After a great response to our call for judges at the beginning of the year, we have been working on building a diverse and representative panel of experts, who will be able to use their industry experience to select this year’s deserving IMA winners.
Here we have the final members of the IMA 2021 judging panel…
Becky Owen
Becky has a wealth of experience in influencer marketing and branded content. With 12 years experience working with some of the world’s most prestigious brands, Becky, now leading branded content for the EMEA region at Facebook, is a highly respected thought-leader, speaker and consultant. We were lucky enough to welcome Becky as a panelist at this year’s Influencer Marketing Show Global .
Previous to her role at Facebook, Becky led digital partnerships for the Walt Disney Company. For her exceptional work, Becky has been named one of the Top Global Trailblazers by Refinery 29.
Becky regularly shares her expertise as a seasoned panelist, keynote host, and a regular speaker at The University of Oxford. She is passionate about innovations within the influencer industry and strives to create work that illustrates the future growth of the sphere.
Sedge Beswick
Sedge is the founder and managing director of award winning influencer marketing agency, SEEN Connects. Sedge’s expertise in the social media sphere have enabled her to work with high end clients such as Nike, Bumble, Panasonic and eBay, and household names such as musician Lewis Capaldi and television presenter Laura Whitmore.
Sedge’s expertise is acknowledged by the likes of BBC News and Sky News as well as being a visiting university lecturer and a public speaker, having hosted workshops for No.10 Downing Street and Google.
Sedge not only showcases her talents through client work at SEEN Connects, but she has written two books of her own based on social platform experiences, and has also appeared in various books and podcast series, and judged a number of industry awards ceremonies.
Sedge is truly passionate about the success of the marketing industry, which led her to set up a mentor programme to support young people wanting to enter the sphere, and is now responsible for having placed over 50 young people into jobs in the UK.
Rachel’s experience in the influencer and social media sphere is presented in her work across the luxury product industry. In her role as head of social media for Matter Of Form, Rachel works at the forefront of digital marketing, developing industry leading strategies, and executing campaigns for luxury brands including Tangle Teezer, Knight Frank, and Vashi.
With her finger always on the pulse, Rachel has worked both in house and at agencies across many leading global brands, and is excited to be joining the Influencer Marketing Awards judging panel once again, after judging the inaugural awards in 2019. As well as sitting on our Influencer Marketing Awards panel, Rachel is a member of the Talking Influence editorial board, advising our content team on the best, most relevant topics within the industry.
As a well known mental health advocate, Siobhan founded Netmums, the UK’s first family influencer agency to create positive digital connections in society. She then went on to set up Channel Mum in 2015, the family influencer agency that puts positivity and creators at the forefront.
Each of Siobhan’s businesses have been all-female owned, with women heading up the management and operations side of the businesses too. Siobhan is respected for bringing a female perspective to what remains a male-dominated industry at senior level.
With 13 years of social media experience, Antonia is well equipped and informed in both in-house and agency side roles. Antonia now manages the social media arm of British fashion brand, Boden, where she oversees the social and influencer marketing strategies worldwide.
As well as fashion, Antionia has knowledge and experience across sport, fashion, television, food and drink. Her previous roles within the social sphere have included head of social at the Jamie Oliver Group, social media manager at the BBC, and content production roles at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, London 2012 Olympic Games, and Women In Sport.
With a passion for beauty, actionism, purpose, and sustainability, Firdaous is well respected in her role as Dove’s senior director of global communications and sustainability. Firdaous knows that corporations have a role to play in implementing positive change in the world, which has led her to partner with influencers who have similar moral values and align with Dove’s message.
Last year, Firdaous worked closely with influencers who she took to schools to see the work Dove is doing with children around self-esteem. Ethics are always front of mind for Firdaous. Her positive work has continued during the global pandemic, as she worked on launching Dove’s ‘Courage is Beautiful’ campaign to honour the medical workers on the front line.
These individuals will be joining our first and second wave of judges and will be tasked with carefully scrutinising entries, using their knowledge to create a shortlist for each award category. They’ll be looking for creativity, innovation and uniqueness, entries that demonstrate the human touch, as well as outstanding results and ROI, in order to reward those within the sphere who stand above the rest. Stay tuned to see who makes the shortlist on June 16th.
