Hugh Burkitt

Former Chief Executive, The Marketing Society

Hugh Burkitt’s marketing career took him from Bird's Eye salesman to chairman of the ad agency Burkitt DDB, before he spent thirteen years as Chief Executive of The Marketing Society. During this period he set up the Marketing Leaders Programme, initiated the Society’s global expansion and listened to an astonishing variety of brilliant business leaders.

As a judge of the Society’s awards he has reviewed hundreds of case histories and has collected and analysed some of the best in three editions of the book “Marketing Excellence”.

He has acted as a trustee for Barnardo’s, Cricket for Change and The Academy of Ancient Music. He is famous in New Malden for his spirited performances of Gilbert and Sullivan roles – most recently Koko in The Mikado.  


“We are in a world swirling with fake news, fake facts.....and leaders who are shameless in peddling their falsehoods”
Judie Lannon, who was the founding editor of Market Leader, has died peacefully at her home in Chiswick aged 81.

In a new content series Marketing Society Editor-at-large, Hugh Burkitt, chooses his six favourite business books for the discerning marketing