Amy Kean, creative sociologist, strategist, poet and bestselling author, becomes one of the latest to join BIMA’s prestigious Hall of Fame.
Every year, the British Interactive Media Association honours two new members who have made significant contributions to the digital industry by inducting them into its Hall of Fame. The latest inductees will join a prestigious list of individuals, including 2022’s inductees Steven Bartlett, Businessman, entrepreneur and television personality, and Mary Keane-Dawson, award-winning Business Leader, Coach & Mentor, as well as all previous inductees dating back to 2012.
Amy Kean believes that life would be much better if we all gave ourselves permission to be weirder. She entered ad land nearly 20 years ago, and has been a pain in the arse ever since. She began her career at the IAB, leading their PR and marketing at a time of dial up speeds and gambling popups; helping to promote the medium as a maturing and compelling place for brands to spend their money. She then moved into the agency world, running social media for the Havas Media Group, and then launching their innovation lab, before moving to APAC to head up Mindshare’s strategy efforts across the region. After a decent stint at Coty, working in digital transformation (before it became a buzz phrase) she moved to Starcom to lead innovation and creativity, globally. Throughout her career she led work for some iconic clients, including Nando’s, Domino’s, Jean Paul Gaultier, the BBC, Clarks, Pernod Ricard, and helped launch One Direction’s first album.
But during two decades in one of the fastest and most stressful industries around, Amy developed a conscience and is dedicated to giving women and minority groups a voice, and fighting for those voices. She’s listed as one of Campaign’s 10 trailblazers for her diversity work as co-founder of DICE, which stands for Diversity and Inclusion at Conferences and Events, and is focused on eradicating manels (all male panels) from conference lineups. She’s taught two degree courses, at the University of Bournemouth and the Kingston University and was named one of LinkedIn’s top global voices in media and marketing.
Amy said of her induction: “I am not humbled, in any way, to be included in the BIMA Hall of Fame. In fact, I am immeasurably proud, not just to be acknowledged by my peers but to have grown up in an industry that always tries to be different and unique and progressive. This industry and the people in it have been my healthy obsession for the last twenty years, and I really hope I’ve played a role in helping them change for the better.”
Amy’s been seen in Grazia, the Guardian, Huffington Post and Woman’s Hour, and in her role as cultures editor for creative magazine shots, she challenges the status quo in the ad industry when it comes to mental health, bullying and bias. She cares about the way advertising talks to people, and how that needs to change. She’s author of the #1 bestselling feminist fairy tale The Little Girl Who Gave Zero F*cks, and her second book, a poetry collection called House of Weeds, came out in May 2020 with Fly on the Wall Press. She’s also a playwright: writing producing and starring in GROUP, a sold-out London play about life coaches.
Right now, Amy is the CEO and creative director of a social learning practice called Good Shout, which helps people find their voice and then use it to add value in their industry. It’s Amy’s hope that everybody in the world of work gets an equal opportunity to use their voice, and be heard, so we can have a more inclusive and interesting future.
Matt Sullivan, Managing Director of BIMA said: “Finding and inducting people to the Hall of Fame is one of the most challenging things to do. There are a lot of people out there doing a lot of great things, but we try hard to find people that really represent the values of BIMA. This year, it was decided that out of the many names put forward Amy Kean and Jack Constantine fit the bill perfectly. Both work for very different organisations, but both represent a true voice for change in their own way. You can’t work in our industry (and use LinkedIn) and fail to see what a powerful voice for change Amy has become. Jack, on the other hand, has a huge brand at his fingertips but has still managed to make bold game changing decision. Both always acting in the belief that there is a better way to work and treat people.”