Karen is passionate that the key to competitive advantage is rooted in deep consumer insight. Her knowledge of consumer trends, continuous changes in technology which then influence and change consumer behaviour, are fundamental when looking to future-proof business.
Karen began her media career in 1993 at CIA MediaNetwork (now known as MEC), working across a range of direct response accounts as a specialist direct response planner and buyer.
Karen continued her career by joining Zenith Media in 1995 as a Senior Communications Planner working on the prestigious BT account. Karen was quickly head-hunted by The Media Business Group to take up the role of Media Manager.
In October 1999 Karen was promoted to the Board of Directors of the newly merged MediaCom and The Media Business Group Board. In January 2003, Karen moved from the Business Director role that she had held for so long to become the Marketing Director of MediaCom.
In 2008, Karen became MediaCom’s Chief Operations Officer for EMEA. Priority markets included Russia, Turkey, France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic and South Africa. After 3 years strengthening the EMEA network, during which time MediaCom moved from the 5 th to 3 rd largest EMEA network media agency, Karen was promoted to CEO of the UK Office in January 2011, running over £1.3bn of media billings and over 1,100 people. MediaCom UK is the largest media agency in the UK with a range of diverse clients, such as Sky, Tesco, GSK,
Coca Cola, CRUK, DFS, NBC Universal and Mars. MediaCom is a truly UK national agency with offices in London,
Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Dublin. During Karen’s tenure as CEO the UK business won over £790 million of new business. (2011 -2015 inclusive). In January 2016 after serving as CEO for 5 years, Karen was promoted to Chairwoman of MediaCom UK & Ireland and is closely linked with clients such as Tesco, Allianz, Coca-Cola and Sky. In her new role as Chairwoman, one of Karen’s many focuses is to support the continued growth and evolution of the regional UK offices which totals 350 staff and has regional combined billings of £385 million.
Twitter @blackett_kt & @MediaComUK
Projects
- Campaign: MediaCom's Karen Blackett is a new breed of leaderWords: Nicola Kemp Publication Link: Campaign MediaCom chairwoman Karen Blackett, the most admired business chief in adland, is blazing a trail for creative leaders who place authenticity, approachability and empathy ahead of ego. When Campaign asked the chief executives of the agencies included in this year’s School Reports to name the adland business leader they most admired, the result was emphatic. The agency leadership ecosystem may be dominated by men but it was Karen Blackett, chairwoman
- BBC Women's HourIn the final day of this year's Woman's Hour Takeover our Guest Editor is Karen Blackett OBE Chair MediaCom UK. She was Number 8 on the Woman's Hour 2015 Power List; Influencers. In her programme she talks about identity, growing up in Britain as a second generation Barbadian, the influence of West Indian culture and identifying as British. Purposeful business and the importance of empathy in creating a diverse workplace.And, the globalisation of brands and how each nation has different attitude
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Projects credited in
- This Black History Month 2020, meet 100 rising stars inspiring changeWe still have a long way to go when it comes to conquering the lack of diversity in all industries – which is why it is so important for us, as a platform, to use our force for good. True diversity at every level is the key to innovation and success, so we celebrate and promote Black talent throughout the year, including via our list of brilliant Black leaders. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, so we’re always looking to unearth more incredible rising stars to feature and promote, to h166
- International Women’s Day 2020, meet 100 trailblazers redefining the creative industryAt The Dots, International Women’s Day isn’t just a day – it’s a whole month! A time to take over the site and shine a light on the women and non-binary people redefining the creator landscape. For #IWD2020, we asked industry leaders to nominate the trailblazing women and non-binary people they think will redefine the creative and digital industries over the coming years. The list we’ve put together is one that beams with brilliant, talented people and their dedication to positive change. Book168
- Campaign Magazine’s 2018 Trailblazers for ChangeCongrats to our Founder & Chief Purpose Officer Sulaiman who in December 2018 was recently named one of Campaign Magazine’s 2018 top 10 Trailblazers with some of our most incredible, personal sheroes and heroes. As Campaign wrote: “Throughout December, we are revealing the best of our industry in 2018. These are the people making real strides towards a more inclusive future for adland.” Read the full article here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-KdYYN-DAm43pCgXnAjEgwQth0qJTDY9/view?usp=sharing3
- Ogilvy Roots & WPP Roots: Co-founder & Social SecIn March 2017 we Co-Founded Ogilvy Roots, a network dedicated to championing greater ethnic and cultural diversity within the creative industry. Working with a brilliant team of account handlers, creatives, planners and project managers to break down barriers to greater inclusivity and representation of people of colour within our industry, our agency and the work. Since it's launch I've played a key role in organising social events, branding, developing our pillars and it's expansion into WPP
- Championing Diversity: This Black History Month 2018, meet 100 creatives inspiring changeThis Black History Month 2018, we’ve brought together a group of outstanding industry heroes to each nominate 10 black changemakers and creators that are shaping culture, arts, design, business, tech and beyond. We still have a way to go when it comes to conquering the lack of diversity in the creative industry - which is why it so important for us, as a platform, to use our force for good. To do so, throughout the year we spotlight incredible people, the projects that they are involved with141
- #EasterSOwhite#EasterSOwhite is the second initiaitive from www.thesowhiteproject.com to tackle the lack of diverse representation in communications. We believe advertising and marketing has a responsibility to represent everyone thereby providing role models for all. This project was made possible thanks to: Co-founders Selma Nicholls, Nathalie Gordon, Wren Graham Creative team Helen Marsden and Yvadney Davies Mentors Karen Blackett and Nishma Robb Our amazing partners: Above+Beyond AnalogFolk BBH Dentsu Aegis Network DigitasLBi Exterion Google MediaCom New Look Primesight Saatchi & Saatchi Sunshine All the families and their children who took part!
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Skills
- Business Strategy
- Operations
Awards
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Marie Claire's Women At The Top AwardsMarie Claire's Women At The Top Awards
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20 Women to Watch in EuropeAdvertising Age
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