Andrea Quaye Named Marketer of the Year at Bookmark Awards

Publicis Groupe Africa has celebrated Andrea Quaye's recognition as Marketer of the Year at this year's Bookmark Awards.

The award recognises Quaye's leadership and contribution to advancing marketing excellence, innovation and industry growth across Africa.

According to the group, Quaye has built her career around championing digital-first marketing, with notable work including Carling Black Label's "Be the Coach", Heineken's "Social Screens" and Savanna's "Try January".

After serving as Global Vice President for the Coffee Category at Coca-Cola in Ireland, Quaye returned home to join Heineken Beverages as Chief Marketing Officer in late 2024. She was tasked with aligning the business following the Distell acquisition and driving digital transformation across the group's marketing operations.

Her insistence that every marketing plan combines creativity with a digital-first focus has given agency partners a clear mandate to produce digitally integrated and creatively effective work.

That approach is evident across the company's portfolio, from a data-reactive billboard that mirrored Max Verstappen's race-day speed at the Dakar rally to a Returnable Star Bottle initiative that used QR codes and WhatsApp to reward consumers. The initiative contributed to the return of more than four million bottles.

The same strategy underpins campaigns for Windhoek, Bernini, Amstel, J.C. Le Roux and Savanna, each built around digitally led ecosystems designed to turn ideas into large-scale consumer participation, the group added.

Koo Govender, CEO of Publicis Groupe Africa, credited Quaye's partnership with agency LePub as a driving force behind the integrated work.

"It's her ability to drive a digital-first marketing approach with clarity and courage that aligns stakeholders and creates the conditions for brand and agency partners to deliver breakthrough, integrated work. Andrea raises the standard of how modern marketing should be done in South Africa."

Luca Gallerelli, Group CEO of TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, added: "Andrea leads in a way that makes digital transformation practical and scalable. She is rigorous on strategy, but equally committed to the craft of digital ideas. That leadership elevates the client-agency relationship, accelerates the digital agenda, and sets a benchmark for the wider industry."

Quaye has also championed emerging talent through Heineken's sponsorship of the Cannes Young Lions Digital category over the past two years.

Her team's digital work helped Heineken Beverages secure a strong share of honours at the Loeries 2025, where she ranked as the festival's second-best marketer in her first year in the role.

Coenie Grebe, ECD at Brand Halo, pointed to Klipdrift's "Legends" work as further evidence of the digital-first thinking spreading across the wider Heineken Beverages portfolio, the group said.

Publicis Groupe Africa said Quaye embodies a marketer who not only champions a digital mindset in her own role but actively drives the approach across the industry.

The group added that the recognition celebrates the impact she has delivered in a remarkably short period.