Judges

Brendan Almack | Managing Director | Wolfgang Digital

In a previous life, Brendan worked as a Geotechnical Engineer analysing data and trying to use the data to solve problems. Now he works in digital marketing… and does pretty much the same thing. Brendan is the Managing Director of Wolfgang Digital based in Dublin, Ireland. He is particularly interested in performance digital marketing with a focus on integrating marketing activities across multiple channels. Like all Wolfgangers, he’s obsessed with defining and accurately measuring campaign KPI’s. Brendan’s work has won multiple Irish & International awards including “Best Integrated Strategy” at the Drum Awards. Brendan is a regular speaker on the international circuit having spoken at Hero Conf, SMX, SES, Friends of Search and 3XE.

Jim Banks | CEO | Spades Media | @UKSpadesMedia

Jim is the CEO of UK based growth agency Spades Media. Jim has been a paid media practitioner since 1999 and has worked client side as well as agency side. Jim helps ecommerce businesses scale their paid media efforts across all channels. Jim is a regular face on the judging panel at the UK, European, MENA and US Search awards and is a returning judge for the 2022 UK Paid Media Awards. Never one to shy away from giving a differing opinion on what constitutes award-winning entries to other judges, Jim enjoys critiquing entries at the Awards and seeing what the paid media community are working on.

Joanna Bodley | Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing & Marketing | Manchester Metropolitan University

With over ten years’ experience, Joanna Bodley has seen every side of the industry from creative to comms and large to small agencies, as well as in-house teams. She has developed, implemented and overseen social and digital strategies and provided guidance for a wide range of clients like The Co-operative Bank, Gumtree and Chewits. She has a keen understanding of the complexities involved in making digital, social media, content and advertising efforts a success. She harnesses this as a speaker and professional educator, having delivered training for numerous organisations, including Econsultancy. Jo is now a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and course director for their MSc Digital Marketing programme, sharing her experience with the next generation of marketers. She also runs her own consultancy, Jo & Co.

Michael Durey | Head of Digital & CRM | Samsung

Michael joined Samsung in 2018 and since then has helped to deliver triple digit Ecommerce growth through Samsung’s owned eStore, EPP and Student websites. Aligning Digital Marketing strategies across Search (Paid and Organic), Affiliates, CRM, Paid Social, Programmatic Display and Online Video has allowed Samsung to maximise in-market traffic through to Samsung.com and ultimately has led to the most successful flagship launches and Black Friday sales periods the company has ever had.

Amanda Farley | VP of Growth | Aimclear

Amanda Farley is a marketer, performance strategist, and business success leader. She is VP of Growth at Aimclear®, a highly decorated, integrated marketing agency dominant in customer acquisition and winner of 17 US Search Awards including 5X most recent Best Integrated Agency. Aimclear's differentiator is the balance of holistic brand-builds, PR, data, and integrated performance marketing. Amanda’s experience includes 11+ years as Managing Partner running a 20-person integrated team which achieved national recognition. Her B2B and B2C marketing leadership experience runs deep in healthcare, professional services, ecommerce, and global IoT (smart homes, smart cities, smart cars, etc.). Her expertise extends international agriculture, food conglomerates, influencer driven ecommerce sales, automotive aftermarket diagnostic tooling and electric vehicle charging systems, finance, major non-profits, and other verticals.

Navah Hopkins | Adzooma

Navah Hopkins is the VP of Strategic Marketing at Adzooma, a platform that makes managing your ad channels easy and fast. A veteran of the digital marketing industry, she began as an SEO in 2008, transitioning to PPC in 2012. Throughout her career, Navah has made a point to give back and loves sharing lessons learned on the international speaking circuit as well as local universities. She is a frequent contributor to SEJ, SEMrush, and WordStream blogs/webinars. In 2019, she became a founding member of the Paid Search Association, a group dedicated to empowering the next generation of PPC practitioners, as well as serving as a resource for all practitioners to learn from and share with the community.

Max Hoppy | Joint MD | Bind | @

LinkedIn profile

Ben Irons | Senior Sales Manager | Microsoft Advertising

An experienced Digital Marketing professional, Ben joined the Microsoft Advertising team in October 2018. Ben leads a sales team of Account Directors and Managers, servicing agencies and clients directly, with the aim of utilising both Bing and other Microsoft products to answer business challenges and drive performance for advertisers across the Microsoft Advertising network. Ben has over ten years’ experience in the Digital Marketing industry and has held digital roles with Yahoo Search, iProspect and PHD Media, and most recently as Digital Director for online retail marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com. Ben is a consistent contributor to the industry, presenting and judging at numerous industry events including Search Engine Strategies (SES), Drum Search Marketing and UK Biddable Media Awards for the last few years.

