From Heineken To Haribo: Suzy Socker on Shaping Brands And Breaking Boundaries At Edelman

Suzy Socker has spent the last four years at Edelman, steadily rising through the ranks to her new role as UK managing director for brand. With a career spanning agencies like M&C Saatchi, Ketchum and Iris, she brings a wealth of experience in leading integrated teams and driving creative excellence. At Edelman, she’s focused on building trusted, earned-first brands that don’t just respond to culture—they shape it.

From Heineken’s groundbreaking “The Social Swap” to Haribo's "Halloween Monsters Approved", Socker has been instrumental in campaigns that redefine brand storytelling. Edelman’s recent achievements, including being named Independent Agency of the Year in the Good Track at Cannes Lions, are a testament to the bold, impactful work under her leadership.

Socker is also driving innovation at Edelman, leveraging tools like ChatGPT and Edelman’s Trust Barometer to ensure her teams stay ahead of the curve. Beyond the campaigns and tools, she’s passionate about creating opportunities for her team to thrive. Whether it’s training the next wave of creative talent or fostering a culture of collaboration, she’s focused on building an environment where people and ideas can flourish. For Socker, success isn’t just about the work—it’s about the people behind it.

We caught up with Socker to chat about her journey, her proudest campaigns and what’s next for Edelman.

How is it going in your new role, and what made you take the leap?

Stepping into the managing director role has felt like a natural progression for me. In my previous position as head of operations for our Brand Community, I oversaw everything from performance, client servicing, HR and talent development to leading some of our major global clients.

This experience built a solid foundation in both operational leadership and client service, shaping my approach to fostering growth and high-performing teams.

Now, as MD, I’m all about helping our clients build brands that aren’t just keeping up with cultural changes but are shaping them. To do that, I get to work with an amazing team of specialists across content, social, influencer, events, and business marketing—all driven by creativity and purpose. Together, we’re making sure our clients stay ahead of the game while delivering results that matter.

What are your top priorities for the business?

It’s pretty simple - growth for our people and growth for our clients. Edelman is such a unique place to work. We get to collaborate with world-class clients on a huge range of projects, which means there’s always something new to learn. For me, it’s all about creating opportunities for the team to thrive and grow.

I’m also focused on giving our teams the tools and insights they need to do their best work. We’ve already trained everyone in the UK on ChatGPT, and Edelman tools like Trust Stream which pulls insights from 20 years of Trust Barometer and helps clients stay ahead of what people are really thinking and feeling.

By staying tapped into cultural trends and using insights from Edelman’s Gen Z and Longevity Labs, we’re helping brands earn loyalty and create real connections that last.

What sets Edelman apart in building trust and shaping culture?

Trust is baked into everything we do at Edelman. The Trust Barometer, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, has been a go-to source for understanding how trust has changed over time.

What makes us different is how we take those insights and combine them with creativity and cultural understanding. That’s how we help brands not only stay relevant but also navigate challenges and connect with their audiences in meaningful ways. At Edelman, we’re not just throwing ideas at the wall—we’re building brands that matter by balancing authenticity with adaptability.

Tell us about a campaign as an account lead that made you proud?

There’s many to pick from, but two campaigns that stand out are our groundbreaking work with Heineken and Haribo.

For Heineken, The Social Swap is one of the most impactful campaigns I’ve had the privilege to work on. It was born from a desire to tackle the gender bias faced by female soccer pundits, an issue that too often goes unaddressed. Partnering with Jill Scott MBE and Gary Neville, we conducted a bold social experiment where they swapped social media accounts during UEFA Champions League matches. Jill posted from Gary’s account, and vice versa, revealing how their comments were received differently based solely on perceived gender.

Jill’s account, handled by Gary, received five times more sexist abuse, with comments like “Get back in the kitchen” exposing the toxic reality of online discourse.

