MetLife’s Esther Lee to be Inducted into American Marketing Association NY’s Marketing Hall of Fame®
“Future of Marketing” to be the subject of inductee presentations at May 17, 2018 induction ceremony at offices of R/GA in New York.
The American Marketing Association New York announced that Esther Lee, executive vice president, global chief marketing officer, MetLife, Inc., is one of three business leaders responsible for outstanding contributions to the field of marketing who will be 2018 inductees to the Marketing Hall of Fame®.
Other inductees are creative legend Lee Clow, chairman, TBWA\Media Arts Lab and director of Media Arts, TBWA\Worldwide, and best-selling business author and speaker Seth Godin.
The three luminaries will be celebrated at the 2018 Marketing Hall of Fame induction ceremony on the evening of Thursday, May 17, 2018 at the offices of R/GA in New York. Each inductee will give brief presentations, reflecting on their careers and offering their views on the future of marketing.
The Marketing Hall of Fame (www.marketinghalloffame.org) was established by the AMA New York to celebrate brilliance in marketing across all disciplines and industries. Each year, the program recognizes industry leaders with a minimum of 10 years experience who are making outstanding contributions to marketing and inspiring a new generation of marketers. Criteria for selection is individuals responsible for marketing that have dramatically impacted business results, raised marketing’s profile or moved the profession forward by developing innovative marketing solutions.
Past inductees include leaders who have transformed the role of marketing including academic and author David Aaker, Facebook CMO Gary Briggs, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, GE vice chair Beth Comstock, R/GA founder Bob Greenberg, former American Express CMO John Hayes, former IBM SVP Jon Iwata, author and professor Philip Kotler, Ogilvy & Mather chairman emeritus Shelly Lazarus, strategist and author Al Ries, former P&G global marketing officer Jim Stengel, Subway global CMO Joseph V. Tripodi and Wharton professor and author Jerry Wind.
“We established the Marketing Hall of Fame to recognize our most admired colleagues for the many brilliant ways they have advanced our profession,” said Robert Kahn, Marketing Hall of Fame committee co-chair, AMA New York president, and SVP business development at Elateral. “It’s an honor for us to celebrate the extraordinary contributions of Esther Lee, Lee Clow and Seth Godin, all of whom truly represent the pinnacle of leadership and innovation in our field.”
The selection process began last September with an open call for nominations, drawing more than 200 nominations. AMA New York’s Marketing Hall of Fame Committee evaluated the nominations against the inductee criteria and developed a shortlist of the 50 highest-qualified nominees. This shortlist was reviewed by the Marketing Hall of Fame Academy, an exclusive, invitation-only body of 200 senior marketers, agency executives, researchers and academics hand-selected by the AMA New York Board of Directors, who cast ballots to determine a dozen finalists.
The Marketing Hall of Fame Judging Panel, made up of the leaders of the marketing industry’s top organizations and past inductees, made the final selection of inductees from the finalists list. Panel members were David Almy, CEO, Insights Association; Marla Kaplowitz, president/CEO, 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies); Russ Klein, CEO, American Marketing Association; Bob Liodice, CEO, Association of National Advertisers; Scott McDonald, CEO, Advertising Research Foundation; Tony Pace, president/CEO, Marketing Accounting Standards Board; Manny Schrager, president, Qualitative Research Consultants Association and Earl Taylor, CMO, Marketing Science Institute, as well as 2017 Marketing Hall of Fame inductees Gary Briggs, Jon Iwata, Jim Stengel and Jerry Wind.
This year’s Marketing Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 17, 2018, 6:00-9:00 pm at R/GA headquarters in Hudson Yards, 450 West 33rd St. in New York. Cocktails and food will be served, followed by the induction ceremony and presentations from each inductee. From the perspective of their careers, the inductees will offer rare insights and ideas about how marketing will evolve in the future.
