Mark Ritson says he was “torn” after giving a talk outlining his 10 greatest marketing heroes of the past 150 years. Why? Because “perhaps inevitably and certainly unfortunately” the list was dominated by dead white men.

While he didn’t want to deny these great marketers or ignore the contribution they have made to the industry, he was also conscious they didn’t accurately reflect marketing as it is today.

“I faced a bit of a quandary with my heroes talk because while the historical list was male and white, the current army of marketers is much, much more diverse,” he says.

“I was really torn. I wanted my list to be more diverse, but I also wanted it to reflect who really had shaped marketing during its first 150 years.”

So after sharing his 10 greatest marketing heroes for the Mini MBA webinar (watch below), he invited people to submit quotes from great marketers who were not dead white men and promised to include their perspectives in the next course.

“I wanted to showcase not only a new generation of marketers, but also their perspective on the discipline too,” Ritson says, underlining the fact the initial list was dominated by dead white men “not because they make for the best marketers, but because the game of marketing was not fair”.

“There were many fingers on the scales of influence and achievement in marketing tilting towards white men. Even relatively recently getting a PhD or rising to the top in a marketing role would have been hugely unlikely for a woman or marketer of colour,” he adds.

I wanted to showcase not only a new generation of marketers, but also their perspective on the discipline too.

Mark Ritson

Ritson received hundreds of suggestions, with quotes spanning topics from market orientation and research, to positioning and product development. After reviewing them all, 10 winners were selected to reflect the “powerful, brilliant, diverse” talent currently working in the industry.

“There are still plenty of marketers who think I suck because my original was all white and all male. And another equally big number who thing I suck because I am ‘virtue signalling’ by running the contest to find non-white males,” adds Ritson. “To both groups I would politely suggest they go fuck themselves. And they produce their own lists if mine pisses them off that much.”

See below for the full list of marketers and their quotes.

The top 10 quotes from marketers who aren’t dead white men

Sophie Blum, CMO, Puratos

Maggie Chan Jones, CEO and founder, Tenshey

Janice Tennant, CMO, Wolverine

Anita Elberse, professor, Harvard Business School

Syl Saller, former global chief marketing and innovation officer, Diageo

Sudhir Sitapati, executive director and vice-president of foods and refreshment, Unilever

April Dunford, founder, Ambient Strategy

Pat McGrath, makeup artist

Maggie Chan Jones, CEO and founder, Tenshey

Sarah Carter, global planning partner, adam&eveDDB

The next Mini MBA in Marketing course run by Mark Ritson begins next week. There is still time to secure your place. Visit the Mini MBA website for more information.