CEO Today Business Women of the Year Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 54 CEO Today Business Women of the Year Awards 2019 UNITED KINGDOM SUE UNERMAN Chief Transformation Officer of MediaCom FIRM PROFILE We’re MediaCom. We believe in People First, Better Results. We unlock growth through media. We are a team of 8,000 people in 125 offices in 100 markets. Our success is underpinned by our belief “People First, Better Results,” that if we invest in our people, we’ll deliver better results- not only for our teams but for our clients. We unlock growth through our unique Systems Thinking approach. Growing brands is a challenge that excites us. To unlock growth, you need a big picture perspective across the whole communications system. Our teams of Systems Thinkers use data, technology and creativity to design communications strategies that build brands and generate sales. And we do it at scale. As part of our “People First” philosophy, our primary focus is to grow our talent, not just as media practitioners, but as people. Our responsibility is to make MediaCom a Place to Grow. ABOUT SUE UNERMAN Sue has driven change internally including gender equality targets for recruitment and promotion, and for appointment boards. She is co-creator and sponsor of MediaCom’s inclusion network for employees, and features as a panelist in annual Women’s Day events in March. In May 2018 they launched The Glass Wall network specifically for driving change internally and for clients. As co-host of the MediaCom Connected Podcast, Sue ensures that they feature strong women leaders in interviews, including all of their internal women leaders and inspirational women from outside MediaCom. In 2016 Sue wrote a book with co-author Kathryn Jacob: “The Glass Wall, success strategies for women at work and businesses that mean business” which is a business book best seller. Named the year’s most significant addition to the debate on gender diversity at work – its a collection of success strategies for women, and an invaluable guide book for businesses that want to develop the women who work for them. Since publication she has given over 80 talks at businesses, and published numerous blogs on LinkedIn. She is on the key supporters group for Women’s Aid, and has appeared three times on Women’s Hour to discuss gender equality. In the rapidly changing world of media, Sue has been ahead of the curve for three decades, and remains at the forefront of the industry’s evolution. She has helped advertisers such as Mars, DFS, Direct Line Group, Tesco, Merlin Entertainment, and Sky to connect with consumers by bringing a succession of new ideas to the advertising and media industry. She set up the first strategic planning unit in a media agency, pioneered the use of Integrated Communications Planning, foresaw the dramatic shift from the age where advertising messages were “pushed” out towards consumers to the age we live in today when brands and consumers are in constant dialogue, and was instrumental in broadening the limited world of advertising into the wider world of “content”. In a time when companies that stand still are sunk, Sue has consistently moved MediaCom forwards ahead of the competition – a crucial factor in its rise to become the number one company in its sector and the most awarded agency in the world. Sue’s long-standing – and continuing – importance in the advertising and marketing world is shown by the fact that before taking on her current role she was named by Campaign magazine as “Top planner of the Year” on more occasions than any other individual. She is Convenor of the 2020 IPA Effectiveness Awards. Global head of media at Campaign, Gideon Spanier, says: “Sue has led the way when it comes to driving change and challenging stereotypes” www.mediacom.com