248: How Brand Scotland are Shaping the Destination in 2020 and Beyond

A marketing and strategy specialist, Cat Leaver is the director of Brand Scotland, the first shared/centralised role for Scotland working across Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland to coordinate international marketing activity, pool talent, resource and expertise, in order to raise Scotland's profile and reputation on the world stage. This includes responsibility for managing brand image, digital infrastructure and talent development. Outside of work until 2019, Cat was one of the five leaders who built Europe's most established TEDx organisations - and one of the top ten TEDx events in the world - TEDxGlasgow, which welcomed some 4,500 people in 2018 and exceeded 10 million views of their talks online. Now supporting as an ambassador it remains a platform for change, encouraging local businesses, organisations and individuals to collaborate and stimulate innovation. Most recently, Cat was honoured in BIMA's 100 list in 2019 in the CMO/Marketing Director category and received the Inspiring City Awards 2017 award for Outstanding Contribution by a Young Business Leader. In 2015, Cat was awarded the Chief Executives Award at the Women in Business Awards and Digital Personality of the Year at the Mancoolian Awards. She has also been listed in The Drum’s 50 under 30 and DQ Magazine’s Ones to Watch 2015. Cat will be discussion Brand Scotland's role in promoting our destination and the plans for 2020 and beyond.