Jarmila Yu

Founder and MD of YUnique Marketing Ltd, Jarmila Yu, is a globally ranked Top100 CMO, a Chartered Marketer, Top5 Marketing Strategist and a Top50 Business Growth Adviser. A multi award-winning businesswoman, she is passionate about forging strong links between business and education, and is a champion for entrepreneurship and developing marketing excellence.

Having spent 20+ years building her career in companies ranging from start-ups to some of the world’s largest brands, Jarmila knows the vital ingredients that go into building powerful brands, how to translate business vision into marketing strategy, and importantly, how to turn strategy into execution – creating cut-through and capturing customer imagination. She develops successful marketing strategies and builds high performing marketing teams to bring strategy to life; and leads marketing teams to peak performance. She’s sought after for her expertise in Brand Optimisation, Go-to-Market Strategy and Integrated Marketing Campaigns to support business launches, growth and transformation - she takes business from transactional to transformational.

After some 20 years building her career client-side Jarmila then went on to establish her marketing consultancy in 2016 (YUnique Marketing Ltd), making it her mission to provide the CMO Advantage™ (traditionally only enjoyed by large corporates) to support ambitious SMEs to help them achieve dramatic results and growth. She has since guided multiple companies to grow from start up to scale up, and scale up to be a major player in their segment. Her clients testify that by working with Jarmila and her team they have not only gained an improved profile and increased sales pipeline, but also in some cases attracted dramatically higher levels of investment, and in others successfully exited their business. In other words, they’ve achieved their significant strategic business goals.

Jarmila is an entrepreneurial marketing strategist who has a passion for innovation, and a track record for growing and transforming business through efficient, effective, and impactful marketing. She believes that both marketing excellence AND marketing talent development are essential for any business.

Jarmila is an active member of the business community and is a dedicated marketing professional and passionate believer in highlighting the essential role that effective marketing strategy and marketing talent has in any successful company. A frequent awards judge and speaker, and often also featured in business and marketing publications and podcasts, she generously shares her expertise and encourages entrepreneurs to leverage the power of excellent marketing and communications, whilst supporting marketing talent development to enable them to unlock their potential.

As a mentor Jarmila acts as a sounding board; listening and guiding her mentees through 1:1 or group mentoring programmes. The marketing career mentoring programme she developed (supported by her city livery company for the business school at her alma mater Royal Holloway Univeristy of London), saw 39 undergraduates supported in 2024, and 60 supported in 2025! A seasoned professional mentor, she guides marketing and entrepreneur talent alike.

The Emerging Marketing Leaders Programme Jarmila re-developed for Propolis / B2B Marketing (which she still leads the delivery of) supports early to mid career marketers on their journey to marketing leadership, has proven so popular she’s now developing an advanced programme for senior marketers aptly titled The Evolving Marketing Leaders Programme.

Over the years, Jarmila has served in several Chair roles and has been an active member on multiple committees in a range of marketing professional, education, APPG, and business membership support organisations – providing leadership, facilitation, and accountability that ultimately delivered positive project outcomes.

Additionally, Jarmila has developed, led and or participated in a range of world of work, employability, start-up, business growth, investor readiness initiatives too in collaboration with The Entrepreneur Network, Enterprise Nation, Small Business Britain, Virgin Startup, BetheBusiness, Enterprise M3 LEP, Surrey Chambers of Commerce, Surrey Heath Borough Council, Surrey County Council and the Careers and Enterprise Company.

Jarmila is a Fellow of the IDM and the CIM, a member of the DMA and the CIPR, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors. Jarmila currently serves as Chairman of the Surrey & Berkshire Branches of the IoD, the International Advisory Board at the School of Business & Management at Royal Holloway University of London, and the Talent Committee at the DMA.

Jarmila has invested time training with The Association of Business Mentors, the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Institute of Directors to fulfil these extra-curricular roles.

Speaking of her role supporting the DMA, Jarmila says, "I’ve been fortunate to be invited to support such wonderful clients and industry initiatives. As a Consulting CMO I’m dedicated to demonstrating how marketing contributes to business growth, and work tirelessly to position marketing at the top table so marketers are afforded the opportunity to be equipped and enabled to do their best work and deliver successful business outcomes. I especially relish working on activity that has the potential to support the evolution of the marketing profession; supporting marketers on their marketing career journeys and supporting businesses to build sustainable high performing marketing teams that underpins and drives business growth.

I believe that both marketing excellence AND marketing talent development are essential for any business. Like the DMA, she knows that great marketing starts with great people.

If you're a DMA member and you'd like to contribute to our work – which is energising, fun, and not really work at all – then please get in touch with the DMA or contact me directly. We’d love to continue to include best practice and thinking “from our marketing community for the marketing community” as we shape future marketing talent initiatives (webinars, guides & templates), delivering what our profession needs to evolve and excel."

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarmilayu/