Top Women in Marketing Award: Paper Industry’s Mary Anne Hansan Recognized for Best-in-Class Results

Mary Anne Hansan, president of the Paper and Packaging Board (P+PB), was named one of Chief Marketer magazine’s 2025 Top Women in Marketing for driving innovation, breaking barriers and setting new standards in marketing, including with the organization’s papertarian campaign.

Chief Marketer, an online news and trends website for modern marketers, noted, “Mary Anne’s leadership at P+PB has revolutionized consumer engagement in the paper and packaging industry, setting new standards in creativity and innovation. As president, she spearheaded the  papertarian campaign with celebrity ambassador Retta, driving 3.5 billion impressions and 325 million video views in one year. The campaign successfully promoted paper products as a sustainable choice.”

The papertarian campaign educates consumers about how choosing paper-based products are a smart choice for the environment and encourages recycling.

Chief Marketer also noted, “Mary Anne oversaw “Pack It! The Recycling Design Challenge” video competition, which has garnered over 33 million views across four seasons. Her efforts have significantly elevated consumer awareness and preference for paper products.” The design challenge is in the format of popular TV competition shows, but in this case, two packaging designers design a specific type of package for hard-to-ship products like meal kits or plants where all the packaging is paper-based, protects the product during shipping and is entirely recyclable.

Other honorees for this top award included women from Hulu, ABC, Walt Disney Group, Google and H&R Block. The magazine credits the honorees with “driving innovation, breaking barriers, and setting new standards in both B2B and B2C marketing.”

Hansan said, “I am honored to be among a group of distinguished women in the marketing field. I am proud of the campaign’s work and vow to continue to deliver best-in-class work that captures the sustainability ethos behind the essential paper products our industry makes.”

Hansan leads the paper and paper packaging industry’s only national consumer marketing campaign, a role she has held since the industry founded the program in 2013. For over 11 years, the Paper & Packaging – How Life Unfolds® consumer campaign has worked to increase consumer preference for and use of paper and paper-based packaging. The campaign today focuses almost exclusively on sustainability, highlighting the renewability and recyclability of the industry’s products.

About the Paper and Packaging Board

The Paper and Packaging Board promotes the use of paper products and paper-based packaging by highlighting how their sustainable nature, the industry’s practices and recycling help contribute to a healthier planet. More than 40 U.S. manufacturers and importers collectively fund the national marketing campaign,  www.howlifeunfolds.com.