Maher and Cripps signed up for expanded DMA board

The DMA has strengthened its group board with the addition of two new members, MBA’s Stephen Maher and The Economist’s Mark Cripps, to support the future growth and development of the industry.
The duo bring the total number sitting on the board to 12, including chair Mark Runucus, Gavin Wheeler, Chris Combemale, Michelle de Souza, Rachel Aldighieri, Caroline Worboys, Skip Fidura, Jane Cave, Peter Smithson and Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa.
Maher, who is founder and CEO of MBA, brings with him a wealth of experience from over 30 years in the marketing communications industry working with major brands across many sectors both globally and in the UK, as well as managing and developing key industry talent.
Maher comments: “Our sector is going through a period of unprecedented change from GDPR, AI and beyond and everyone from the C-suite to the next generation is looking towards organisations like the DMA for guidance and support to succeed in this our new world. It is a really exciting time to be part of the DMA Board.”
Meanwhile, Cripps, who is executive vice president of brand and digital marketing at The Economist, has been with the publication since 2013. Prior to that he worked agency side at McCann Worldwide, Craik Jones and DraftFCB.
He said: “My dad managed direct marketing for IBM and so as a second-generation data-driven marketer, performance marketing is in my blood. It gives me huge satisfaction to be part of the DMA and surrounded by colleagues who are not only delivering fantastic results today, but creating strategies and new ways of thinking to drive our industry forward. Together with the IDM we’re not only making the marketing more efficient, personal and impactful, but training the practitioners to continue to put this into practice every day too.”
Runacus added: “Mark and Stephen join us at an exciting time. The DMA is leading the data-driven creative industries into a new era of data-accountability, with GDPR and ePrivacy as a back-drop. We have an ambitious agenda to ensure our members continue to lead the world in terms of data-driven marketing best practice. Their respective skills and experience will be a powerful asset for us all.”