Nationwide hires Tanya Joseph for lead comms role

Marketing Week columnist Tanya Joseph has joined Nationwide Building Society as director of external relations, where she will focus on campaigns addressing social issues such as housing.

Joseph was the architect of Sport England’s Cannes Lions-winning behavioural change campaign ‘This Girl Can’, which launched three years ago and earned her the title of marketer of the year at Marketing Week’s 2015 Masters of Marketing awards.

She has worked in communications and marketing throughout her career, first starting as a journalist before joining the civil service, where she worked for a cabinet minister. She then went on to spend five years as press secretary to prime minister Tony Blair.

As well as writing for Marketing Week, Joseph is also chair of women’s online platform The Pool. She is vice chair of the Fawcett Society and a trustee of the Thomson Foundation, a charity dedicated to raising standards of journalism in developing countries.

“[Joseph’s] breadth of experience will support Nationwide’s ambition and contribute to our core purpose of ‘building society, nationwide’, engaging and collaborating with a wide range of policy makers and influencers,” says Joe Garner, CEO of Nationwide.

“The success Tanya achieved with the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign is another demonstration of why she is a great fit for Nationwide, as we look to advance on our campaigning work tackling important national issues such as housing.”

Joseph says: “I am delighted to have joined Nationwide; a building society which is committed to using its power and influence for good. I am particularly excited about supporting the Society’s focus on housing. As an institution with a history of more than 130 years it is uniquely placed to take a leadership role in addressing this long-term social issue.”