6 lessons you stand to gain from attending the Festival of Marketing

Build better relationships

There will be a number of sessions designed to help marketers strengthen their impact and influence both internally and within the wider community.

Boots’ CMO Pete Markey and his colleague CFO Michael Snape will be talking about how to strengthen the relationship between marketing and finance, while Nationwide’s Sara Bennison and Diageo’s Mark Sandys will be discussing the true purpose of marketing and how marketers can elevate their position on a panel hosted by Marketing Week editor-in-chief Russell Parsons.

Elsewhere, Mastercard’s Raja Rajamannar will be talking about what marketers can do to be more influential. We will also reveal the Marketing Week Masters Marketer of the Year on Monday 18 October, who will be sharing what works, what doesn’t and what’s next in marketing leadership.

Do more with less

There will also be a number of sessions discussing the idea of low cost growth and how marketers can do more with less.

Mark Ritson will be discussing how small business can still get big results. And there will be a panel featuring Gousto CMO Tom Wallis, Eve Sleep CEO Cheryl Calverley and Trinny London CMO Shira Feuer, who will be exploring how to create impact and meaningful growth on a budget.

Brand strategy excellence

There is much to learn from the success stories of the past year. In addition to revealing the Marketing Week Masters Brand of the Year and hearing from its top marketer on what has driven this success, there will sessions from other leading brands that have thrived despite of the challenging environment.

One such session comes from Ross Farquhar, marketing director at mochi ice cream brand Little Moons, who will be sharing how the business turned social media buzz into sustainable growth.

Behavioural insight

Two of the key people from Coca-Cola’s insights team will be sharing how the drinks giant uses behavioural science to ensure it is truly customer-centric.

Elsewhere, Marketing Week columnist and director of Passionbrand Helen Edwards will be explaining why when it comes to innovation, it’s important for marketers to move “forwards not sideways”.

Understanding the psychology of consumers

Rory Sutherland will be returning to the Festival next week and this time he’ll be exploring what it means for brands to try and anticipate customer needs. More specifically, he’ll be looking at how brands can drive growth online.

There will also be a session with author and psychologist Nathalie Nahai, who will explain how to apply psychological frameworks to meet consumers’ changing demands.

Keep on top of trends

As part of a discussion called The Big Picture, panellists from Demos and Britain Thinks will be discussing what the world will look like in 2022 and what it means for marketers. They will outline the macro and micro shifts that could be about to impact you and your customers.

There will also be a panel discussing the virtues – or otherwise – of generational labelling, and another looking at why it can be just as valuable to spend time focusing on what doesn’t change. It’s something a panel of experts, including author and Marketing Week columnist Richard Shotton, will be discussing on day two.