Member Interview with Renaye Edwards

We are delighted to bring you a Member Interview with Renaye Edwards, Global Chief Operating Officer, MD Europe, Ammunition.

What’s your golden rule?

Be fiercely loyal, and never mistake comfort for progress. Loyalty is at the very core of how I operate. The flip side of that is I don't let myself get too settled. The moment something starts to feel mastered is usually the moment I feel I should move toward something harder.

Who has been your biggest influence?

My parents, without question. They gave me a work ethic and a sense of discipline that's never left me. But the lesson I've taken from watching them, and from my own path, is that hard work on its own isn't enough. It's hard work plus relationships, timing, and a bit of luck, all working together, that actually creates momentum.

What is your most hated business expression?

"Hyper-personalised" and "growth hacking.” Both need to be banished. They're the kind of language that sounds like strategy, but is usually standing in for the absence of one.

What’s the smartest business idea you’ve ever had?

Building Digital Radish in the first place. I was fifteen years client-side, feeling like agencies weren't delivering the strategic, end-to-end partnership marketers actually needed, so we built exactly that. Ten or so years later, it was a Sunday Times Best Place to Work and twice recognised as B2B Agency of the Year. Building something from scratch to an exit that changed the financial futures of the people who built it with me is still the thing I'm proudest of.

What leader do you admire most and why?

Jeremy Heilpern, Ammunition's founder and CEO. I don't hand out that kind of praise lightly, but his clarity of vision and the energy he brings to building something meaningful is exactly why I wanted to be part of it. I need to be somewhere I'm still learning and still being challenged, and he creates that environment.

What is on your mind the most right now as a marketing leader?

Proving that outcomes can genuinely be measured, not just claimed. Everyone says they can tie marketing to business impact, but the real work is building the dashboards and joining up the technology systems, so that belief actually holds up under scrutiny. Alongside that, I’m thinking about how fast AI is changing what “experience” even means for the next generation coming into this industry.

Why is being part of The Marketing Society important for your career?

Because progress has always come from networks and relationships for me, not credentials; I've leaned on putting myself out there, connecting people, and being in rooms where I'm still being stretched. A community like this is exactly that kind of room.

Why does marketing matter to you?

I was mesmerised by adverts as a kid, more than the programmes they interrupted. There was something in the mechanics of persuasion, how colour, storytelling and character shape behaviour, that captured me early and never let go. Marketing at its best isn't creative for creative's sake. It's understanding an audience so precisely that what you put in front of them actually resonates and moves a business forward.

Tell us something that’s not on your CV

I’m a mum to a 10 year old daughter, and that role has probably taught me the most about patience, perspective, and negotiation! I love a good thriller novel and am partial to Earl Grey tea with a dash of almond milk!