Sue Unerman

Sue is one of these rare people. She’s a “clarifier”. 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, Universal, Merlin Entertainment, Sky and the Home Office 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”.

Sue has for many years transcended her natural introversion to take her place as an ad industry spokesperson at conferences and forums. Sue has reached out to a wider public with the publication of her book The Glass Wall – a significant addition to the debate on gender diversity at work. The Glass Wall (co-authored with Pearl and Dean CEO Kathryn Jacob) is both a collection of success strategies for women at work, and an invaluable guide book for businesses that want to more successfully develop the women who work for them.

Sue blogs at www.sueunerman.com and is co-host of the MediaCom Connected Podcast. Her first book on marketing “Tell the Truth, Honesty is your most powerful marketing tool” was published in summer 2012. Campaign magazine called it “one of the most influential marketing books of 2012”. She was a member of the UK Government Digital Advisory Board. Cabinet Minister Rt Hon Francis Maude MP wrote; “The advice and guidance we have received from you has been invaluable”. She was Internationalist Magazine Agency Innovator 2012 and served on the University of Oxford Public Affairs Advisory Group. Sue is a contributing media editor to Brand Republic and sits on Oxford Today’s Editorial Advisory Board. She is a member of the Open University Council and Women’s Aid’s Key Supporters Group.