In this session, Sara Holt, Chief Marketing Officer at Center Parcs, reflected on her career journey, leadership style, and creative partnerships with transparency and insight. Coming from a diverse background as the child of South African refugees, she has long been passionate about social mobility and giving back, devoting her time to mentoring and advocacy for underrepresented communities.
Her career path evolved from philosophy student to CMO, via roles at Ogilvy, BBC, Lego, and Merlin, where she gained a reputation for delivering results in media and entertainment. A standout moment was her leadership of the “Let’s Do London” campaign during COVID, which drove £300m back into the tourism economy and saved countless jobs. She openly discussed the challenges marketers face in proving the commercial value of creativity, emphasizing the need to defend marketing budgets with data while being brave enough to challenge unrealistic expectations.
On working with agencies, she described her recent pitch process at Center Parcs as transformative - selecting a partner based on chemistry, deep brand understanding, and the ability to blend premium creative flair with strong commercial impact. Notably, she involved her board directly with the agency to build trust and momentum. She remains cautious about the overuse of AI in creative work, favouring craft and originality. Looking back, Sara said she'd tell her younger self to be more confident, calm, and adventurous, trusting that everything will work out in the end.
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