2024 Global Marketer Conference to focus on becoming better brands

Clockwise from top left: Jane Wakely (PepsiCo), Dr. Marcus Collins, Allyson Witherspoon (Nissan), Stephan Pretorius (WPP), David Wheldon (WFA President Emeritus), Jonathan Adashek (IBM), Marcel Marcondes (AB InBev), Raja Rajamannar (Mastercard) and Solitaire Townsend (Futerra). Get your ticket for the Global Marketer Conference 2024 here.

This year's Global Marketer conference will explore how marketers are responding to the increasing attention being paid to their work and how they are making their brands accountable to people, planet, regulators and shareholders.

At the event, held in partnership with the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), marketing leaders from some of the world’s biggest brands will reveal how they are using their powers of creativity and innovation to build better and stronger brands that both stakeholders and their consciences can be proud of.

Putting your trust in AI?

Jonathan Adashek, Chief Communications Officer & SVP, Marketing & Communications at IBM, will detail how brands can overcome barriers of entry to AI, including the skills gap and data complexity. Crucially, he will also explain how marketers and communicators can move to build trust in technology.

Culture Catalyst

Dr. Marcus Collins, Marketing Professor and best-selling author, will talk about how few external forces are more influential to human behaviour than culture, which makes cracking the culture code critical for marketers. Culture is not only driving today's consumption, but also ushering the future of brand.

Reimagining what a beer company can be

Marcel Marcondes, Global Chief Marketing Officer at AB InBev, will share the inspiring stories of a company transformation driven by marketing. From a follower to a leader in creative capabilities, to developing a culture of sustainable growth, he will explain how AB InBev is harnessing marketing's super-powers to create a future with more cheers.

Selling sustainability

Why are so many companies having such a hard time selling sustainability in Canada, the USA, the world? Join TED star Solitaire Townsend, Co-founder & Chief Solutionist at Futerra, to find out why ego-green marketing is dead and why that could be great news for your business.

Innovation driving sustainable growth

Allyson Witherspoon, Corporate VP, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Nissan Motor Corporation, will explain the company’s innovative approach to developing a global brand, with recent initiatives including Pole to Pole, in which a husband and wife attempt to drive an all-electric Nissan Ariya from the Arctic Ocean to Antarctica, to the Grand Turismo feature film starring Orlando Bloom.

Global CMO: the impossible job?

The Better Marketing Debate, led by WFA President Emeritus and WFA Better Marketing Podcast host David Wheldon, will discuss the relevance of the CMO function: the CMO brief has never been so complex as it is today. Against a backdrop of polarised politics, a 24/7 newsreel and endless changes in consumer habits & technology, CMOs are tasked to drive business growth through purposeful and inclusive brands that appeal to new and more diverse audiences. Has CMO become the impossible job?

Other conference speakers include:

• Stephan Pretorius, Chief Technology Officer at WPP
• Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Mastercard
• Jane Wakely, Chief Consumer & Marketing Officer at PepsiCo

“We’ve got a fantastic line up for this event and our theme of building better brands will resonate with the whole industry. As marketing comes under increasing scrutiny both internally and externally, some of our leading practitioners will reveal their recipe for boosting the function’s contribution to the bottom line and society. We look forward to seeing you there”, said Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO.

Get your ticket for the WFA Global Marketer Conference now.