Cannes LIONS 2024 Creative Brand of the Year

Islam ElDessouky, Global VP of Creative at The Coca-Cola Co sees storytelling as a superpower for brands. If harnessed authentically and consistently, it drives brands to penetrate culture and become part of people's lives. It can trigger, enable, and drive behaviours and impact people’s lives in a remarkable and fascinating way. 

He has been the driving force behind some of Coca-Cola's most successful, awarded, and impactful campaigns, both globally and regionally. Now leading global creative & content for the flagship Coca-Cola brand, he is obsessed with creating genuinely clutter-breaking work and pushing The Coca-Cola Co. into new creative territory. 

He joins us at the 2024 Brand Summit to talk brand storytelling, creative effectiveness, and ideas that drive results.  

About Islam

Zoe Scaman is a global pioneer in new thinking around fan-centric, participatory brand strategies for the modern era. She’s published her thinking via projects such as ‘The New Fandom Formula’, ‘Decoding Community’ and ‘New Cultural Codes’ all of which explore the evolution of fandom, the rise of communities and the widespread impact it will have on business models, brand priorities, new forms of collaboration and creativity.

Based on her work with high-profile progressive brands such as Nike, Netflix, EA Games, Sony Music, Oatly, LEGO, TikTok and Snapchat – alongside a roster of recording artists and sports stars – she shows that brands need to shift from one-way broadcasting to facilitating participatory experiences and co-creation with customers.

Zoe is a sought-after keynote speaker at major marketing and branding events globally, and the MA is excited to give New Zealand marketers the opportunity to learn from her at this year’s Brand Summit.

• How to foster true fandom and co-creation with your audiences
• A new era of brand loyalty and growth driven by fan communities
• How brands can use a ‘multiplayer’ mindset to continuously evolve their worlds and stories with fan input

About Zoe

Zoe is the founder of Bodacious, a strategy studio focused on illuminating and navigating the new frontiers of innovation and emerging technologies within the worlds of brands and
entertainment.

Her client roster includes Nike, Netflix, EA Games, Lego, Snapchat and many more.
She crafts ground-breaking strategies combining rigorous business intelligence, with 20+ years of brand strategy know-how and a futurist lens.

Prior to Bodacious, she spent her career moving between trailblazing creative agencies; such as Droga5. Best-in-class entertainment companies, like Ridley Scott Creative Group and 77X, the sports x youth culture studio, founded by NBA superstar Luka Dončić. Forward-thinking innovation consultancies such as Undercurrent. And world-famous celebrities such as Enrique Iglesias and DJ Khaled.

“As marketers, we need to be the pirates in our organisation”

Annabel (Belle) Fribence is the Chief Brand and Marketing Officer for Westpac Australia, and passionate about the role of marketing in driving innovation and bold change. She advocates running towards the truth as a brand and operating at the edge of bravery.

Belle joins us at the 2024 NZ Brand Summit to discuss how to lean into your brand strengths and owning your truth as a brand. She has brought this confronting and refreshing perspective with her into her role at Westpac and is making marketing the cultural heartbeat of customer innovation. Belle’s journey from fast food to banking provides a compelling backdrop for understanding how to turn this fearless philosophy into practice, getting the rest of your organisation to join you in embracing change, risks and creativity.

About Annabel

Annabel (Belle) embarked on her journey as Westpac’s Chief Brand & Marketing Officer in November 2021, taking the helm of the brand, creative, and marketing direction for the Group’s diverse portfolio of brands, including Westpac, BT, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, and RAMS.

Armed with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia, Belle made waves as the memorable KFC CMO who famously exclaimed, "shut up and take my money."

Prior to her tenure at Westpac, Belle honed her expertise as the Chief Marketing Officer for Yum foods, stationed in the vibrant city of Singapore. Throughout her career, she has seamlessly transitioned through various roles in Strategy, Brand, and Marketing for renowned entities such as KFC, Pernod Ricard, McDonald’s, and Foster’s Group.

Presented by Colleen Ryan with special guests Brynley Stent & Tom Sainsbury

It’s been a tough few years, and it’s not over yet. Is being playful or humorous a risky strategy? Should brands stand back? Yet, to be memorable, brands need to tap into our emotions.

The current narrative is that humour is a powerful emotional device. When a punchline is the difference between being cringeworthy or a crack-up, getting it wrong can be costly. But being playful, however, is de-stressing and lightens the load – if your audience is in the mood for it.

