Simon Clift named International Marketer of the Year

Challenging accepted strategies

Unilever's Chief Marketing Officer, Simon Clift, has been named Marketing & Media magazine's International Marketer of the Year.

In an interview to mark the recognition by the global marketing publication, Simon talks about his aspiration to restore Unilever's reputation as the world's best marketer. He states his belief that the personal award is a testament to the achievements of the entire company:

"I'm just the front man for Unilever's marketing... it's a tribute to the work of the people that get out there. I think it's a small step towards restoring Unilever's reputation as the world's best marketer – which is absolutely, single-mindedly our ambition."

Simon also discusses his 28-year career with Unilever, shares insights about working with marketing agencies and gives advice to aspiring marketers:

"The appeal of marketing is that in a company like Unilever you really are at the centre of the organisation. Unilever offers and values diversity and individuality… my advice to an aspiring marketer is to be yourself at work."

Simon was chosen through a public online vote from a shortlist of marketers considered by the M&M editorial team to have challenged the accepted strategies in their product sector across international markets, exploited the full range of media opportunities to deliver growth and competitive advantage for their brands, and broken the mould in their respective sectors.

Devised in 1990, the M&M Awards aim to "reflect advertisers' demands for international agency services, a consistent networked offering, more creative and global media solutions and brilliant thinking around the 'Think Global, Act Local' marketing approach".