Editor's comment: The key to being in our Power 100: to innovate and inspire

For proof, witness the record 45 new entrants in this year's Power 100 list of the UK's most powerful marketers, reflecting the evolving digital landscape - a social-media marketer makes his debut at number 15 - and the ascent of marketers at tech brands such as Samsung and Spotify.

What makes someone powerful in marketing? Every year, Marketing revisits this question as our journalists compile, research and, yes, sweat over the Power 100.

Several factors in particular shaped this year's elite marketer ecosystem. As ever, we evaluated a marketer's personal brand as much as their employer's. We've also placed extra emphasis on innovation in marketing and NPD, as well as acknowledging the prominence of Olympics sponsors' marketers.

We take pleasure in continuing to include marketers who have made it to senior management roles, such as McDonald's chief Jill McDonald and Camelot's Dianne Thompson, as they ensure marketing has a seat at the top of the corporate table.

Power in marketing is also about inspiration. We selected as our number-one a marketer who is shaking up the conservative creative culture at one of the world's biggest brand-owners. Marc Mathieu, senior VP of marketing at Unilever, has inspired not only his agencies but marketers at other brands with his 'more magic, less logic' clarion call late last year.

Innovative, inspirational, insightful - these are the qualities shared by our Power 100 marketers. On the basis of this list, the industry, we can safely say, is in good hands.

Noelle.McElhatton@haymarket.com
@n_mcelhatton

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk