The Famous Q&A with ~ Yasmin O’Neal
Yasmin O’Neal is Global Brand Senior Director at DECIEM, leading The Ordinary’s global brand as it scales its radically transparent, ingredient-first approach to beauty. Formerly at Procter & Gamble, she blends commercial rigour with sharp brand instinct, and has helped shape standout DECIEM campaigns including The Periodic Fable and The Secret Ingredient.
Yasmin will be speaking at Famous Campaigns Live – a must-watch talk from a skincare brand that refuses to play by the rules.
What’s exciting you most in your role right now?
I’m working on a brand whose purpose completely aligns with my own values.
What’s the best piece of career advice you ever received?
Grow your team so they can replace you.
Share a past campaign you’re proud to have been part of
The Periodic Fable. We created 49 individual elements, each of which was scientifically checked to be scientifically incorrect. We started a conversation about how language is often misleading and overinflated in skincare and consumers often pay the price.
A brand you admire from afar — and why?
Arsenal Football Club. Their social media responsiveness, cultural relevance, planning, quality. All of it. Top Top top.
What’s one thing great agencies do that average ones don’t?
Fight for their work. Even if we’ve rejected an idea for some reason, if they believe in it, they don’t let it go easily
What’s the hardest part of being a brand-side marketer that agencies rarely see?
All the agencies I’ve worked with have a pretty good grasp of what goes on brand side. We have multiple campaigns running that aren’t with the agency. More teams, more layers of approval. Probably the only thing that isn’t ‘visible’ is we do a lot of longer term strategy work, looking at innovation three years out or brand strategy three years out.
Who has had the biggest influence on your early career?
Rob Fleming. He believed in me, made me realise my voice was worth something in the room, and encouraged me to be myself.
A marketing or business book you’d recommend
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.
What separates famous brands from forgettable ones?
Famous brands have an impact beyond their product use. Either category-defining or culture-changing.
Your favourite (overused) mantra, motto, or saying
Be kind. Not nice.
A decision you made that required a bit of nerve
Changing companies. Taking the plunge into a new world and a new brand.
A brand campaign you admire (not one of yours)
Mandami’s mayoral run.
How are you feeling about A.I. and its impact on marketing?
I’m spending less time worrying about AI and more time being curious about how to use it. Time spent worrying about an unknown future feels like time wasted, time spent being curious, interacting with it, tinkering around… That’s time well spent.
If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
Reduce the visibility platforms give to toxic influencers.
What’s a small habit or routine that helps you do your best work?
Only try to achieve 3 things each day. At the start of each day I write my 3 things down and if I achieve only that, I feel fulfilled.
A piece of advice for someone considering a career in marketing
It’s all around us. Stop and consider each advert you see, what was the brand trying to achieve, did they achieve it, and why?
If you weren’t doing this job, what would you be doing instead?hey wh
Working in Government, helping in any small way to make society a better place.
