Marketing Effectiveness Pioneer Janet Hull OBE Announces Her IPA Retirement

Janet Hull OBE, the formidable pioneer of the industry’s marketing effectiveness movement, who is responsible for bringing to market seminal industry tomes such as The Long and Short of It, has today (11th May 2023) announced that she is to retire from her position as director of marketing strategy at the IPA. From July, Janet will assume a part-time role, before her full retirement at the end of the year, rounding off 22 years with the professional body for advertising agencies and a lifetime in the creative industries, her dedication for which she was awarded a Queen’s Honour in 2014.

Following and in-between various agency stints and board-level positions*, including being Abbott Mead Vickers’ employee 102, Janet was hired as a consultant by the IPA between 1994-1998 and then again, in a full-time capacity with a focus of marketing effectiveness, from 2005 to the present day. During her career, she has worked with hundreds of industry greats, including helping to shape the agendas of many of the IPA’s presidents including David Pattison (publishing a 10-year perspective for the future of advertising and agencies); Moray MacLennan (reaching out to the C-suite to highlight and drive the value of advertising to the boardroom); Rory Sutherland (helping to put behavioural economics into practice), Nicola Mendelsohn (developing a comprehensive apprenticeship programme); and Ian Priest (working to improve the client/agency relationship).

Janet’s career highlights

Janet’s career highlights centre around: furthering the industry’s marketing effectiveness; fuelling marketing investment and finding the talent of tomorrow:

Furthering the industry’s effectiveness

As part of the IPA’s drive to ensure optimal effectiveness of the industry, Hull formulated the comprehensive EffWorks movement. This has comprised:

• Engineering the publication of the Peter Field and Les Binet suite of IPA Effectiveness Databank publications, including:

- Marketing in the era of accountability Binet/Field

- The Long and the short of it

- Media in Focus

- Effectiveness in Context

• Forming the IPA Effectiveness Leadership Group – a team of talented knowledgeable individuals - clients, agency personnel, partners and sponsors – committed to helping create a culture change in marketing.
• Creating the flagship EffWorks Global Conference that takes place each October
• Launching the IPA Effectiveness Accreditation scheme – now in its second two-year cycle which provides a stamp of approval to agencies regarding their dedication to effectiveness and a signal to current and prospective clients that agencies are taking valuable steps to foster an effectiveness culture to make their organisation stronger, fitter and able to deliver their targets.
• Co-developing additional notable publications as part of the IPA EffWorks R&D programme, including Orlando Wood’s Lemon 2019 and, Look out 2021, among others.

Fuelling marketing investment

• As part of Janet’s work to highlight the value of advertising, Janet negotiated and ran the much-heralded pro bono IPA/FT global advertising campaign to promote investment in marketing.

Finding the talent of tomorrow

• Janet created the Creative Pioneers apprenticeship scheme, as part of Nicola Mendelsohn’s presidential agenda, which provided over 1,500 jobs between 2012 and 2021.

Outside the IPA

Janet has represented the IPA on WACL, The Marketing Society and The Worshipful Company of Marketors. She has been an IPA advocate on the Creative Industries Council, under Nicola Mendelsohn, where she developed the CreaTech programme now being espoused by Sir Peter Bazalgette as new Industry co-chair. On behalf of the IPA she also co-founded with the AA and APA the UK Advertising Export Group, acting as chair and leading trade missions to Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai and UK/China events at Cannes. She has also represented the IPA on the Government Apprenticeship Board.

Says Janet Hull OBE, “When I joined the IPA, I was given a one-line brief to take the learning from the IPA Effectiveness Awards into the mainstream. I couldn’t have had a better challenge. Throughout my career at the IPA I have always been given the freedom to go beyond, to look outward, to forge new connections. I have found that the IPA name can open doors to Government, academia, industry both in the UK and around the world. IPA member agencies are rightfully revered the world over. Our incredible talent creates waves. It has been my pleasure to work for the long term with the brightest and best leaders of our generation, and to harness the collective intelligence of the IPA membership to take the industry to new places and new knowledge. I am proud to leave the programmes I started in the capable hands of a strong team who will take them to new heights.”

Says Paul Bainsfair, director general, IPA, “Janet is a tour de force. Indefatigable with an incredible drive and determination to better our industry. During her stand-out tenure, she has always managed to be steps ahead in shaping the industry agenda – from apprenticeships to CreaTech to EffWorks Global and far, far more. And in doing so she has prepared the climate for IPA member agencies to not just survive but to thrive. We owe her an enormous thank you for all that she has achieved for our collective benefit.”

Says Nicola Mendelsohn CBE, VP global business group, Meta and former IPA president, “Janet was my critical partner as IPA President. I loved working with her, brainstorming together and then seeing her executing at the highest level. She is a true pioneer and embraced digital from its earliest days working with UKTI to devise the earliest study tours to Silicon Valley. She recognised the importance of the ad industry as part of the wider creative industries which led to her representing advertising, marketing and media on the government’s Creative Industries Council. She created the first showcase event for the creative industries CreaTech initiative successfully bringing investment from overseas into the industry. A passionate advocate of DEI throughout her career she launched Creative Pioneers, an apprenticeship programme that over the decade created 1500 jobs for underrepresented people. She has always been one step ahead in her thinking to ensure that IPA member agencies can be ready for the next iteration – her retirement is going to create a big gap for the industry as she will be much missed.”

Says Julian Douglas, international CEO and vice chairman, VCCP and former IPA president, “Whether she's jetting off to Silicon Valley to learn about the latest tech innovations or leading trade missions to Beijing and India, Janet is always on the move, always striving to make a difference. I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact these missions can have, both for the IPA and also my agency, VCCP. Janet's legacy as a trailblazer will continue to inspire and motivate generations to come through the initiatives she helped to forge. Her commitment to creativity and belief in making things happen has left an indelible mark on the advertising industry. She is a true role model and a shining example of what can be achieved through hard work, collaboration and a pioneering spirit.”

Says Les Binet, group head of effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, “Janet has been immensely supportive of the work that Peter Field and I have done with the IPA Databank over the last 20 years. In many ways, she has been the driving force behind our research, getting sponsorship, pushing us to deepen our understanding of the data, and helping to bring our findings to the wider world. In fact, it was Janet who suggested we call our 2013 book “The Long and the Short of It”, which was a stroke of genius. We will miss her terribly.”