“We are very proud that the Marketing Hall of Fame has become one of the premier events in the marketing community, and once again we have a star-studded list of extraordinary talents to celebrate,” said Joanna Seddon, Marketing Hall of Fame committee co-chair, AMA New York past-president and president, Global Brand Consulting, OgilvyRED. “It will be inspiring to have these three legendary marketing luminaries all on one stage for one special evening.”
Past sponsors of the Marketing Hall of Fame include Facebook, P&G, GE, Samsung, IBM, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, American Express, Blackstone Group, Twitter, AOL, R/GA, The Wall Street Journal, J. Walter Thompson, BBDO, Ogilvy, McCann Worldgroup, Wieden+Kennedy, OMD | the grid, Columbia Business School, GreenBook, Insight Innovation Exchange, Verse Group LLC and others. For information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact AMA NEW YORK board member Lee Hornick at leehornick@hotmail.com.
2017 Marketing Hall of Fame
inductee bios:
Esther Lee, Executive Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer, MetLife, Inc.
Esther Lee is MetLife’s Global Chief Marketing Officer and is a member of the company’s executive team. Lee joined MetLife in 2015 and is responsible for managing all aspects of global marketing, the global brand and the customer journey. Lee and her team lead a strategic, customer-focused marketing practice across the globe that drives business growth.
Prior to joining MetLife, Lee was Senior Vice President for Brand, Marketing, Advertising and Sponsorships at AT&T. In that role, she oversaw global brand marketing, advertising, media and sponsorship, as well as the integration of brand leadership into the company’s business strategies. Through the ongoing rollout of the company’s “Rethink Possible” brand platform, Lee led the strategy to create awareness of AT&T’s commitment to innovation to allow people to do more, explore more, and live more expansively.
Before joining AT&T, Lee served as Chief Executive Officer of North America and President of Global Brands for Euro RSCG Worldwide, where her work focused on transforming the company’s creativity and vision for long-term growth. Prior to that, she served for five years as Global Chief Creative Officer for The Coca-Cola Company, where she drove creative strategy, the development of integrated campaigns for the company’s global brands, and the operating models to support these efforts. Most notably, she drove the creation, development and launch of the “Coke Side of Life” global campaign—the foundation for today’s “Open Happiness” campaign.
Lee Clow, Chairman, TBWA\Media Arts Lab & Director of Media Arts, TBWA\Worldwide
For the past 40 years, Lee Clow has told stories through advertising for some of the most well-known brands in the world. His creative career began with Chiat\Day and its humble beginnings at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Today, he is the Director of Media Arts for TBWA\Worldwide and the Founder and Chairman of TBWA\Media Arts Lab, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2016. He believes advertising is an art, a media art, that evokes emotion in consumers to make them laugh, cry, surprise or inform and his work does exactly that. His portfolio includes memorable campaigns for brands like Gatorade, Pepsi, adidas and Energizer.
But Lee’s impact on the industry can best be summarized by his partnership with Steve Jobs for more than 30 years producing work for Apple. 1984 Macintosh, “Think Different” that evolved into the introduction of the iMac. iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Today, Media Arts Lab works exclusively on Apple, breaking barriers and challenging the industry with what Lee calls the «New Storytelling.”
Seth Godin, Author and Speaker
Seth Godin is the author of 18 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He is also the founder of the altMBA and The Marketing Seminar, online workshops that have transformed the work of thousands of people.
He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books “Linchpin”, “Tribes” and “The Dip”. “Permission Marketing” changed direct marketing forever, and “Purple Cow” is considered one of the most influential marketing books of its time. His latest book “What To Do When It’s Your Turn” is now in its fifth printing.
Godin has given thousands of speeches to millions of people around the world, and his five TED talks continue to spread. In addition to his writing and speaking, he founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo, and his Seth’s Blog (which you can find by typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world.
The mission of the American Marketing Association New York (http://www.amanewyork.org) is to inspire, support and celebrate brilliance in marketing. Founded in 1931, the AMA New York is the principal community for marketing professionals across all industries and disciplines in the New York area. Offering programs, monthly events, and interaction with the chapter through volunteer activities, we provide marketers with an opportunity to increase their knowledge and reach in the marketing community.
