Meet the Hot 30: Kate Whitaker, Campaign Marketing and Campaign Manager at Live Nation

Meet Kate Whitaker, Campaign Marketing and Campaign Manager at Live Nation and one of our Pepper Hot 30 UK 2026 winners.

Working across some of the UK’s biggest tours and festivals, Kate’s role spans everything from campaign planning and paid media to social, digital and artist marketing. She’s also the marketing lead for Latitude Festival and has played a key role in bringing a new era of Lovebox to Dreamland Margate.

We caught up with Kate to talk about selling out Boardmasters, why the best event marketing sells a feeling rather than a ticket, the growing importance of Reddit and TikTok comments, bringing more humanity into social and why she thinks we’ll see brands, artists and creators getting much more playful together in 2027.

What's your role at Live Nation and what does your day to day look like?

I’m currently a Campaign Marketing and Campaign Manager at Live Nation. It's very varied really. At the minute, I am leading the marketing across lots of different UK tours - everything from getting the campaign plan in place to paid spend, getting support for socials/digital coms, artwork, and a lot of liaising with agents.

I’m also the marketing lead for Latitude Festival as well, leading day-to-day marketing campaigns, making sure we sell as many tickets as possible, and just putting on a really good show. I also did a lot of work on Lovebox and revamping that for a new edition. It’s been a really great opportunity to work across loads of different tours, festivals, and gigs.

What’s been your biggest win or proudest moment in your current role so far?

There have been quite a few really lovely ones in the last couple of years, but one that stands out is delivering two sold-out Boardmasters back-to-back, which was incredible. We got to do amazing marketing stunts, like a 40-meter cliff projection with Sam Fender's team to promote him as the headliner. Delivering two sold-out Boardmasters in Newquay was pretty surreal.

Which social platforms are you seeing the most success with right now, and what do you think is driving that?

It depends whether it's engagement or conversion. In terms of engagement, Instagram is still an absolute powerhouse of a channel. Over the last year or so, we've also seen a lot of interest on Reddit, particularly when it comes to gigs—people love to guess support acts or headliners, and discussion threads for rumors really help with word-of-mouth and social buzz.

Instagram and TikTok are the main ones. Brands are really killing it on TikTok right now because the party is in the comments. Whenever you see a viral video, all the brands are in the comments having banter. Storytelling is happening within the comments now, and brands have picked up on that.

What’s one piece of work you’ve been involved in recently that you’re particularly proud of?

Starting a new era of Lovebox at Dreamland Margate was really special. We got to introduce a new concept for Dreamland by the seaside, bring in familiar faces, old friends of the show, and new talent, with founders Grooverider playing there as well. Spearheading the marketing for that was really special—bringing that team back together, doing something different, running fun marketing campaigns, and working with all the amazing artists and local creatives in Margate.

What’s something you’ve learnt in your current role that has changed the way you approach social?

With events, it's easy to get down the rabbit hole of "buy tickets now, 30% sold out, go go go." But what really resonates with people is a human tone of voice, emotion, and selling a feeling or escapism. User-generated content is all the rage right now. It's about humanizing your brand and putting the audience in the shoes of someone at the festival. Post-lockdown, everyone really values experiences, so content that is human, genuine, and almost poking fun at yourself resonates way better than trying to be too cool as a brand. Authenticity above everything else.

What’s exciting you most about social media at the moment?

Influencer culture is shifting to feel way more authentic and down-to-earth. People are getting fatigued with accounts or influencers that are too polished or inaccessible. We're going through a new era of social media—like the BeReal trend—where it's about capturing a genuine moment or showing "lowlights" of the week (like dropping a frying pan or missing the bus). It makes us all feel more connected. On TikTok, a quick, silly 10-second video often gets way more views than a reel that took three hours to edit. People just want realness and authenticity.

What’s your biggest prediction for social media in 2027?

We’ll see more playful brand collaborations and online banter—even between competitor brands. Like during the World Cup with airline banter, or supermarket banter like the Colin the Caterpillar meme. Especially with AI coming in, it’s important to remember we’re all teams of creatives working towards similar goals. We’ll see a lot more silly, playful collaborations between brands, artists, and creators that have the tendency to go viral.

What do you think brands and social teams will be talking about this time next year?

AI is a massive topic of contention. You can really see the difference between an AI product and a human product created by an illustrator, for example. AI can help with creativity and brainstorms, but brands will have to work a lot harder to push creative boundaries, stay ahead of the curve, and remain unique. Leaning too heavily into AI or ChatGPT makes everything feel very similar, so it’s an opportunity to really champion what makes us human—which AI obviously can't compete with.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone looking to build a career in social?

Chat to everyone! It’s mad how many opportunities come your way just from chatting to people, being nice, and being kind. Stay curious, ask questions—no question is too silly—and keep an open mind. Your career is like a domino effect; even if a role isn't quite what you had in mind, everything leads to something amazing. Trust the process, keep working hard, and knock on people's doors (not literally!).

Why Kate Made the Hot 30

What stood out about Kate is her understanding that great marketing doesn’t just sell the ticket - it sells the feeling of being there.

From delivering two sold-out Boardmasters and creating a 40-metre cliff projection with Sam Fender’s team to spearheading the return of Lovebox at Dreamland Margate, Kate combines big creative thinking with a strong understanding of what actually makes audiences want to get involved.

Her approach to social follows the same principle. Whether it’s tapping into the conversations happening on Reddit, recognising that some of TikTok’s best storytelling is now happening in the comments or championing less polished, more human content, Kate understands that brands don’t always need to look perfect to connect with people.

As AI makes it easier for brands to create more content, that focus on human creativity, personality and having a bit of fun with social feels more important than ever - and it’s exactly the kind of thinking the Hot 30 was created to celebrate.

You can read more about the Pepper Hot 30 UK 2026, meet the full list of winners and find out more about the initiative here.