Sherrick Chavda is Group Director of Audience & Data Strategy, UK & EMEA, Initiative. He is a member and mentor at Media For All, and VP & Co-Chair, Professional Development Committee, IAA UK. In a career spaning over 15 years, previous roles have included at PHD, Carat and MediaCom.
Who is your digital hero?
Chloe Hawking – CEO of UK & Ireland and President, EMEA Kinesso.
What has she done to win hero status in your eyes?
Chloe is undeniably a leader in the digital industry. Consistently impressive on stage and a driving force behind the digital progression of every agency she’s been involved in, Chloe has a proven ability to assemble and lead high-performing teams, delivering exceptional results for both clients and her staff.
Personally, Chloe has been a valuable mentor. She provided me with the opportunity to lead digital for the HSBC Global account at PHD and subsequently offered invaluable guidance during my transition to Initiative. Her honesty, understanding, and unwavering drive have been an inspiration to all who have worked with her.
How has their heroism helped drive digital?
Chloe’s exceptional leadership has been a defining characteristic of her success in this industry. She possesses a remarkable ability to bring together the most talented individuals to achieve shared goals. Since her appointment as CEO, Kinesso has experienced significant growth and achieved remarkable milestones.
Her position as a female CEO of a leading digital agency in the UK and EMEA is groundbreaking. She has broken the mould and demonstrated the immense potential for women in leadership roles. Her ability to drive such profound growth within Kinesso is a testament to her exceptional leadership qualities.
Chloe excels at communicating complex industry concepts in a clear and concise manner. She effectively translates intricate client challenges and industry trends into scalable solutions that drive growth and innovation. During her tenure at PHD, she revolutionized the digital practice, establishing a framework that fostered both structure and individual innovation, resulting in transformative outcomes for the agency and its clients.
What the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
Personally one of the biggest challenges is with regards ID resolution and balancing the need for personalisation and personalised experiences with the growing emphasis on user privacy.
Modern consumers expect personalized experiences. Effective marketing relies on understanding individual preferences and behaviours to deliver relevant messages, however consumers are increasingly concerned about data privacy and the use of their personal information. Regulations like GDPR and CCPA have significantly restricted the use of third-party cookies and other traditional methods of tracking user behaviour making it more difficult to accurately identify and track users across different channels.
It’s a balancing act – The challenge lies in finding solutions that enable personalized experiences while respecting user privacy. This requires innovative approaches that prioritize data security, transparency, and user consent. However, what tends to be overlooked is industry collaboration, fostering this among industry players to develop and implement common standards and best practices for identity resolution.
Addressing this challenge effectively is critical for the future of digital marketing and advertising. It requires a collaborative effort from businesses, technology providers, and policymakers to find solutions that balance the needs of businesses with the rights and expectations of consumers.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
I consider my most significant achievement to be the courage and confidence I demonstrated in transitioning from traditional digital leadership roles to a position at Initiative Media. This new role specifically addressed a critical challenge within the media landscape: the disconnect between how clients and strategists develop and build audiences and how those audiences are subsequently activated across platforms and channels.
Over the past three years, I have focused on bridging this gap by translating strategic audience insights into actionable data points for effective channel activation. Data serves as the crucial connective tissue throughout this process, and my team and I have been instrumental in championing this data-driven approach within Initiative and, more broadly, across Mediabrands.
Furthermore, I am Vice Chair and Committee member of the Professional Development Committee for the IAA UK. We aim to advance the principles of ethical, legal, and socially responsible marketing while elevating the skills and capabilities of the future leaders and marketers of tomorrow.
