Loretta Dignam of Jacob’s Fruitfield, who was yesterday named Ireland’s Marketer of the Year, is one of three speakers who will address a TV3 seminar on the importance of brand and return on investment in the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road next Wednesday. Dignam will be joined by branding expert John Fanning and Thinkbox research and planning director Neil Mortensen. The event is run in association with Marketing.ie.
Dignam won Marketer of the Year for her work on putting marketing back at the forefront of the company’s operations based on Jacob’s masterbrand – the four ‘pillar brands’ of Fig Rolls, Mallows, Cream Crackers and Elite. The judges noted her ability to lead Jacob’s into profit, get the marketing fundamentals right and allow new product development (NPD) and marketing communications contribute to growth.
Dignam joined Jacob Fruitfield as marketing and technical director in March 2009. Before that, she gained FMCG experience working with a number of multinationals in the UK, Sweden and Ireland. She was previously head of consumer communications at Diageo and a marketing director for both Mars and Kerry Foods. She graduated from UCD with a double first class honours degree in the BComm and MBS.
Dr Damien McLoughlin, professor of marketing at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, chaired the judging panel. The other judges were Carol Fanagan, Red C; Debbie Byrne, consultant; Jamie Helly, Dynamo; Brendan Smartt, Innocent; Claire Cluskey, Empirica; John Mitchell, Strata3; Carolyn Odgers, consultant; Rosita Wolfe, National Concert Hall; Pat Kiely, TV3 and Aidan Power, EBS.
Now in its 19th year, Marketer of the Year is a Marketing.ie initiative sponsored by Alternatives in the last five years. Previous winners include John Noonan, Flahavans; Ruth Guy, Barnardos and Niall O’Grady, Permanent TSB. Last year, John Concannon, Fáilte Ireland, won out for his Discover Ireland campaign.
For a full report on this year’s Marketer of the Year, see the November issue of Marketing.ie
