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Interviews

Bev Ridyard

Head of Airline Marketing for Manchester Airports Group

Ben Somerset-How

Client Director Creativebrief

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Tom Holmes, creativebrief Founder & Chairman, interviews Bev Ridyard, Head of Airline Marketing for Manchester Airports Group and Marketing Academy 2010 alumni.

Bev has been working in marketing for over seven years. She has always been passionate about challenging marketing roles – either partnership marketing, marketing someone else’s product or marketing products which are perceived by some as less glamorous. She has worked her way up from Marketing Executive at Halifax/Bank of Scotland to Marketing Manager at Bupa Care Homes, then onto marketing car parks for Manchester Airport (yes car parks!) to now being responsible for all airline marketing across three UK airports. She has been exceptionally honoured to have been in the inaugural year of The Marketing Academy which has transformed her life both professionally and personally.

creativebrief: Why did you choose a career in marketing?

Bev Ridyard: As soon as I went through my marketing module for A Level Business Studies, I just knew it was for me! The mix of creative, analytical and commercial sides appealed to me.

creativebrief: What do you think makes a successful career in marketing?

Bev Ridyard: Three things:

  • Knowing your numbers. Driving home commercial results and not just talking ‘ROI’ but demonstrating it day after day. We all know ROI can be difficult to measure and we feel the pressure of time restrictions between campaigns but it is so important to then feed this information to other business functions, which may just change their perception of what marketing can do!
  • A passion for innovating. 
  • Working with amazing people who share your passion and want to make positive change.

creativebrief: And who is a great example of this?

Bev Ridyard: Gosh, that is a tough one! I have met so many amazing people through The Marketing Academy in particular it is hard to pick one. If I had to I would say Amanda Mackenzie. She is truly, truly authentic, inspires and supports, drives change and is a genuinely nice person.

creativebrief: What do you think are the main challenges facing marketers today?

Bev Ridyard: It has to be showing commercial value, linked to changing (some peoples) perception of marketing. If I was given a pound for every time someone said I worked in the colouring in department….

creativebrief: How do you keep up with constant stream of innovation in marketing comms?

Bev Ridyard: I push myself personally to read something new every day. Whether it be a magazine, blog, book, email I take the best bits and see how I can also take this back into the business and see how we could learn from it.

creativebrief: How does this impact your relationship with agencies? 

Bev Ridyard: I see agencies as being an extension of a marketers team. I always hope that agencies can tell me things I don’t know so that we can raise our game collectively.

creativebrief: How do you know if you’re getting the best from your agencies? 

Bev Ridyard: We produce exceptionally great work – not just nice to look at but brings the results too.

creativebrief: Of your recent work, what makes you particularly proud and why?

Bev Ridyard: At Manchester Airport, the team has launched a multi channel, multi product campaign called ‘Fly Manchester’ which many team members have been a part of. I am proud of how we used insight to drive the campaign, the innovation that inspired ideas and also how the team pulled ‘part one’ off so quickly!

creativebrief: How do you think marketers can raise the profile of marketing within their organisations?

Bev Ridyard: Simple. Show the real impact of what marketing does to the business.

creativebrief: Do you see yourself as a generalist or a specialist, does it matter?

Bev Ridyard: I’m a generalist by choice. I never wanted to become an expert in a certain area. We do need both though, depends on the requirements.

creativebrief partner the Marketing Academy is a non-profit organisation which provides a unique forum for industry leaders, marketing gurus, entrepreneurs and inspirational people volunteer their time to inspire, develop and coach the next generation of future leaders. The Marketing Academy gift a maximum of 30 ‘Scholarships’ each year to the fastest rising stars in the marketing, advertising and communications industries. A team of high profile mentors and coaches develop these stars through a process of mentoring, coaching, networking and personalised learning. 86 mentors, 30 Coaches, 20 Judges, 36 companies and an owl called Merlin all provide their time, resources and knowledge to assist in shaping the minds of our future leaders. Furthermore as a vital part of their curriculum all Scholars volunteer at least one day per year through our Donate28 initiative to work with charities who need bright young marketing minds. For a full list of the individuals involved, see the Sherilyn Shackell interview.   

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