Helen Hammond, owner of Gloucestershire-based marketing and PR agency Elephant Creative, was presented with a Highly Commended certificate in the Women in Marketing company award, having been pipped to the post by international fashion brand Burberry which took the overall award on the night.
The awards, run by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) – the national body for marketing professionals in the UK, recognised successful women working in the industry.
The category Helen was presented the certificate in recognised companies that had ‘most supported the development and establishment of women in senior marketing leadership roles’.
In a departure from the programme the judges had been so impressed by both Burberry and Elephant Creative that they decided to create a Highly Commended award for Helen, as a very close runner up.
Helen said: “I was so thrilled to be awarded the Highly Commended, especially since we were beaten to the overall award by such a huge iconic company. Elephant Creative was the only small marketing agency shortlisted in any of the award categories so it is such a great achievement for us to be recognised alongside large national brands.”
Helen, 33, of Northleach, set up Elephant Creative in 2009, and already the agency has a collection of over 20 associates working in different fields of marketing and PR for the company.
Although the Elephant Creative team is a mix of men and women, it was Helen’s commitment to hiring talented women regardless of parenting or other family commitments, whilst supporting and nurturing their talent that led to her being nominated.
Helen, a governor at Cirencester College, said: “Talented consultants is what makes Elephant Creative such a successful company, and some of those consultants are working mums or young graduates or women that need to work flexible hours.
“In my eyes this has no bearing whatsoever on their work, their dedication to the job is the same as any other consultant. It would be such a shame to lose people like this just because they need to pick their child up from school at 3pm, for instance.”
Donna Hewitt, a marketing associate at Elephant Creative, said: “Elephant Creative helped me return to work after maternity leave, allowing me to work part time in marketing – roles that are very few and far between.”
Helen’s next venture is taking Elephant Creative to America working with the professional services. She is also guest lecturing at Oxford Brookes University this term to students studying for a master’s degree in ebusiness.
