Digitas UK Hires Kerry Dawes as Technical Director

Digitas UK has hired Kerry Dawes as technical director as it seeks to further strengthen its technology leadership team and capabilities, with a focus on marketing technology for customer engagement and digital experience platforms and products.

Kerry will report to the agency’s head of technology, Lloyd Tuckey. Previously, she was director of marketing technology at TUI, where she played a pivotal role in the travel giant’s transformation to become a global, customer-centric business. 

Whilst at TUI, Kerry led a team to build and embed a unified, scalable global marketing technology stack into a single, real time, event-based solution. Within just 18 months she also implemented a mobile marketing capability - delivering real-time messages to customers across the journey, whilst also launching email on the new platform and bringing together real-time personalised communications globally – all during a very challenging market due to the global pandemic.

Prior to this, Kerry led the customer experience programme at The Rank Group - introducing and growing a comprehensive, data-driven optimisation and personalisation programme. To support this, she designed and implemented the technology, data and processes to deliver this at scale - resulting in a highly mature digital analytics capability. 

She has also worked for a variety of digital agencies and experience companies in both the UK and Australia, across a range of industries.

Digitas UK’s chief product officer, Rafe Blandford, comments: “I am both delighted and excited that Kerry has chosen to join Digitas. Her broad experience and unique perspective across marketing, data and digital platforms will strengthen our technology capabilities, which are at the heart of creating connected experiences and products. Kerry’s leadership style and abilities are inspiring. She will help to ensure Digitas’ teams are well placed to deliver compelling and forward-looking solutions for all our clients.”

Digitas UK’s technical director Kerry Dawes adds: “To join an agency with the reputation, clients and experience that Digitas has, is incredibly exciting. I am thrilled to be joining the technology leadership team in which I can bring together my agency and client-side experience to ensure our clients are able to create scalable, highly relevant experiences for their customers and fans. This taps into my passion of bringing together data, technology and experience seamlessly, alongside a central focus on customers.”