KAREN BOSWELL

As head of innovations, Karen Boswell is tasked with driving change and ensuring innovative thinking is applied to every discipline and idea across the business. She has more than 15 years of experience covering the full marketing spectrum and specialises in digital brand transformation. Using technology as an enabler, Boswell is focused on planning, shaping and leading strategies and solutions to meet the needs of the “always on” consumer.

Boswell, who has been at the agency for two years, is a regular speaker at industry panel events and a winner at the 2016 Women of Tomorrow Awards.

“The sheer creativity of the agency is the most attractive part of the company but the constant challenge is to be pioneering. Bravery is not about resting on our laurels, it is about listening to our audience and constantly looking to integrate,” she says.

“We push every client when it comes to innovation,” Boswell explains, adding that while every client is at a different stage of the journey, there is a relevant question that every brand should be asking. She believes that brands are “often behind their consumer” so innovation needs to focus on enhancing the consumer experience and staying ahead of the curve.

It’s a shift that demands agencies adapt their approaches to finding talent: “Jobs like mine didn’t exist 20 years ago. Relying on rigid structures and the way things are would make it hard to attract and find the best talent.”

With this in mind, Boswell is working to remove “archaic” perceptions of what the advertising industry is like to work in. She employed a 17-year-old while at AKQA and is looking at ways to revise the criteria for getting that allimportant first job. “We have a brilliant client list and award-winning work but we don’t always reach the levels of diversity we need,” she says.