Former Barclays Head of Media Nicola Shepherd-Banks Joins AnalogFolk

AnalogFolk London has hired Nicola Shepherd-Banks to the new role of associate managing partner. Nicola is responsible for driving success and growth across clients including Unilever and PepsiCo. She is a WACL Future Leader (2016/7) and recently voted as one of the Top 50 Women in Ad Tech 2017 (ExchangeWire). Nicola reports into managing partner Reeha Alder-Shah, who joined AnalogFolk in June 2017. The appointment is effective immediately.

Previously head of media at Barclays, Nicola was responsible for the development and execution of fully integrated media communications strategies aligned to the wider brand and commercial objectives. She also pioneered the development and roll out of a best in class technology stack, where data sat at the core to enable the delivery of personalised marketing messages at scale, in turn driving effectiveness and efficiencies of marketing spend.

The appointment reflects a growing emphasis on data intelligence driving creativity, explains Reeha Alder-Shah, managing partner of AnalogFolk London: “Nicola is a true modern marketer; recognising the importance of insight and data to drive creative and innovative solutions for our clients. This is a key focus for us as we continue to work with progressive brands that are exploring the important business challenges in emerging media and technology - creating value for both people and brands.”

Nicola said on the appointment: “I'm really excited to get under the skin of our clients’ businesses to help drive truly connected brand experiences powered by data intelligence, ultimately helping their customers achieve their ambitions.”

AnalogFolk launched the data consulting arm AnalogFolk DNA in January 2016, originally as a standalone offering but have since embedded smart data-inspired decision making into the strategic process and creative output of the agency. Ultimately creating brand experiences that help people achieve their ambitions through products, services, communications and channels that are connected by proactive journeys, intuitive technology and intelligent data.

On AnalogFolk’s growing data intelligence capability, managing director Ete Davies said: “We use data to acutely understand our clients’ business problems, prescribe potential solutions, and maximise the ongoing value that it can deliver to both business and customer.”

AnalogFolk has had a successful first half of the year, being appointed as agency of record for the Unilever Food category, launching the AI-driven Eat Your Feed for Knorr, and scooping multiple awards for the innovative Marmite TasteFace campaign, including best tech-led innovation of the year at the Drum Marketing Awards.