The campaign sparked global conversation, with over 1.4 billion impressions, 77 million film views, and a 230 per cent increase in women associating Heineken with promoting diversity and inclusion. We were awarded at Cannes and the accolades keep coming in. The success is down to the simple insight and execution that all can resonate with.

For me, the work we’ve done with Haribo is a real point of pride. When we first embedded ourselves into Haribo's world, we quickly realised the problem they thought they needed to solve wasn’t the real challenge. Through close collaboration and genuine partnership, we redefined the brief together, unlocking smarter, more impactful solutions. What makes this partnership so successful is the way we’ve structured our internal team. It’s a triumvirate between myself as brand lead, James Woods as creative director, and Alex Sullivan as strategy director. Every decision we make is fully aligned, ensuring our work resonates deeply across audiences and channels.

One campaign I’m particularly proud of is our Halloween Monsters Approved work. Built on the simple yet powerful insight that at Halloween, nothing is scarier than getting the wrong sweets, the campaign delivered exceptional results by connecting deeply with audiences. It’s a perfect example of how our culturally relevant insights and strategic creativity combine to exceed expectations.

How has the client-agency relationship evolved, especially with your ‘always on’ approach to communications?

The relationship has transformed - gone are the days when PR and comms were a final checkbox. Now, there’s deep respect for the role of communications in shaping brands and perceptions. At Edelman, we see ourselves as partners and advisors, embedded in our clients’ businesses to shape engagement at every touchpoint. Being ‘always on’ means we’re continuously creating conversations and leveraging real-time insights, cultural awareness, and AI to help clients stay ahead. This integrated approach ensures that our work resonates authentically with audiences, building influence, loyalty, and long-term growth.

You’re stepping into the MD for brand role at a time when Edelman UK had its most successful year at Cannes Lions. How will you build on this momentum and continue pushing for creative excellence?

Edelman achieved a historic milestone at Cannes Lions, ranking second in the UK, becoming the first PR agency to win the Titanium Lion, and topping the UK PR leaderboard. Recognised as Independent Agency of the Year in the Good Track, with 16 trophies, including four Golds, Edelman demonstrated a unique strength across a broad range of clients and categories—a testament to the scale of our capabilities.

While winning the Titanium Lion was significant, our focus remains on pushing boundaries and delivering work that drives real impact.

I’m committed to building on this momentum. My approach centres on strengthening collaboration between our creative and strategy teams, ensuring every idea is grounded in insight and culture. We’re building brands differently by fusing purpose-driven creativity with data-backed strategies, helping clients achieve long-term results.

You’ve spoken about the “endless opportunities” with clients like Heineken, Ikea and Starbucks. How do you plan to leverage these relationships in your new role?

When I talk about endless opportunities, I mean the unique environment we’ve created—working with world-class brands, brilliant talent, and exploring the full communications landscape. For our clients, this means collaborating with a team that’s highly skilled, knowledgeable, and ready to address today’s complex cultural challenges.

Our work is driven by trust, powered by AI and grounded in data-driven insights. In my role, I’m focused on building trusted brands that don’t just respond to change but actively shape it.

What still takes you by surprise?

Even after 23 years in communications, I still wake up every day with no idea what’s going to happen, and I love that about this industry. I often joke that in PR, the game resets every day because it's never really over. Each day brings a new challenge—a surprise curveball from a client, a need to pivot a story because the news agenda shifted overnight, or a last-minute change like a celebrity pulling out of a campaign or an urgent pitch that lands unexpectedly. In agency life, something surprising, challenging, brilliant, overwhelming, and a bit unpredictable happens every single day—and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

What advice would you have for someone wanting to become an agency MD?

My advice would be to embrace every opportunity to learn, and don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Being an MD is about wearing many hats—balancing big-picture strategy with day-to-day operations.

Make it a priority to spend quality time with clients, getting to know their business inside and out, so you can anticipate their needs and truly understand what drives their success.

Get out in the world—stay curious and connected to what’s happening around you.

Understand what makes your team tick; knowing their motivations will help you get the best out of everyone.