About us
Building better business in Ireland for over 60 years
Marketing Institute Ireland was incorporated on September 14th, 1962, to help build Irish businesses through the development and application of marketing principles. We know that by focusing on the customer or consumer and analysing the competition, Irish businesses can create a sustainable competitive advantage both domestically and in foreign markets.
What we do
Marketing Institute Ireland is the professional body representing marketing professionals in Ireland. Our mission is to promote excellence in marketing by improving the practice of marketing and the performance of marketers. The aim is to develop better marketers, doing better marketing to deliver better performance. This performance is for the individual in their career, for the company where they work and for the Irish economy overall. While the Irish economy already benefits from the success of marketers and marketing in delivering more sustainable competitive performance, we believe that there is more to be done.
How we do it
To achieve this higher competitive performance, MII offers a wide range of knowledge building opportunities for our members including:
- Annual MII Digital Marketing Experience (DMX) national conference where internationally recognised experts discuss and present on a range of business-critical digital topics
- Development and management of educational programmes with TU Dublin up to Level 9 Masters and Postgraduate level in marketing for business
- Provision of online and in-person training programmes on important aspects of marketing according to current practice evolution in areas such as AI and social media
- Promoting diversity in our society to ensure that everyone is recognised, respected, and valued. We understand that marketing can play an important role in the balanced and fair representation of our multidimensional country.
- Provision of bespoke in-house training programmes for members companies, accredited by MII and typically in the area of digital marketing practice
- Management of the most prestigious awards programme for Irish marketers, the MII All Ireland Marketing Awards (AIM Awards) each year, recognising and promoting excellence in the application of marketing to successfully address business challenges.
- Promoting the discipline of marketing to ensure the value and contribution of marketing is baked into the commercial and governmental policy of Ireland.
- Expert presentations from leading business people at our monthly in-person Rise and Shine breakfast series.
At the heart of our services, MII strives to connect members with one another and promotes sharing and best practice exchange.
Our Team
We are made up of a small executive team of dedicated individuals with a lifetime of marketing experience. The executive team is responsible for membership, education, training, the MII AIM Awards, MII DMX, MII Breakfast Series events and many other services.
Shane Mc Gonigle
Chief Executive Officer
Shane leads the MII Executive team and is responsible for the delivery of our strategy. He will champion our Purpose as we strive to “strengthen the standing of our profession and educate, enable and empower you as marketers at all stages of your career”. He brings a wealth of international experience and marketing expertise to the role, having held senior positions in marketing agencies and client companies for over 30 years. In additional, he has held positions including director of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland, Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster, External Examiner at the TU Dublin and is a former President of IAPI.
Caitríona Ambrose
Áine Plunkett
Leah Golding
Grainne Phelan
Rose Ellen Kavanagh
Caragh Brophy
Karen Hendy
Our Board Members
The executive team reports to the Marketing Institute Ireland Board of Directors, led by our Chair Mr. Mark Nolan. The board set the strategy and meet up to five times per year as a group to review strategy, objectives, and performance.
Mark Nolan
Deputy Managing Partner | Genesis
Mark is Deputy Managing Partner of Genesis, a leading strategy advisory firm specialising in value creation through customer and market strategy and organisation engagement. Its clients include leading Irish and international companies and organisations.
Mark holds BSc in Marketing from TU Dublin. Prior to Genesis, Mark has led research and insight agencies connecting data and insight with marketing and business strategy for many
of Ireland’s leading organisations and marketing professionals. He continues this work with Genesis leading complex strategic, brand and growth engagements with C-suite and SMT leaders for many of Ireland’s most respected and ambitious organisations.
Etain Kidney
Head of School, Marketing and Entrepreneurship | TU Dublin
Dr Etain Kidney is Head of the School of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), where she leads strategic academic development and external engagement across a broad portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in marketing, enterprise and business practice. Her teaching spans customer insights, consumer behaviour, digital marketing, brand management and enterprise, and she supervises doctoral research in areas including inclusive entrepreneurship and responsible marketing practice.
