Michelle Spillane has been revealed as Marketing Institute Ireland (MII) National Marketing Champion 2027, recognising her longstanding contribution to marketing excellence, business and leadership, alongside proven innovation and contribution to the wider business and marketing community. Spillane will be formally recognised at the MII CMO Summit being held on 7th October at EY, Wilton Park in Dublin 2 where she will also deliver a keynote address to an audience of senior marketing and business leaders.
Spillane has led marketing at Paddy Power since 2018, and now serves as Managing Director across its Online and Retail businesses. Her international career spans entertainment, technology, media and financial services, with senior marketing and leadership roles at Disney, Warner Bros, RTE, Microsoft Ireland, Bank of Ireland and ITV. That breadth has shaped a leadership approach that combines creative ambition with commercial rigour, placing brand and customer understanding at the heart of business growth. Under her leadership, Paddy Power has strengthened its position as one of the most culturally distinctive brands in sport and entertainment, turning humour, bold creativity and a sharp instinct for popular culture into a formidable commercial advantage.
Spillane becomes the latest recipient of the prestigious MII National Marketing Champion title, joining a distinguished group of female business and marketing leaders including Gráinne Wafer of Diageo, Sharon Walsh of Heineken Ireland and Orla Mitchell, former CEO of Water Wipes and Global President of Gum & Mints at Mars Wrigley.
Commenting on the appointment, Shane McGonigle, CEO, Marketing Institute Ireland, said:
“Michelle is an outstanding example of what the National Marketing Champion represents. She has demonstrated time and time again that marketing is not simply a communications function but a fundamental driver of brand, business and commercial success.
“Michelle has built an impressive career across media, technology, financial services and entertainment, and has brought that breadth of experience to Paddy Power to help build one of the most distinctive and recognisable brands in the market. Her ability to combine creativity with commercial thinking, while leading high-performing teams and building strong agency partnerships, is particularly impressive.
“The National Marketing Champion is about recognising people who demonstrate the breadth and impact of marketing leadership, and Michelle is a very worthy addition to the exceptional group of business leaders who have held this title.”
For Spillane, the recognition comes as the role of the CMO and senior marketing leader continues to evolve, with marketing increasingly expected to demonstrate its contribution to business performance while navigating rapid changes in consumer behaviour, technology and culture.
Speaking at the announcement, Michelle Spillane said:
“I’m hugely honoured to be named MII National Marketing Champion 2027. Marketing has been the golden thread throughout my career. For me, breakthroughs happen where creativity, culture and commercial courage meet. That’s where the brands earn their place in people’s lives and businesses find their next chapter of growth.
“Marketing teaches you to spot opportunity before it is obvious, make bold decisions before you have certainty and build belief in something that doesn’t yet exist. It demands the imagination to see what a business could become and the commercial discipline to make it happen. There are few better training grounds for business leadership.
“Consumers move faster than organisations. Marketing keeps a business alive to that change, reading shifts in behaviour, culture and expectations, and gives them a voice at the leadership table. That’s a unique and invaluable contribution: keeping the customer in the room when today’s decisions are being made. The strongest brands are built by understanding what people value today and having the foresight to see what they will want next.
“I’ve had the privilege of working across countries and sectors, with some of the world’s best known consumer brands and alongside exceptional teams and agencies. Every experience has reinforced one belief: a powerful brand is one of the greatest commercial advantages a business can have. At Paddy Power, challenging convention is part of our DNA. We see every day what happens when a brand has the courage to stand for something and the creativity to make people care.
“To join Gráinne Wafer, Sharon Walsh and Orla Mitchell as an MII National Marketing Champion is a particular honour. I’m looking forward to sharing lessons from my career at the CMO Summit and championing a profession that has given me so much. Marketing earns its place at the leadership table by helping to decide where a business goes next and inspiring people to take it there.”
The now sold-out MII CMO Summit 2026 takes place on 7th October bringing together senior marketing and business leaders to explore the changing role of the CMO and the strategic contribution of marketing to organisations.
