Rita Clifton

Hailed as the ‘Brand Guru’ by The Financial Times, Rita Clifton is one of the best-known names in the industry. Having been at the forefront of advertising and branding for more than 30 years Rita has developed some of the country’s biggest businesses into household names. Described as the ‘doyenne of branding’ Rita has been awarded a CBE from the Queen for her contributions to British business. As a speaker, Rita expands on her extensive career and empowers other women in business to break down barriers and build their personal brands.

Gaining her international reputation in the role of Vice Chairman and Executive Planning Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, Rita spent more than 11 years as a senior leader with the company. From 1997 she became CEO and Chairman of Interbrand, where she led the consultancy firm to become a market leader thanks to her dedicated branding expertise. Proving her ability to pioneer a company to international success, Rita Co-Founded BrandCap in 2013 to further her success in the branding and marketing sphere and turn traditional strategy on its head.

Since stepping back from running her own ventures, Rita is highly in demand to support building other brands and is now a portfolio Chair. From Deputy Chair of John Lewis to former Non-Executive Director of ASOS, and recently pursuing a passion for sustainability as the Chair of Forum of the Future, Rita has backed the success of some of the world’s best-known brands. Additionally, she is an accomplished writer, having published three books and being a regular columnist for leading industry publications.

A consummate professional, when it comes to speaking engagements, Rita has shared presentations with audiences across the world, for corporate clients including Google, Barclays and Vogue. Her TEDx talk on ‘Branding Democracy’ was one of the most-watched in its genre, a testament to Rita’s ability to convey her insight and expertise in a digestible format. Also known to discuss such topics as women in business and breaking down barriers, Rita’s talks serve to champion women in their personal and professional lives.