• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 17, 2015

Members of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) today unanimously voted David Wheldon -- who is managing director, Brand, Reputation Citizenship and Marketing at Barclays Bank -- as the organization’s new president. He replaces Martin Riley, the former CMO of Pernod Ricard, who has held the post since 2013.

Wheldon has worked for Barclays since February 2012, leading the firm’s global marketing and citizenship functions. 

His WFA appointment was announced at the WFA’s Annual General Meeting, held in Marrakech as part of the WFA’s annual Global Marketer Week, which is being held in Africa for the first time. He will hold the post of WFA president for two years.

Wheldon has worked both agency and client side, recently spending time at Vodafone, where he was global brand director, and Coca-Cola, where he was Vice-president of advertising, as well as holding senior roles in both full-service agencies such as Lowe Howard-Spink and BBDO Europe and media agencies such as Tempus.

“The WFA plays a critical role in our industry in representing marketers’ interests, standing up for what’s best about marketing and helping marketers be more effective and efficient,” Wheldon said. “I look forward to helping to shape and drive the WFA agenda at a time where our industry is going through unprecedented change.” 

Added Stephan Loerke, managing director of the WFA: “We're delighted to have David as our new president. He is one of the global industry's most respected figures, with enormous experience of working with some of the world’s biggest brands as well as agencies --  something that is hugely beneficial as we start a deeper dialogue with advertising holding companies.”

WFA also announced that a number of new corporate members would be joining the board, including:

Americo Campos Silva, Global Media Manager, Shell; Francisco Casa de Falguera, Chief Marketing Officer, Grupo Bimbo; Paloma Castro Martinez, Director of Global Corporate Affairs, LVMH;  Damien Cummings, Chief Marketing Officer, Philips ASEAN & Pacific; Sameer Desai, Head of Consumer Healthcare, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, Mundipharma;  Thomas Holzapfel, Global Category Leader Marketing, Deutsche Telekom; Jean Jacques Velkeniers, VP Marketing for Europe, AB InBev.

Sandra Martinelli, Executive Vice-President of the Brazilian Advertisers Association (ABA), also joins the board.