketing agency. Just some of the brands onboarded by Sedge to Connects’ client list, are: Nike, Bumble, Panasonic and eBay. From popstars to parent influencers, Sedge has worked with numerous household names, such as musician Lewis Capaldi and television presenter Laura Whitmore. 

Sedge’s expertise are regularly called upon by global networks BBC News and Sky News, as well as print publications like the Financial Times. Sedge is a well-respected visiting university lecturer and a public speaker, having hosted workshops for No.10 Downing Street and Google. 

Sedge has not only written two books of her own based on social platform experiences, but as a respected member of her peers, Sedge has appeared in various books and podcast series, and judged a number of industry awards ceremonies. Passionate about education, Sedge also set up a mentor programme to support young people going into the marketing industry, and is now responsible for having placed over 50 young people into jobs in the UK.

Stephanie Sandbo

Stephanie Sandbo

LTK

VP, Head of Brand Partnerships

LinkedIn

Stephanie has worked for LTK since 2017 and is a results-driven digital marketing executive with over 15 years of experience in digital media sales, digital marketing strategy, brand partnerships, influencer marketing, social media and team management. She is a trusted partner with c-suite clientele and seasoned presenter with a strong ability to think strategically and creatively. Passionate about building impactful external brand and agency partnerships while cultivating motivated internal teams.

Stevie Johnson

Stevie Johnson

Disrupt

Managing Director

LinkedIn

Stevie is a leading voice in the influencer marketing space, having worked in the industry for the last 8 years and seeing it grow into a vital part of the marketing mix today. Stevie brings his own unique insight into the world of influencer marketing, having transitioned from television star and influencer after his Bafta-winning sojourn on Made In Chelsea, into agency leader today at Disrupt. With a professional ambition to put influencer at the heart of every digital strategy, Stevie has worked with leading brands such as Bose, Vinted, Puma, Peroni, Huel and more to activate their global influencer marketing strategy strategy. Stevie’s personal and professional background in the space bring to Disrupt clients a distinctive competitive edge when raising awareness and driving action around their services and products.

Thibault la Droitte

Thibault la Droitte

PHD

Director Influencer Marketing

LinkedIn

With over 10 years’ experience, Thibault has gained a vast experience across all sides of the influencer industry working in Influencer Marketing, PR, Creative and Media agencies as well as Model and Talent Management. Throughout the years, he has successfully ran award winning campaigns at a UK, EMEA and global scale for the likes of Volkswagen group, Diageo group, The Guardian, HSBC, Converse, Amazon, LEGO, Canada Goose and many more.

Today, Thibault spearheads the Influencer & Streamers response at PHD UK, building UK focused campaigns across all levels of creators marketing, building cross-channel strategies alongside PHD’s expert teams; most recently looking into the gaming opportunities through streamers, e-sport athletes and gaming influencers.

Tom Haughton

Tom Haughton

The Global Fund

Head of Creative Partnerships

LinkedIn

Tom is the Head of Creative Partnerships at The Global Fund, where he oversees the organisation’s strategic engagement with influencers to amplify the partnership. Tom has worked in the charity sector for over a decade, supporting national and international organisations, including some of the most recognisable not-for-profits. He has worked with a wide variety of influencers and celebrities on numerous campaigns over the years. He has seen these relationships and partnerships’ impact on organisations and campaign successes first hand. Tom has a wealth of experience in cause-related campaigns maximising and developing talent relationships, and working with talent across sensitive issue areas and in extreme environments. He has also worked directly with talent and influencers to understand their priorities and help identify and develop meaningful partnerships with specific causes.

Victoria Harrison

Victoria Harrison

The Exposure Co.

Director

LinkedIn

Victoria is Co-Founder and Director of the Australian Influencer Marketing agency, The Exposure Co. Victoria spends her days helping clients leverage the power of social media, empowering brands and influencers to maximise their potential on social media.

Vik Khagram

Vik Khagram

Ketchum

Head of Influence

LinkedIn

Vik is an Influencer Specialist with 8 years of experience in Social Media Strategy and Influencer Marketing. He was also recently named in the Talking Influence Influencer Top 50, an annual list featuring the top fifty influencer marketing professionals globally.

He has deep experience in influencer strategy and activations, helping to create impactful campaigns using his extensive knowledge and understanding of wider cultures, platforms and scenes both online and offline. He has worked across different business verticals in the Consumer, Corporate and Healthcare space advising clients on influencer marketing strategy and end to end toolkits to amplify campaigns, launches and events at local and global levels with many well-known and influential brands. His relationship building skills and understanding of influencers, further enable him to keep his finger on the pulse in an industry that is ever evolving.

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