Rakesh Patel is Regional Head of Sales UK and Pan-EMEA at Spotify. He joined the company in 2017 from Auto Trader, after previous roles at companies including Microsoft, the Financial Times and Emap.
Who is your digital hero?
Nishma Robb, Marketing Director at Google UK
What has she done to win hero status in your eyes?
First and most simply, the role she does and who she does it for. She
is a master of her craft, providing best-in-class work both internally and externally, which I know is admired by her peers across the marketing industry.
Secondly she truly champions the under-represented for our industry, in all respects. As a founding member of Media for All, the media industry’s BAME network, she’s an inspiration to so many folk that are coming into our industry or making their way through it.
How has her heroism helped drive digital?
Nishma’s progressive approach is constantly pushing the boundaries of digital marketing – including as an active member of the Marketing Society ensuring digital enjoys the right status and recognition within the industry.
This alone helps all of us that work within the digital arena as it paves the way for the industry’s evolution and betterment.
What the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
Whether this is one hero or many more, we need to shine a more positive light on the digital arena and the benefits it provides to brands and consumers alike.
Digital is too often found at the wrong end of a story: as we’ve seen most pertinently over the last few months, digital has the capacity to empower everything we do, and in a way which we cannot live without.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
I’m no hero: what I would say is that I’m most proud of the teams I’ve worked with throughout my career, all of whom have always taken digital on to the next level.
