Gemma Whates
Senior Account Director at Mesh Marketing
Gemma Whates
Senior Account Director at Mesh Marketing
London Area, United Kingdom
Overview
Work Experience
Senior Account Director
2022 - Current
Senior Account Director - Birra Moretti and Wall’s Global
Senior Account Director (mat leave contract)
2021 - 2022
Senior Account Director, mat leave cover. Account lead: Diageo, Suntory & Santhem
Marketing Manager
2022 - 2022
SNACKZILLA is a HFSS compliant kids cookie start-up, with investment from Warburtons. Freelance marketing support.
Founder
2014 - 2021
ALL by MAMA supports entrepreneurial mothers to start and grow a business via community, marketplace and learning resources. We launched in 2015 as the world’s first marketplace for products developed or made by mothers. In 2020 we added a membership community to connect and support our community with meet ups, events & a portal of 50+ small business resources. We raised £250,000 investment, grew a community of 50,000 across social media channels and featured in Forbes, Evening Standard, Daily Mail, Mother & Baby, Guardian and more.
Ada Ventures Scout
2020 - 2021
Scout for Ada Ventures - $34m VC fund that invests in overlooked founders and markets. Ada Ventures aims to be the most inclusive fund in the UK, and ultimately Europe. Supporting founders solving the world’s biggest challenges with technology. Pre-series A.
Account Director
2010 - 2014
** DISNEY SECONDMENT ** Working on the franchise and key release strategy within The Walt Disney Company’s retail team, my role focused on strategy planning and implementation of key releases (both film and DVD) at retail. I managed a team of five, building strong relationships with retailers and brand partners. Here I developed my expertise in shopper marketing. I worked on a number of collaborations including the Pixar movie Cars with Tesco own-label and Alice in Wonderland with Asda Tea. It was during this time that I had my first son and my priorities changed dramatically. Although this was my absolute dream job, the long hours were impacting my time with my family and I began to consider different options. Having already had the idea to start ALL by MAMA, I began exploring it as a viable possibility. Everyone I spoke to, including Baroness Karen Brady, absolutely believed in the concept and offered their support. I developed the idea while continuing to work with Disney and finally went full-time with ALL by MAMA when it launched in November 2014.
Senior Account Manager
2009 - 2010
During this time I developed brand partnerships to support theatrical releases from The Walt Disney Company, Pixar, Miramax and Touchstone Studios. My role was very much as a ‘Brand Guardian’ and working closely with the retailer and studio to ensure the smooth running of the campaign but that it was also that it kept within creative restrictions. With each new release I identified relevant partners, developed relationships and increase brand awareness. I worked on collaborations such as Toy Story with Weetabix, The Princess and The Frog with Georgia Pacific Kitchen Roll.
Senior Account Manager
2007 - 2009
Toast Marketing was a small, independent London based agency that was later acquired by Haygarth. During this time I worked on campaigns for FMCG such as Lloyd Grossman, Sharwoods, Mr Kipling (Premier Foods), as well as promotional campaigns for Douwe Egberts and a marketing communications strategy for TFL.
Account Manager
2006 - 2007
Momentum is part of the McCann Agency group. During my time with agency I worked on the Carbon Trust account designed to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low carbon economy. My role focused on promotional events, whether that be selecting speakers for small groups of six delegates or taking care of everything for a 2000 delegate conference. Along with the logistics, I also contributed to the development of promotional market and resources.
Work Experience
2005 - 2005
During the summer of my second year at Bournemouth University I undertook two work placements at Advertising Agencies in London and New York. At the end of the summer I thought I would submit my CV to agencies to see what might happen. I quickly landed a job, transferred my degree to an HND and joined the workforce.
Education
Distinction
2008 - 2008
HND
2003 - 2005