WFA announces first speakers for Global Marketer Week

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) have unveiled the initial event and speaker line-up for the 2017 Global Marketer Week and Global Marketer Conference, to be held in Toronto from April 25-28 2017.

The event (#GMWTO) will bring together some of the world's top marketers and thought-leaders to discuss innovation and growth in a world where the value of marketing and brand content is being challenged as never before.

The Global Marketer Week, being held in North America for the first time since 2012 and in Canada for the second time, 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 April 27. Confirmed speakers include:

• Ivan Pollard, Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company


• Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Mastercard


• Antonia McCahon, Head of Digital Marketing, Pernod Ricard


• Mark Adams, Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation, VICE


• Bob Hoffman, the Ad Contrarian

The conference will also feature an interactive session focused on ad blocking, with a debate meant to address some of the root causes and explore potential solutions.

Additional events include a Project Reconnect session on April 26 that will look at some recent brand failures, with experts exploring what went wrong and how marketing can help brands restore consumer trust.

The same day will also feature a working session around transparency, programmatic technology and capabilities, designed to help marketers enhance their own approach to programmatic media management.

Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO, said: "We're thrilled to be returning to North America after five years outside the world's biggest spending marketing region. Toronto gives us the chance to explore trends and developments in a region where marketers have been at the forefront of the adoption of new technology and new behaviors."

Ron Lund, President and CEO at ACA, said: "We are delighted to welcome the WFA and an impressive array of speakers to Canada. This is a great opportunity for local marketers to pick up insights from world class marketers and we look forward to a wonderful forum for exchanging ideas and best practice."

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. The Global Marketer Week was held in 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/toronto. Follow events on Twitter @WFAmarketers and #GMWTO