IPA Awards Summer Honours

Seven Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships were awarded at the IPA Members’ Lunch today:

• Sarah Ellis, Managing Director, Gravity Road

• Neil Godber, Head of Planning, J. Walter Thompson

• Sarah Jenkins, Chief Marketing Officer, Grey London

• James Pais, Chairman, IPA Scotland and Creative Services Director, Frame Agency

• Andy Reid, Chairman, IPA England & Wales and Managing Director, McCann Bristol

• Nicky Unsworth, IPA Honorary Secretary and Chief Executive, BJL

The IPA also awarded one Honorary Fellowship (granted to individuals not with an IPA member agency) to one long-serving and retiring member of the IPA secretariat:

• Lynne Robinson, Former Research Director, IPA

The IPA also awarded six Fellowships in its inaugural New Year’s Honours in January.

Sarah has for many years been a passionate supporter of the IPA and the CPD standard, both in her previous role at Sainsbury’s and now at Gravity Road. In 2016, she chaired the CPD Gold panel (for 2015 submissions), spoke about the benefits of a strong agency CPD culture at the Members’ Lunch, presented the Gold and Platinum awards that summer, and contributed to the CPD Gold brochure. More recently, she was the keynote speaker at the Platinum Dinner in July 2018. Sarah's commitment to personal development led her to co-found 'Amazing If' in 2013, alongside Helen Tupper, with a mission to make work better for everyone through an array of activities, including a weekly 'Squiggly Careers' podcast and workshops on how to discover your strengths, live your values and overcome your confidence gremlins.

Neil recently completed a four-year term for the IPA Effectiveness Awards, first as Deputy Convenor in 2016 and then as Convenor of Judges in 2018. He was the editor of Advertising Works 24, which was published in October 2018 and for which he authored new learning chapters. Neil is an active member of the IPA Effectiveness Leadership Group, and has taken part in panel discussions at Eff Week events in 2016 and 2018. He has also presented the awards on UK and international platforms.

Sarah is a proactive champion of, and strong voice for, the diversity agenda within the industry. It was her idea to launch the Diversity Taskforce as a direct response to the IPA’s 2020 diversity goals, an initiative which has achieved much traction. She was co-Chair of the IPA’s 2018 Women of Tomorrow Awards and has been a regular speaker at IPA events over the years.

During his time as Chairman of the IPA in Scotland, a role which he took on in 2017, James has focused on craft skills via a series of masterclass events with filmmakers, playwrights, musicians and poets. He has also been instrumental in bringing inspirational events to Scotland, such as the celebration of 100 Years of Public Service Advertising at Edinburgh Castle in January 2018; led a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh to learn about new technologies; hosted two successful Effectiveness events; fostered closer engagement with schools, colleges and universities; and championed Advertising Unlocked.

As Chair of the IPA for England and Wales, Andy has overseen a successful evolution of the IPA’s roadshow of evening events around the UK. The new-style, more informal format of these events, featuring keynote speakers including Patrick Collister, James Schad and Richard Shotton, has attracted a bigger and broader range of member agency personnel, from CEOs to account executives. In other areas, Andy has been a passionate supporter of the IPA’s Advertising Unlocked and MIPA initiatives, as well as of the 2018 Effectiveness Awards, for which there was a marked increase in the number of entries from agencies outside of London.

Nicky’s involvement with the IPA goes back many years, having served on both the IPA Council and the IPA Membership Committee since 2009. In 2015 she took over the dual role of Honorary Secretary and Chair of the Membership Committee from Tom Knox, and has since overseen many improvements to the IPA’s corporate and personal membership programmes. Nicky has also been a passionate IPA supporter in her capacity as CEO of BJL. Her agency was awarded CPD Gold for 2017 and has hosted many events and training courses for IPA members in the Manchester area.

Lynne joined the IPA in 1993 from Leo Burnett, where she was Media Research Director, and retired in April 2019. Her 25-year IPA career coincided with a period of unprecedented change in the world of media research, during which she expertly represented members across all the Joint Industry Currencies and played a central role in the agreement of many major research contracts. Perhaps Lynne’s most lasting legacy was the development and launch of the IPA’s ground-breaking TouchPoints survey, which began as a Media Futures Group project in 2005. Lynne used her influence and expertise to make the project a reality, bringing together for the first time many separate sources of media data. TouchPoints, which launched its ninth survey in September 2018, is now widely used by agencies, advertisers and media owners alike, and is much respected globally as an excellent tool for media and campaign planning. Lynne was also instrumental in the development of the IPA’s Effectiveness Case Study Databank in the mid-1990s.