Starcom’s Jarrad wins Future 100 manifesto with ‘Empowering Voices’ plea
The Future of Media London 2024
Starcom’s Vanessa Jarrad won the battle of the Future 100 manifestos at The Future of Media London after her “Empowering Voices” pitch won the live audience vote.
Jarrad, business director and the global account lead for Lego at the Publicis Groupe media agency, delivered an impassioned plea for industry leaders to recognise the importance of helping their talent develop the important skillset of communication, public speaking and pitching.
On why media leaders should prioritise this, Jarrad said: “Our industry thrives on confident communication, but for those who don’t come ‘ready made’ with that skill, it can be a recipe for poor mental health and sometimes career halting. It’s not just about individuals though, I also believe it’s business critical.
“By not effectively supporting employees, businesses miss out on untapped talent, ideas and potential. With the right support we can nurture personally confident, capable, and unstoppable teams, where every voice is empowered and innovative ideas shine. That’s what we should all be striving for.”
Five-star pitches
In what was the second annual Future 100 Manifesto, five inductees from the Class of 2023 each delivered a three-minute manifesto to an audience at The Future of Media London conference on Wednesday afternoon.
In a closely fought content, the four other manifestos — all of which were exceptionally well received by the audience — included:
Pedro Ramos (director, Retail Digital Media Strategy – Europe at GroupM) on why mental health is a key metric for high-performance teams.
Maya Herm (director, Customer Success, EMEA at Relo Metrics) on why media investment matters in women’s sport.
Caroline Ayling (marketing director at JAA and president of Bloom Network) on why the industry needs to make shared parental leave the norm.
Aaron Watkins (head of Paid Search Solutions and Strategy at MG OMD) on his vision to create a platform for The Future 100 Club to drive industry change.
‘Personally defining moment’
At the end of the session, all five stormed the stage to take an impromptu selfie to celebrate each other’s manifesto, but in the end it was Jarrad who stole the victory.
She described how her own personal battle with anxiety of public speaking had been overcome as she got up to speak at her own recent wedding, and subsequently on stage at The Future of Media London delivering her manifesto.
Jarrad said: “Delivering my manifesto about public speaking on stage was a personally defining moment for me. The competition was incredibly tough, and the other speakers were so inspiring, which made winning even more meaningful. Seeing the audience nodding along made me realise just how many could relate and has only further ignited my passion to help others find their voice.
“Now I’m very excited to work with the amazing Media Leader team to drive real change and make a lasting difference for those who struggle with public speaking like I once did”.