One senior marketing hire is a replacement. Eight across brand, sponsorship, digital, comms and performance? That's a strategic overhaul.

For agencies and rights holders, these patterns are often the earliest indicator of budget reallocation, agency reviews, or a repositioning that hasn't hit the market yet.

Honch has tracked 18,000+ marketing appointments across 12,000 companies in 2026. Inside that data, 280 companies stand out - making repeated senior hires while simultaneously increasing activity across sponsorship, digital, experiential and brand.

Here are five worth watching.

Barclays

Barclays has made eight senior marketing and communications hires in 2026 - a volume that signals significant internal restructuring, not just backfills. The spread across sponsored content, performance marketing, sustainability comms and content strategy suggests coordinated investment across multiple workstreams.

Recent activity includes the "Invest for the Future" campaign, LifeSkills expansion and a refreshed brand identity - all pointing toward renewed focus on younger, financially engaged demographics.

2026 hires

• Atisaa Valley - Head of Sponsored Content & Brand Partnerships
• Emma Patten - Head of Product Marketing
• George Knight - Director, Head of Marketing Operations
• Hardip Tawana - Head of Content Communications
• Honor Wilkinson-Bell - AVP, CEO Office, UK Corporate Bank and Corporate Affairs
• Mark Martindale - VP Employee Communications
• Stuart Bryce - VP Performance Marketing
• Wil Barber - VP Sustainability Communications

Opportunity

Brand partnerships reaching younger, financially engaged audiences. Sustainability-aligned sponsorship assets. Rights holders with digital-first inventory or financial education positioning.

Pernod Ricard

Ad spend up 16%, with over 75% now digital. Pernod Ricard is leaning harder into experiential, premium positioning and AI-driven media optimisation - with particular focus on aged spirits and champagne.

The appointment of Julia Massies as CEO Northern Europe signals regional expansion, while the digital and comms hires point to increased investment in premium brand storytelling.

2026 hires include

• Gemma Adams - Head of Digital Marketing, Gold Brand Unit (Aged Spirits & Champagne)
• Louisa Humm - Global Communications Director (Aged Spirits & Champagne)
• Julia Massies - CEO, Pernod Ricard Northern Europe
• Frederic Potier - R&D Director, Gold Brand Unit

Opportunity

Premium sponsorship assets with high-net-worth or luxury-adjacent audiences. Experiential activations in hospitality, music and lifestyle. Northern European expansion opens regional inventory opportunities across Nordics, Benelux and DACH.

Mars

Mars has made seven senior marketing hires across its food, snacking and nutrition portfolio in 2026 - spanning brand, innovation, comms and European portfolio strategy. This volume, combined with known investment in AI personalisation, short-form video and agency restructuring, points to a global marketing operation in active transformation.

2026 hires include

• Lorenzo Rocco - Marketing Director Europe, Portfolio Strategy and Performance (Kellogg's Cereal)
• Kristin Nevin Johnson - Global Brand Experience Director, Food and Nutrition
• Leah Waterfield - Brand Director
• Anna Mironova - Marketing Snacks Innovation Lead Europe
• Giovanna Sinisgalli - Head of Brand (KIND and Tru Fru)
• Lizzy Seabright - Change Communications Lead

Opportunity

Global rights with family and youth demographics. Shopper marketing partnerships across grocery and convenience. Content production at scale. Health and wellness positioning through nutrition and pet care brands.

Merlin Entertainments

Merlin is scaling experiential marketing and brand partnerships across its family entertainment portfolio. LEGO Festival launches, loyalty integrations and increased digital acquisition spend signal growing appetite for partnership-led growth.

Five senior hires across global brand, partnerships and communications suggest a coordinated push - not isolated recruitment.

2026 hires include

• Clair O'neill - VP Global Brand LEGOLAND
• Harriet Rook - Global Head of Brand Identity
• Lee Marsh - Head of Global Brand Partnerships
• Sarah Masters - Global Marketing Director
• Sophie Orlando - Global Consumer Communications Leader

Opportunity

Family audience assets with high dwell time and footfall - theme parks, entertainment, kids' sport. Loyalty and ticketing integrations. Experiential activations with strong brand immersion.

DeepL

DeepL is scaling enterprise marketing rapidly - product launches, international expansion and heavy investment in AI positioning. A B2B brand transitioning from product-led growth to brand-building, with three senior hires across product marketing, corporate comms and operations.

2026 hires include

• Scott Ivell - VP Product Marketing
• Samuel Chall - VP Corporate Marketing, Brand and Communications
• Anissa Brach - Director of Marketing Operations

Opportunity

B2B-focused sponsorship inventory - business media, tech conferences, executive audiences. Thought leadership platforms. International reach as they expand beyond core European markets into US and APAC.

These Five Are Just The Start

These are 5 of the 280 companies Honch has identified making multiple senior marketing hires in 2026.

Behind them are hundreds more actively reviewing agencies, reallocating budgets, restructuring teams and entering new markets.

Honch tracks these changes live - so you can identify momentum early, while strategies are still forming and budgets aren't locked.

Want To See The Other 275 Companies?

Honch tracks the brands making the biggest marketing moves in the UK - from sponsorship and brand partnerships through to digital transformation, agency reviews and marketing leadership change.

If you work in sponsorship, sport, media, creative, martech or agency new business, we’ll show you:

• Which companies are hiring senior marketers right now
• Which brands are investing heavily in marketing
• Which businesses are likely reviewing suppliers
• Which organisations are expanding sponsorship activity
• Which new decision-makers have just landed

Book a demo and see the companies building momentum before everyone else spots them.

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