With so much at stake, we sent our finest research minds into the field to find out. They chatted with a couple of thousand New Zealanders and Australians and mulled it over with comedians, brand owners and creative types. Then they spent hours analysing this research to uncover the uncommon truth.

Join Colleen Ryan and special guests, comedians Tom Sainsbury and Brynley Stent, stars of Silo’s upcoming show Camping, for a barrel of humorous insights into the findings.

About Brynley

Brynley Stent is a New Zealand actor, comedian, and scriptwriter. She appeared on the first season of the New Zealand adaptation of Taskmaster and played the character Kelly-Anne Johnson on long-running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She won the 2021 Billy T Award for best breakthrough comedian for her show Soft Carnage.

In search of the next big idea! In this session, our panel will explore what great work really means for brands today. Is innovation just an overused buzzword, or is it still alive and well? They’ll discuss how advertisers and industry leaders are assessing media’s role in achieving these goals, look at global trends, and pinpoint key areas for New Zealand brands to focus on as we approach 2025.

About Ally

Ally is a senior marketing leader with almost 20 years of experience in the telecommunications, apparel, marine, sports, and now video gaming industries across NZ, UK & USA. Ally is a strong FMCG product & brand focused professional, skilled in AI integration, arena-scale events, strategy, media, research, communication, social, content, digital & offline marketing, sales, retail, customer acquisition, retention, and people management.

Ally is a big supporter of creative & effective marketing that pushes the boundaries.
She has been awarded NZ Effective Marketer of the Year 2022 by the Comms Council NZ, awarded the global One Show CMO 2023 Pencil & has collected over 150 marketing awards; including a Global WARC Effectiveness Grand Prix & a Global Grand Effie.

Co-presenting with Tracy Smithers

Xero wanted to leverage the power of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and England Women’s team partnership to grow awareness and consideration of the Xero brand. Their multi-year agreement is one of the largest an NZ brand has ever embarked upon and set a new benchmark for brand empowerment and global reach.

We are joined by Xero’s UK Head of Marketing Tracy Smithers and Meblourne based Global Brand Lead Alex Haigh who will share how the bold "Dream Bigger" campaign resonated with football fans and small business owners alike, celebrating their aspirations and driving record highs in brand awareness and perception.

Building global brand visibility and engagement through strategic partnerships
Resonating beyond a calendar moment
Gaining cut through as a challenger brand with authentic storytelling across OOH, press, social, digital, TV and partner content
Demonstrating Xero’s brand in action through community programmes
Marketing lessons from ‘Dream Bigger’ in ’23 and ’24

About Alex

Alex began his career in advertising at McCann Melbourne. While there, he led the Metro Trains/Dumb Ways to Die account for a number of years and is credited with creating the word ‘phubbing’, which has been added to dictionaries the world over. 

He then moved to Amsterdam and delivered global campaigns & activations for Heineken, before returning to Australia and starting at Xero. Since then, he delivered Xero’s first global brand campaign and established a global brand partnership strategy,  which includes long term partnership with FIFA Women’s Football. 

Co-presenting with Kelly Grindle

In a world-first, The KFC Gravy Train set off from Britomart in route to the Super Rugby game at Eden Park on 5 April 2024. Former All Blacks and Blues player Carlos Spencer helped bring the fan experience to life, in celebration of KFC’s partnership with the Blues.

We have invited Leanne Too, KFC's Marketing Director, to discuss the impact of this hugely successful brand activation on KFC’s brand visibility, brand loyalty, and how it ties into their overall brand strategy. Joining her on stage is well-known PR guru, Kelly Grindle, who will share what went on behind the scenes to supersize the press and social media engagement for the brand.

About Leanne

Leanne has worked on some of the most loved brands in the world and has over 20 years of Marketing experience across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and NZ markets. She is now at the helm of the KFC brand in New Zealand delivering strategic vision with dynamic marketing innovation that has elevated KFC’s NZ brand presence to the international stage. The recent work on the KFC Gravy Train has earned global acclaim for Creative Disruption. 

Prior to Restaurant Brands, Leanne worked across various roles in brand strategy, shopper marketing, category, and creative development in world-class businesses such as Unilever UK and AUNZ, Fonterra, and Lion, and with customers such as Walmart and Tesco.

In search of the next big idea! In this session, our panel will explore what great work really means for brands today. Is innovation just an overused buzzword, or is it still alive and well? They’ll discuss how advertisers and industry leaders are assessing media’s role in achieving these goals, look at global trends, and pinpoint key areas for New Zealand brands to focus on as we approach 2025.