Rob Linton | Director of Key Accounts | MiQ

As a Director of Key Accounts at global programmatic media company MiQ, Rob oversees the operational and commercial teams in the Northern UK business. Starting out as a media trader in 2013, Rob now leads agency relationships and advises brands across multiple sectors, including travel, retail and direct to consumer, on programmatic strategy and execution. An expert in digital, and a key industry player, Rob is a champion of North England’s vibrant digital community. He educates brands on digital marketing, providing tutorship and workshops specifically for businesses undergoing transformation. A seasoned speaker, and MiQ representative at Manchester India Partnership events, a Digital City Festival speaker and awards judge, Rob is also ‘Digital Futures’ Ambassador with Manchester Digital.

Martin Michels | Global Paid Search Lead | TUI

Martin Michels is the group paid search lead for TUI where he set up a centre of excellence and coordinates strategies across multiple markets. He has experience in B2C and B2B marketing. He began his career in a start-up company and worked most of his career in the travel industry. He enjoys automating (work) processes, solving complex problems, and experimenting with new ideas

Rumyana Miteva | Head of Performance & Revenue | Secret Escapes

Rumyana is an experienced digital marketer with a great passion for the Travel industry. As Head of Performance & Revenue, she is leading a team of Paid Search, SEO and Social Media specialists. Prior to joining Secret Escapes she has helped several other Ecommerce & Travel brands grow their online presence. Rumyana is a regular conference speaker on topics such as Machine Learning, Automation and Performance Marketing Best Practices.

Jon Myers

SAMANTHA NOBLE | FOUNDER | BIDDABLE MOMENTS | @SamJaneNoble

Samantha Noble is the Founder of Biddable Moments, an Paid Media Consultancy Agency dedicated to helping brands increase their revenue through PPC and audience development. Samantha won the UK Search Personality Award at the UK Search Awards 2016 and was also rated one of the top 25 in PPC Heros ‘Most Influential PPC Experts’ list in 2016 and 2017. Back in 2011, Samantha also founded the Digital Females group which now has in excess of 750 members and has held 16 events to date.

Claire Stanley-Manock | Paid Media Director | connective3

Claire has over 15 years of digital marketing experience and knows how to navigate the complex paid media landscape to deliver incremental growth for clients. Campaigns are planned with strategic creativity and delivered with personalisation to generate cut through, emotion and results.

Marty Weintraub | Founder | Aimclear

Marty is an entrepreneur, marketer, photographer, speaker, and BWCA wilderness guide. He founded Aimclear®, a driven, integrated marketing agency dominant in customer acquisition, winner of 17 US Search Awards including 5X most recent Best Integrated Agency. Aimclear's differentiator is the balance of holistic brand-builds, PR, data, and integrated performance marketing. Credits include PayPal, Venmo, Uber, eBay, Airbnb, Dell, LinkedIn, Etsy, Gumtree, Eurail, Firestone, INC Magazine, Amazon, Famous Dave's, Martha Stewart Omni, Intel, Travelocity, Macy’s, GoDaddy, 3M, Siemens, Land's End, and many more. A fixture on the international conference circuit, Marty has appeared in front of hundreds of international search & social marketing conference audiences, from Jerusalem to Sydney.

Michelle Wilding Baker | Head of Digital and Content | Freesat

Michelle is a globally award-winning digital marketer who specialises in data-first customer acquisition (owned/paid/earned), SEO and content strategy. She graduated with First Class Honours in Communication Studies (Journalism) and is armed with more than a decade of marketing and editorial experience across international, SME and start-up brands in highly competitive FinTech, Insurance, Travel, Beauty, eCommerce and publishing industries. Now leading the digital marketing, eCommerce, editorial, content and social strategy remit at Freesat and consulting on a project-basis for Oh Mishy, she previously completed 2.5 years as Head of SEO & Content at The Telegraph Media Group where she hired and led the ‘Best Brand SEO Team’ of 2019. Michelle regularly judges industry marketing and eCommerce awards, guest speaks at events and co-organises the ‘Take It Offline' Digital Marketing Roundtable in London and Europe.

Jordan Wilson | Managing Director | MountDigital

Jordan is the Managing Director of Manchester's data-driven digital marketing agency, MountDigital. With a key focus on generating unrivalled ROI and an extensive background in Paid Media over the last decade, MountDigital has become one of the North's leading digital agencies. A lead generation and data specialist, avid people-person, and a huge foodie!