FACES TO WATCH 2020

s the world is in crisis and we pine for what we used to have (offices, colleagues, clients, jobs…) it’s a relief to spend some time with this year’s Faces to Watch. The 30-and-unders on the pages that follow are the talented generation that will soon be leading the industry in whatever direction it takes post-pandemic.

To add even more optimism into the mix, 2020 has offered up a bumper crop of talent. I’m proud to introduce you to more than 150 of the agency leaders of tomorrow. They are grouped roughly into four categories: creative, PR, media and digital. These silos crumble more each year, though. Which is one reason digital has the most listings. All aspects of digital, from programmatic ad tech to social media management, are everywhere. Digital skills have long become a must across the board, and it is no surprise that it is a younger generation of digital natives that is leading the charge.

We’ve got so many Faces to Watch listed that we can only give you a taster of their talent in print. In most cases we have published the endorsements by the managers who nominated each person. In the coming days, my colleagues and I will be uploading each of our Faces’ profiles to our website, campaignme.com. Here you can find their career paths, their side hustles, their dream jobs and more. Of course, under lockdown there’s a strong chance you’ll be reading this on ISSUU or our website before you’re back in the office to get your physical copy of the magazine. So once you’ve seen who you know among these listings, and marvelled at the wealth of talent that we work with, delve deeper and see what makes them tick.

This is one of my favourite issues of the year. Partly because it gives many people their first mention in an industry magazine. And partly because it primes the rest of us for seeing these names a lot more in the future. As one nominating manager says, this may be the first time a person has been in Campaign but it won’t be the last. If previous years’ Faces to Watch are anything to go by, we will be reading a lot more about these people in years to come.