About us

Marketing Mums was founded by Irene and Paul Jeffrey, fuelled by a love of marketing and belief that seniority shouldn’t mean doing less of the work you love and the kitchen table (more so than the boardroom table) can be the epicentre of strategic creativity. Powered by a determination to always stay hands on in work and home life, Marketing Mums is now a family of strong characters who share the same passion.

Everyone at Marketing Mums has at least 15 years experience in marketing.
All of our projects aren’t just Director-led, they’re Director-done.

Fiercely individual, each Marketing Mum, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Fairy Godparent, has a passion that drove their career all the way to the top of their respective career ladders. They choose to work with Marketing Mums because they can be wholly themselves, and because they can get back to the work they really love to do: rolling their sleeves up and firing their well-exercised strategic muscles to drive projects and thinking.

Often their passion meant the 9-7, work in an office life, didn’t hit all their buttons and enable them to do all the things they love. Each Marketing Mum has other talents and loves that give them a balance and cheery disposition that is part of the Marketing Mums’ signature energetic style. Creative directors who now write novels, strategists who design interiors, ex-agency owners who write songs, and of course, ex-career marketeers who are now lovely mums, hence our name.

A family photo of Irene and Paul with their three young children

Irene

Irene is the co-founder of Marketing Mums. A veteran of innovation and brand development work, Irene has developed models and processes for marketing strategies used by many multinational companies. Irene’s previous positions have included: Head of Product Development at Virgin Atlantic before finding her way to ?What If! where she rose to the heady position of Business Development Director & Head of Insights. The idea for Marketing Mums came when her first child was born – Maybe, she thought, it’s possible both to be an active Marketer and a Mum at the same time. And so it proved.

Creative joy: Nurturing homes and not so little people
Paul

Paul is the other co-founder of Marketing Mums and an experienced strategic planner of some 25 years. But Paul is mostly known as The Energetic Daddy of Loving Ideas. Which pretty much sums up what he’s like to work with. Paul has won awards for his work on BT and Cussons and helped the Department of Health with their successful smoking cessation behaviour change campaigns. When not flying across the world he’s zooming across it, helping a multitude of clients with Brand, Innovation and sustainability challenges. Curiously, he is not a Mum. But he is a Dad.

Creative joy: Making music
Emma

Emma started her marketing and innovation career in her native New Zealand where she worked in the brewing industry. On landing in the UK in the late 90s she joined ?What If! where she worked on a wide range of innovation projects. After the birth of her second child she began to follow her passion for architectural design and she now runs her own consultancy in this. Alongside her love of homes, she is passionate about innovation and brand marketing especially as it relates to consumer behaviour which she is fascinated by.

Creative joy: Punch needling, weaving and Interiors
Jane

Unflappable and ‘loves a list’, there’s nothing Jane can’t get done. With years spent developing governmental policy and nurturing her own children, we’re lucky to have Jane keeping us in check and looking after all of us… Marketing Mums and clients alike.

Creative joy: Christmas balls, political campaigns, PTAs, there is nothing Jane can’t do!
Liz

A relentless smiler, Liz moved from client-side to agency side to get into the high octane and varied side of branding and design for nearly 20 years. Over that time she brought her positivity to clients including Unilever, Tesco, Mars and Reckitt, developing concepts that are focused on the end customer.

Creative joy: Craft with the kids
Sue

Sue specialises in innovation projects, and cakes! When she isn’t helping to make sure projects fly, Sue runs her own cake company, both driven by a slice of innovation!

Creative joy: Cakes
Jules

Obsessed by what makes people tick, Jules has spent the last 3 decades in agency planning. From massive government behaviour change programmes to nibble brands, Jules loves to get dirty in the consumer stuff making sense of it to make it useful.

Creative joy: Keeping up with teenage children
Chriss

From city global banking guru to the dizzy heights of Marketing Mums, Claygate, Chriss is a master of all things numbers.

Creative joy: Crafting
Alex

Alex has worked with many agencies, ?What If!, Innovation and Google, using his creative skills on websites and UI designs, packaging, concept artwork and logos. Now set up in the creative city Barcelona, he is constantly inspired by the surrounding Gaudi Architecture and sun

Creative joy: Making things look pretty in tight deadlines is his speciality… and making cocktails.
Caroline

Previously Director of Research at 2CV, Caroline has 20 years of experience working with a breadth of public and private sector clients, in the UK and internationally - including Tesco, Nestle Professional, Department of Health, BBC, Sky and Diageo. Caroline focuses on bringing consumers’ lives, behaviours and opinions into the heart of clients and their decision-making.

Creative joy: The imagination of young children
Michelle

Michelle thrives on discovering why people do what they do and think what they think - unpicking how experiences shape people's view of the world and the brands they rely on. Most recently the Head of Life and Style research at 2CV, Michelle also held Director-level positions at MTM and Hall & Partners, and worked on high profile freelance projects for Google, The Body Shop and more! This means Michelle has researched most (if not all!) categories in her time, making insight an intrinsic part of everything she does. She loves to bring consumer voices into the boardroom & uncover compelling opportunities for growth.

Creative joy: Reveling in nerdy fantasy/ science fiction novels and baking
Nick

Nick comes from an extensive Brand Marketing and Innovation background covering several industries: drinks, beauty, wellness & healthcare. With an insatiable thirst for insight, and a creative drive to push strategic thinking into competitive open space, Nick recently co-founded GSK CH/Haleon’s sustainability team & strategy with a focus on unlocking Sustainability as a growth driver. Nick’s energy for realising ideas & possibilities has brought him to Marketing Mums where he can apply this experience to building more brands, whilst also pursuing a dream to develop his own business.

Creative joy: Hospitality and DJ-ing
Katie

With over 20 years of marketing for Unilever and Tesco, Katie specialises in marketing and business strategy, positioning and innovation. Previously Director of Sustainability for laundry at Unilever, Katie has also spent years working in food and beverage for an all-round approach to FMCG brands.

Creative joy: Keeping up with/a step ahead of her teenagers!
Simon F

Simon is an award-winning Managing Director and Brand Strategist with a passion for purpose-led business. A strong emphasis on integrating brand and culture, big creative ideas, purpose first and growth mindsets. He loves to help other ambitious businesses make a difference while making money.

Creative joy: Club DJ
Simon B

Creative to the core, Simon has been bringing ideas to life for over 30 years. From supermarkets to LEGO, and everything in between his unique magic brings inspiration to every project he touches. As Head of Realness at ?What If! for 11 years, Simon has redesigned stores, created new products and customer experiences and lucky for us, he continues to bring all that experience and energy to Marketing Mums projects too.

Creative joy: Renovating very old buildings