The Young Marketer Award is a new category for this year’s AIM Awards. The Young Marketer Award, was designed to nurture a vibrant pipeline of new marketing talent and showcase young marketing graduates in Ireland.

Please meet this years 5 finalist who each share a piece of advice for our graduates

Winner Young Marketer of the Year 2021

Brand Manager, Coca-Cola

Tara Byrnes

  • What do you do in your role? 

In my role at Coca-Cola, I’m responsible for truly iconic brands and how they’re marketed in Ireland. My day-to-day involves planning 360 campaigns, including creative development, media, in-store and PR. However, I’m also responsible for new product launches, my brand’s budgets, and ensuring we’re aligned to the brand strategy and on track to deliver our annual targets. The reason I love marketing and my job; no two days/projects are the same, I love the breathe of my role as a Brand Manager!

  • What it means to be nominated for Young Marketer

It’s an honour to be one of the first people shortlisted for this category and among a strong group, a very proud moment! It’s great that the Institute is showcasing emerging talent in the industry. I presented as a finalist in the PR campaign category last year with Coca-Cola, but this year was great to showcase who I am and where I want to go with my marketing career, to judges that I admire! Fingers crossed!

  • A piece of advice for young graduates

As cliché as it sounds, be open to opportunities! There are projects and aspects to marketing that I didn’t think I’d enjoy as much as I have. I’d also say be clear about your strengths and what you add to a team, this is so important as you apply for roles and will set you apart from other applicants.

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Finalist

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Brand Manager, O'Brien Fine Foods

Rachel Brophy

  • What do you do in your role? 
I manage the O’Brien Fine Foods white meat branded portfolio which consists of the Green Farm and Homebird brands. I am responsible for leading the strategy development for these brands and translating this into actionable brand plans to deliver our growth targets.
  • What it means to be nominated for Young Marketer
I am humbled to be nominated by my team for such a prestigious award. I’m equally honoured to be presenting alongside such talent at an event that celebrates all the great things that are happening in the industry in Ireland.
  • A piece of advice for young graduates
As a brand manager for food brands, one of which has a clear positioning in health & wellness, I have been lucky to marry my career in marketing with my other passions and life interests in food and health. A career in marketing can easily facilitate this kind of alignment and in my experience it makes for an invigorating and satisfying career.

Finalist

Assistant Marketing Manager – Digital & Loyalty, Boots Ireland

Sarah Corr

  • What do you do in your role? 

In my role, I lead the delivery of digital campaigns at Boots Ireland. This includes managing our social media channels and ensuring we deliver a ‘best-in-class’ loyalty programme for Boots Advantage Card. It’s an extremely fast-paced role but I love it.

  • What it means to be nominated for Young Marketer

I am incredibly honoured to be nominated for the Young Marketer Award. I joined the Boots Ireland team in December 2019 and it’s been a whirlwind 16 months, particularly working for an essential retailer throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m lucky that I get to work alongside a highly talented team of marketers at Boots Ireland – I’ve learned so much from them.   

  • A piece of advice for young graduates

My advice for a Young Marketer is to stay curious. Marketing is such a broad discipline that continues to adapt and change over time. Remaining open-minded and asking questions is the best way to build on skills across all elements of the marketing mix and will help you become a well-rounded marketer.

 

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Finalist

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Digital Content Manager, AIB

Rob O'Leary

  • What do you do in your role? 
I specialise in enhancing AIB’s online communications across all our consumer and sponsorship activities. Working collaboratively with our partner agencies to create world leading content, I help to propel AIB forward as a leader in effective digital communications.
  • What it means to be nominated for Young Marketer
To be nominated for ‘Young Marketer of the Year’ in an incredible honour. I work with a great team in AIB and incredible agency partners who have always helped me in my growth as a marketer, so to be shortlisted is a brilliant tribute to them.
  • A piece of advice for young graduates
You’ll get out of a job what you put into it. The more you embrace the work along with the learning opportunity, the more impact you will have in your workplace and in the industry.

Finalist

European Brand Manager, Kellogg

Kate MacQuillan

  • What do you do in your role? 
I’m a European brand manager on one of Kellogg’s newest innovative brands, W.K. Kellogg which is a healthy granola brand. I work on all elements of this brand from strategy development, media planning, food development, packaging, marketing asset development & work collaboratively with our End-to-End team on production & supply chain. It’s a very varied role and that’s what I love about it, as cliché as it sounds; no two days are the same.
  • What it means to be nominated for Young Marketer
It’s an absolute honour to be nominated for this award, in an industry that I love and to be amongst the high calibre of talent in this field.
  • A piece of advice for young graduates
Don’t be afraid of risks or failure. Your first job won’t be your job for life, so don’t get too caught up about where you want to be in 20 years once you leave college. Don’t hold back! Bring your ideas to the table and don’t feel that you are too junior to share a thought or an idea. Be curious and ask plenty of questions – there really is no such thing as a silly question!
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