Hannah Astill and Rebecca Nunneley’s promotions to Partner mark an important moment for AAR, and not just in terms of senior leadership, but in how the consultancy continues to evolve alongside the changing marketing landscape.
Both have seen the questions marketing leaders bring to AAR grow steadily broader and more complex, and what’s notable about this partnership is that neither Hannah nor Rebecca have stepped back from client work to take on a leadership role. Instead, both continue to be immersed in their deep specialism – in media and creative, respectively – while taking on an active role in shaping where AAR goes next.
From practitioners to decision-makers
For Hannah, the move represents a clear shift in responsibility. “It means stepping into business-level decision-making,” she explains. “Helping to co-steer the company, operationally and strategically, alongside the rest of the exec team.” Her media specialism remains central, but now sits alongside a wider remit, particularly leading AAR’s Platforms pillar.
Rebecca describes a similar evolution that has built gradually over her six years at AAR. “What’s changed most is the level of ownership,” she says. “I’m still very hands-on with clients and agencies, but it’s less about doing a role and more about helping build the business.”
This is leadership where deep subject matter expertise sits alongside strategic responsibility. As Hannah Astill puts it: “Most leadership teams draw from a single discipline or lean toward the generalist. Alongside Paul Stevenson, who brings the CRM and CX lens, the three of us together create something really rich.”
Rebecca brings her own distinct viewpoint, shaped by having grown up within businesses like AAR: “I’ve worked across different levels of the business, so I understand how things work in practice. That really helps when making decisions – you can see both the detail and the bigger picture.”
A broader, more complex client challenge
Both Hannah and Rebecca’s roles reflect a wider shift in what clients need from AAR.
“The nature of the challenges has changed,” Rebecca explains. “AAR is so much broader than running pitches. Even if a pitch might be the outcome, clients are asking much broader questions around the role their Partners are playing in their Marketing Operating Model; about how to design a future-proofed agency model, how brands can keep up in today’s fast-paced, social-first world, and how things like AI are disrupting the creative development process and agency commercial models.”
That complexity is mirrored in Hannah’s focus on platforms, an area she describes as both critical and fast-moving.
“It’s about how technology is disrupting the entire landscape,” she says. “From martech and adtech through to AI, and how all of that connects.”
Her work centres on helping brands understand whether their systems and partners are truly working together: “Is your tech stack optimised? Is it connected? Can it integrate properly with your partners? Those are the kinds of questions we’re helping clients answer.”
Connecting the marketing ecosystem
A consistent theme in both their perspectives is the growing need for more connected thinking across marketing.
Historically, brands have operated in silos, with different agencies and teams responsible for different parts of the journey. Increasingly, that model is under pressure.
“Clients don’t want disconnected outputs anymore,” says Hannah. “They want a joined-up view, even if delivery still happens across different partners.”
Rebecca sees this first‑hand in her work with both brands and agencies: “One of the most common challenges we hear from clients is around integration. The swimlanes agencies have historically operated in are breaking down, which means CMOs need a clearer view of how all the moving parts fit together, and how to make the system work. Increasingly, my role at AAR is to help join the dots – helping CMOs design agency models where strategy, partners and delivery genuinely work together, rather than compete, so great thinking doesn’t get lost and execution lives up to the ambition.”
This shift aligns closely with AAR’s broader proposition across People, Partners, Process and Platforms, helping organisations design more effective, future-facing marketing operating models – whether they are seeking a new agency or redesigning their processes.
Looking ahead
For both, the Partner role is ultimately about helping AAR and its clients stay ahead of a rapidly evolving industry.
Hannah is particularly motivated by the opportunity to drive more intentional change: “There’s a lot of transformation happening, and it can feel overwhelming. We have a real opportunity to help organisations navigate that in a way that’s strategic, not reactive.”
Rebecca’s focus is equally grounded in progress, with a strong emphasis on creativity and integrity: “I care about us constantly asking how we could do things better or differently – making sure we keep integrity and pragmatism at the centre of what we do.”
Together, their perspectives reflect the direction in which AAR is heading: retaining deep specialism while becoming more connected, and focused on helping clients solve complex, real-world challenges with clarity and confidence.
