WFA announces first speakers for Global Marketer Week

WFA and the Japan Advertisers Association (JAA) have unveiled the initial event and speaker line-up for the 2018 Global Marketer Week and Global Marketer Conference, to be held in Tokyo from May 15-18. This is the third time in a decade that this global WFA event returns to Asia.

Held in partnership with Advertising Week Asia, the event (#GMWJPN) will bring together some of the world's top marketers and thought-leaders to explore common global challenges as well as opportunities in the world’s third largest ad market as it prepares to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Summer Olympics in 2020.

Global Marketer Week will feature a stellar line-up of speakers to provide inspirational examples of innovation, new platforms and marketing with purpose from some of the world's most exciting brands.

The showpiece of the week will be the Global Marketer Conference, which will take place on May 17. Confirmed speakers include:

• Roel de Vries, Corporate Vice President, Global Head of Marketing and Brand Strategy, Nissan Motor Company


• Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President, CMO of Samsung Electronics


• Marc Mathieu, CMO, Samsung Electronics America


• David Wheldon, WFA President and CMO, Royal Bank of Scotland


• Sam Ahmed, Global Head Digital & Retail Marketing, Standard Chartered


• Yukiko Yamaguchi, CNS, Director, Enterprise Marketing Division, Panasonic


• Chris Baréz-Brown, speaker, bestselling author and founder, Upping Your Elvis

The conference will also feature a debate focused on the degree to which brands should seek to control and produce their marketing communications content as part of their wider efforts to ensure greater transparency.

Additional events include a Project Reconnect session on May 16 designed to explore the divide between brands driven by short-term thinking and instant financial returns and those that are getting purpose right and delivering a longer-term shared value that benefits society and the planet.

The same day will also feature sessions around Global Media Transformation and the Future for Responsible Advertising, designed to help marketers and senior public affairs executives to enhance their approach to key issues that every brand and every company needs to address.

Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO, said: “It’s with real anticipation that we look forward to visiting Japan for Global Marketer Week 2018. There is so much to learn from a country that has a reputation for digital innovation, a highly sophisticated mobile ecosystem and a unique culture of interaction between people and brands.”

Masatoshi Ito, Chairman of JAA, said: “We are delighted to welcome the WFA and an impressive array of speakers to Tokyo. This is a great opportunity for local marketers to pick up insights from world class marketers and we look forward to showcasing the very best of Japan.”

Global Marketer Week is the annual event for client-side marketers. The WFA hosts the week of events every year in collaboration with one of its national advertiser association members. Global Marketer Week was held in Toronto in 2017, Kuala Lumpur in 2016, Marrakech in 2015, Sydney in 2014, Brussels in 2013, New York in 2012 and Beijing in 2011.

Full details of Global Marketer Week can be found at www.wfanet.org/Tokyo. Follow the event on Twitter @WFAmarketers and #GMWJPN