Agency Innovators 2017

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Toby Roberts

TobyGlobal Head of Strategy (Unilever) for PHD Worldwide

Toby runs the strategy team for Unilever's global comms planning, and in doing so, worked to create a new structure driven by leaders in strategy, innovation and market engagement for each brand, rather than the traditional hierarchies normally found in a media agency. The result has been huge successes one of the most advanced and demanding clients in the world. 

The Unilever Global Strategy Unit was formed in 2013 under the leadership of Robert Ray and Toby Roberts to manage the business for the leading FMCG giant, after PHD was appointed to handle the majority of the global communications planning account in 2012.

Toby believes “The march of technology has meant that the line between marketing, sales, distribution and in many instances the product itself is vanishing. Using these technological developments for brands now means that we can solve many more problems than we used to be able to.“

He adds, “The critical thing about innovation is that it has to solve a problem.  This sounds obvious, but often gets overlooked.  So, the first step is to spend time on determining the real problem we’re solving.  Then, we can create what we call ‘Purposeful Innovation,’ or Innovation that is a strategic imperative, not a tactical ‘nice to have.’”

Toby also asserts that innovation should deliver disproportionate ROI.  “Doing smarter things quicker is the way we build competitive advantage for brands.  This could be anything from a better flighting strategy, to building e-comm capability to advising on ad-tech deals.” 

Past Innovators By Year

  • Innovators 2016
  • Innovators 2015
  • Innovators 2014
  • Innovators 2013
  • Innovators 2012
  • Innovators 2011
  • Innovators 2010
  • Innovators 2009
  • Innovators 2008
  • Innovators 2007
  • Innovators 2006

INNOVATORS

  • Aki Spicer
  • Andrew Littlewood
  • Andrew Stephens
  • Ann Wool
  • Ben Gaddis
  • Devika Bulchandani
  • Franke Rodriquez
  • Hannah Mirza
  • Helen Lin
  • Imran Ismail
  • Jeff Tan
  • Jenny Biggam
  • Jon Chin
  • Kamran Asghar
  • Kate MacNevin 
  • Malcolm Devoy
  • Marc Keating
  • Marc Maleh
  • Marcio Santoro
  • Martin Albrecht
  • Myles Peacock
  • Nick Barham
  • Sara Bamossy
  • Scott Litman
  • Sean Reardon
  • THE INTERNATIONALIST NAMES 27 AGENCY INNOVATORS
  • Toby Roberts
  • Tyler Murray

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