Etain holds a PhD in Marketing from TU Dublin, an MA in Higher Education, an MSc in Business & Entrepreneurship and a BA in English & Philosophy, complemented by professional qualifications in analytics and third-level teaching and learning.
Beyond academia, she is a Non-Executive Director of the Dublin Simon Community, where she chairs the Marketing and Fundraising Committee, and a Trustee of the Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre, supporting community empowerment and inclusive practice. She also serves on the Commercial Committee of Hockey Ireland and contributes to strategic insights for the broader non-profit sector.
Catherine FitzGibbon
Chief People Officer | Core
Catherine Fitzgibbon is Chief People Officer at Core, where she leads the people strategy for Ireland’s largest communications company, shaping culture, talent development and organisational growth across multiple disciplines including strategy, data, research, creative and media. In her role she drives high-performance workplaces, championing employee wellbeing, continuous improvement and inclusive leadership as core business enablers. Over her nearly two decades with Core she has played a pivotal role in building and sustaining a high-trust, people-centred culture that underpins the company’s success and its long-standing Great Place to Work accreditation. Catherine’s expertise lies in aligning people strategy with business goals, fostering engagement at every level and leading transformational HR practices that support both organisational performance and individual career progression. She is known for practical, thoughtful approaches to culture-building — from embedding people priorities into planning cycles to co-designing initiatives that meet employees where they are throughout their careers.
Pat Mannion
Commercial Director Ireland | JCDecaux
Pat Mannion is Commercial Director Ireland with JCDecaux, the largest outdoor advertising corporation in the world which every day reaches more than 410 million people across the planet. Here in Ireland the company is ‘out of home’ market leader with offices in Dublin and Belfast. Since joining the business 15 years ago, Pat has been instrumental in a series of innovative developments that have underpinned the company’s leadership position, and he has led his team to wins at the All Ireland Marketing Awards on a number of occasions. Pat had previously spent over a decade in advertising sales management in both print and radio, including a significant period with Communicorp’s independent radio station 98FM. Pat is a Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.
Allen Kiernan
Financial consultant and Freelance Finance Director
Allen Kiernan is a financial consultant and acts as a freelance Finance Director for a number of small and medium companies.
Prior to that, Allen was Chief Financial Officer of BBDO Dublin (formerly Irish International Advertising), one of the largest marketing and communications agencies in the country, where he spent the majority of his working career.
A Chartered Accountant by training, Allen started his career in Deloitte, before moving into industry.
Allen also works with Enterprise Ireland as a business mentor, helping to guide companies from all sectors navigate the perils of Covid and beyond. He also delivers training courses to members of the Small Firms Association on topics such as ‘Accelerating Growth’ and ‘Increasing Business Value’
Allen is the Honorary Treasurer of The Advertising Benevolent Society, a charity which looks after those in the advertising and marketing community who are going through difficult times.
He is also a director of Medicinema Ireland, a charity which looks to improve the recovery of hospitalised children through the medium of film.
Fiona Curtin
Marketing Director | HEINEKEN Ireland
Fiona has over 20 years’ local and international experience in brand management, innovation, and marketing. She has held many senior roles across industry-leading companies such as Tourism Ireland, C&C, AIB, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard and Heineken in Ireland and globally.
Fiona is a UCC graduate, holds an MSc. & MBA from UCD and is a Certified Director with the Institute of Directors. She is a member of the Marketing Institute and a former President of the Advertising Association of Ireland.
Fiona is passionate about consumers, brands, innovation, and business growth.
Our Strategy and Governance
Marketing Institute Ireland is a registered charity, and we are exclusively focused our members interests, developing and delivery events, education and training programmes that help to build their professional competence and commercial capability.
The financial year for MII runs from July 1st to June 30th and the Annual General Meeting of the charity is typically held in November each year where the audited accounts are presented, and a review of the organisation and activities are provided. Full members are invited to attend the AGM.