WFA Global Marketer of the Year 2024 finalists revealed

An expert jury of 18 marketing leaders, led by Mastercard chief marketing and communications officer and WFA president Raja Rajamannar, considered a host of eligible names submitted by the industry. Each judge nominated their top contenders to create the shortlist.

Collectively the finalists they chose were Kofi Amoo-Gottfried of DoorDash, Asad Ayaz of The Walt Disney Company, Diana Frost of Kraft Heinz, Marcel Marcondes of AB InBev and Aruna Ravichandran of Webex by Cisco. Each will now be inducted into the WFA Hall of Fame.

Only one, however, can be named the Global Marketer of the Year and voting is now open until January 20, 2025. To help you make your decision, here’s a little more on each of this year’s five worthy finalists:

Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, chief marketing officer, DoorDash

Amoo-Gottfried has turned the utility of meal delivery into a cultural triumph, helping DoorDash become the largest food delivery company in the US – with a 67% share in the meal-delivery category.

Asad Ayaz, chief brand officer, The Walt Disney Company and president of marketing, The Walt Disney Studios and Disney+

Ayaz has led campaigns for the most watched films on Disney+ and Hulu and 13 of the top 15 box office debuts of all time, including the biggest worldwide debut of all time for “Avengers: Endgame,” which earned over $1.2 billion in five days.

Diana Frost, global chief growth officer, The Kraft Heinz Company

Frost plays a pivotal role in new initiatives designed to drive bottom-line results, including a successful joint venture with NotCo, a plant-based food tech company. The company has even used AI to accelerate the development of plant-based versions of iconic Kraft Heinz products to drive results.

Marcel Marcondes, global chief marketing officer, AB InBev

Marcondes has led the company’s new brand approach focusing on global “megabrands”, boosting revenue by 3.3%, with Corona alone growing revenue by 5.6% outside Mexico in Q2 2024. AB InBev now has eight of the top 10 most valuable beer brands worldwide, including Corona at No. 1 and Budweiser at No. 2, according to Kantar’s BrandZ research.

Aruna Ravichandran, SVP, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer, Webex by Cisco

Ravichandran is the first B2B marketer to be a finalist for Global Marketer of the Year, turning the marketing team into a critical revenue driver for Cisco’s collaboration business.

Vote for your favorite now

The next stage in the process will be a public vote by the industry and a jury vote, with each element accounting for half of the final score.

Members of the industry can vote for their favorite global marketer starting today and until 20 January 2025 at www.globalmarketeroftheyear.com. The winner will be announced in late January.

Organized in partnership with The Drum, since 2017 the WFA Global Marketer of the Year award has been seeking to identify the person in a global or regional role who has, over the last 12 months, made the most impact on their company, our industry and the reputation of marketing among consumers.

The 2023 winner was Asmita Dubey, chief digital & marketing officer at L’Oréal. Previous winners include Keith Weed, Unilever’s then chief marketing and communications officer, who won in 2017, followed by Raja Rajamannar in 2018 and Lubomira Rochet, then chief digital officer at L’Oréal in 2019. P&G’s chief brand officer Marc Pritchard won in 2020 followed by Conny Braams, then chief digital and commercial officer at Unilever in 2021 and Cristina Diezhandino, CMO at Diageo in 2022.