WFA returns to face-to-face events with Global Marketer Week in Athens

Clockwise from top left: Conny Braams, Rupen Desai, Taide Guajardo, Sir John Hegarty, Solitaire Townsend and Raja Rajamannar. 

WFA Global Marketer Week will be the world’s first high-level marketing events to return to a face-to-face format following the pandemic.

Held between April 5 and April 8, it will include sessions dedicated to exploring the intersection of sustainability, creativity and marketing effectiveness. It will also feature WFA’s flagship event, the Global Marketer Conference, organised in collaboration with the Hellenic Advertisers Association (SDE) and streamed online for those unable to travel.

Across the week, there will be a focus on sustainability as the organisation celebrates the first year of its Planet Pledge initiative, which now covers 25 global brand owners responsible for $43 bn in global ad spend and 31 markets where $197 bn is spent.

The sustainability message will feature across WFA’s members-only peer-to-peer forums for CMOs, media chiefs, sourcing leaders and policy experts, as well as at the Better Marketing session dedicated to exploring how marketing can be a driver for sustainable choices.

Alongside these events, the Global Marketer Conference, which will take place on April 7, will be open to everyone in the marketing and advertising industry and will feature presentations from some of the biggest names in marketing. Confirmed speakers include:

• Conny Braams, WFA Deputy President & Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Unilever;
• Rupen Desai, Global CMO, Dole Sunshine Company;
• Taide Guajardo, Brand Senior Vice President Europe, Procter & Gamble;
• Sir John Hegarty, co-founder, The Garage Soho;
• Raja Rajamannar, WFA President and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President Healthcare, Mastercard; and
• Solitaire Townsend, Chief Solutionist and Co-founder, Futerra.

Other speakers are due to be announced shortly.

When the pandemic struck, WFA like many other organisations moved to a remote event format, hosting over 370 meetings and events for its members online only, including Global Marketer Week in 2021.

“While there are some advantages to online-only events, there is no substitute for meeting face to face. I’m delighted that the WFA will be leading the charge in this respect in 2022, hosting one of the first major events of the year for global marketers. We look forward to seeing you in Athens, the birthplace of Western Civilisation and an apt location for the global marketer community to get back together after two years,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the WFA to bring Global Marketer Week to Greece and we look forward to welcoming this impressive array of speakers and the global marketer community to Athens. The event will offer the perfect opportunity to local marketing and communications professionals to learn from best-in-class experts and at the same time exchange valuable insights with their peers from around the world,” said Nerina Komioti, General Manager of SDE. 

Full details of the speaker line up and agenda can be seen here: www.wfanet.org/athens