Chief executive of Sainsbury’s Justin King has been named the UK’s most powerful marketer, after rising to the top of weekly magazine Marketing’s annual Power 100 list.
The dominance of UK retailers was reflected in the rankings, with four of the top 10 in the list hailing from supermarkets. Tesco’s relatively low-profile commercial and trading director, Richard Brasher, took third place in the table, while Marks & Spencer’s Steven Sharp and Waitrose’s Mark Price ranked sixth and seventh respectively.
Three of the top 10 were women, with fast-food chain McDonald’s Jill McDonald rocketing to ninth on the list on the back of the company’s comeback this year. There were 47 new entries on the list, reflecting a shift in emphasis to recognise pure-play marketers, who wield genuine control over marketing budgets and strategies.
In a change to previous years, 2008 saw Power 100 highlighting key people in non-marketing roles who have an enormous influence in the industry, including Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.
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