The selection process is now in the hands of the public after a longlist of 35 nominees was whittled down by an expert jury of 14 media and marketing leaders.
All six demonstrated outstanding leadership in three key areas: evolving their organisation to be more people-centric; working smarter with partners; and delivering inspiring work that genuinely makes a difference.
In alphabetical order, the names on the shortlist are:
- Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer at Procter & Gamble
- Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing & communications officer and president – Healthcare Business at Mastercard
- Hans-Christian Schwingen, CMO at Deutsche Telekom
- Jane Wakely, CMO, Pet Nutrition at Mars
- Keith Weed, chief marketing & communications officer at Unilever
- Glory Zhang, chief marketing officer at Huawei Consumer Business Group
All six will be profiled in Campaign and the winner will be revealed in February. Voting will be conducted on the WFA website.
The jury includes Campaign global editor-in-chief Claire Beale and is headed by WFA president David Wheldon.
Wheldon said: "Congratulations are due to all six marketers on this first shortlist for the Global Marketer of the Year. They have been judged by their peers to be leading the way in demonstrating just what a powerful role regional and global marketers can play. They should encourage all of us to strive harder to deliver change both internally and in our relationships with our consumers."