Tamara Ingram

Tamara Ingram OBE
Born	Tamara Ingram (1960-10-01) 1 October 1960 London, England
Nationality	British
Education	Queen's College, London University of East Anglia
Occupation	Advertising & Marketing
Known for	WPP Group Grey Global Group Kantar Group McCann Erickson Saatchi & Saatchi

Tamara Ingram OBE (born 1 October 1960) is a British businesswoman working in the marketing and advertising industries. She is currently worldwide chief executive officer of the J Walter Thompson Company, part of the WPP group.

Early life and education

Ingram was born in London to John Michael Ingram, an influential British fashion designer, and Sonia Leila Ingram, a psychotherapist. She attended Queen's College, London, and subsequently the University of East Anglia, graduating with an honours degree in English and American Studies in 1982.^[1]

Career

Early career

Ingram joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1985, where she remained for 16 years, becoming CEO in 1995 and Executive Chairman in 1999.^[2] Under her leadership, Saatchi & Saatchi became one of the most-awarded advertising agencies, including being named Cannes Agency of the Year.^[3]

In 2001 Ingram left Saatchi & Saatchi to join McCann Erickson as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. She then joined Kantar as President of three of their marketing firms: Added Value, The Henley Centre & Fusion5.^[4]

Grey and P&G

In 2005 WPP acquired the Grey Global Group, bringing a large amount of Procter & Gamble’s business into the groups remit.^[5] Due to her strong relationship with P&G, Ingram joined Grey London as Group CEO, subsequently taking on the dual roles of President and CEO of Team P+G, a position which sees her responsible for the Procter and Gamble relationship throughout the WPP Group.^[6]

Commenting on Ingram’s tenure as President and CEO of Team P+G Jim Heekin, Grey's global CEO, said that “under Tam's leadership, the past eight years have been some of the most creative, productive and dynamic of our nearly 60-year partnership with P&G”.^[7]

WPP

In May 2015, Ingram was promoted to Chief Client Team Officer of WPP, a role which will see her overseeing all of WPP’s global accounts, which combined account for more than a third of WPP’s almost $20billion revenue.^[8] This makes Ingram one of the highest-level female executives in advertising.

WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said of her appointment that "there are few people who understand the requirements of global client management better than Tamara".^[9]

Other Interests

In addition to her advertising and marketing career, Ingram has held numerous public and private sector directorships. She is currently a Trustee of Save the Children and the Royal Drawing School, and a Non-Executive Director of Serco Group.^[10]

Between 2001 and 2011 she served as Chairman of Visit London, and in 2011 was appointed an OBE for services to tourism through her work with the organisation.^[11] She has also sat on the boards of EDF Energy, the Sage Group, the London Development Agency, the British Tourist Authority, the Almeida Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre.^[12]

Ingram is currently a member of The Marketing Society, the Marketing Group of Great Britain, Women in Advertising and Communications London (WACL) and Advertising Women of New York (AWNY).^[13]

In 2006 Ingram was shortlisted for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award^[14] and in 2007 was named ‘Woman to Watch’ by Advertising Age.^[15]

References