Rita Clifton CBE has been called ‘Brand guru’ by the Financial Times and ‘The doyenne of branding’ by Campaign magazine. The Daily Telegraph described her as ‘The brand leading the brands’. She is a speaker, writer and portfolio non-executive director.
Rita graduated from Cambridge University and started her career in advertising, where she became Vice Chairman and strategy director at Saatchi & Saatchi in its most successful period. She then joined Interbrand, the leading global brand consultancy, as London CEO and then became Chairman for a ten-year term. She now has a portfolio of chairing and non-executive director roles, including ASOS, Ascential plc and Nationwide. Past board roles have included Dixons Retail plc, Bupa, Emap and Populus, the opinion pollster and research company. In 2013, she co-founded and is Chair at BrandCap, the brand consultancy for the boardroom, which now has offices in London, New York and Hong Kong.
Rita speaks around the world on all aspects of brands, branding and business leadership. She is also a regular columnist and commentator on the range of TV, radio and social channels and was a judge and mentor on CNBC’s award-winning business series ‘Pop Up Start Up’. Her writing has included the best-selling book ‘The Future of Brands’, and two editions of The Economist book ‘Brands & Branding’.
Pro bono board roles have included WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature), the Henley Festival and the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission. In the 2014 New Year’s Honours List, Rita was awarded a CBE for services to the creative industries.