About Duncan

Duncan Garner - Formidable journalist, newshound and now Editor In Chief. After 30 years fronting other people’s brands across TV, radio, and newspapers, Duncan Garner is finally in charge with his LIVE weekday podcast - Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief.

What do you do when your main competitor is the world’s biggest brand in your category? Think Samsung vs Apple. Burger King vs McDonald’s. ZURU vs LEGO and Mattel. What are the benefits of being the disrupter, the challenger?

Our panel of powerful challenger brands are all agile market disrupters and are successfully taking on some of the world's biggest incumbents. They’ll discuss what it means for their brand and how they do it. How it motivates their teams to continuously innovate and improve, to outperform the market leader by introducing unique value propositions, products and customer-centric marketing tactics.

• Finding your own ground - thinking like a challenger brand.
• What it takes to disrupt established markets and larger competitors
• Benchmarking and co-existing as brands: the symbiotic value of being up against a giant.
• Actionable tips to grow your brand and rise above the competition
• Practical advice on creating disruptive marketing campaigns.
• Insights into building strong consumer connections.

About Brian

Brian has been recognised as New Zealand’s foremost brand strategist, having spent the last 30 years advising leading companies in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Europe. He is followed regularly on a weekly blog www.brianrrichards.com.

He has been the architect and principal advisor to many high-profile successful brands in the Asia-Pacific area, including: Zespri, Icebreaker, Cervena, Merino NZ, Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Steinlager Pure, Wools of New Zealand, Holcim Global, America’s Cup, BHP Billiton, Tower Financial Services and Antarctica New Zealand.

Strategy advice on place and city branding to regional authorities such as Tourism Victoria Australia, Central Otago, Auckland, Marlborough and Southland. Country brand strategy advice to the governments of New Zealand, Singapore and Bahrain.

In 1987, Brian founded his own brand strategy consultancy, BRR Limited, now known as Richards Partners. He leads an award-winning team advising governments, companies and communities in defining their point of difference and delivering brand strategy. As one of the founders of New Zealand’s first Masters in Design Management degree from UNITEC, Brian was awarded its first honorary degree in recognition of his contribution. He also has a background in Chartered Accountancy and studied business at INSEAD in France.

In 2007 the Design Institute of New Zealand acknowledged him with their “Outstanding Achievement Award” in recognition of his contribution to the design profession. Brian has contributed to Better by Design over the last seven years. This knowledge has been woven into a new offering being developed to be known as Chrysalis, launching April 2015.

What do you do when your main competitor is the world’s biggest brand in your category? Think Samsung vs Apple. Burger King vs McDonald’s. ZURU vs LEGO and Mattel. What are the benefits of being the disrupter, the challenger?

Our panel of powerful challenger brands are all agile market disrupters and are successfully taking on some of the world's biggest incumbents. They’ll discuss what it means for their brand and how they do it. How it motivates their teams to continuously innovate and improve, to outperform the market leader by introducing unique value propositions, products and customer-centric marketing tactics.

• Finding your own ground - thinking like a challenger brand.
• What it takes to disrupt established markets and larger competitors
• Benchmarking and co-existing as brands: the symbiotic value of being up against a giant.
• Actionable tips to grow your brand and rise above the competition
• Practical advice on creating disruptive marketing campaigns.
• Insights into building strong consumer connections.

About Anna

Anna Tompkins is Head of Marketing for The ZURU Group’s Pet Division. 

A strategic and creatively awarded CPG brand leader, Anna comes from a network background and has experience in Global, European-regional, and UK agency positions. 

Anna has been with ZURU Edge for the last 2.5 years, proudly helping bring brands and products to market that are future-fit for the next generation.  

In that time Anna has launched five pet brands across 15 countries within 36 months; retailed in over 200,000 distribution points. The business is on track to become the fastest-growing pet care company in the world in 2024.

Co-presenting with Leanne Too

In a world-first, The KFC Gravy Train set off from Britomart in route to the Super Rugby game at Eden Park on 5 April 2024. Former All Blacks and Blues player Carlos Spencer helped bring the fan experience to life, in celebration of KFC’s partnership with the Blues.

We have invited Leanne Too, KFC's Marketing Director, to discuss the impact of this hugely successful brand activation on KFC’s brand visibility, brand loyalty, and how it ties into their overall brand strategy. Joining her on stage is well-known PR guru, Kelly Grindle, who will share what went on behind the scenes to supersize the press and social media engagement for the brand.

About Kelly

Kelly has close to two decades of experience working in consumer PR across various in-house and agency roles.  Most of his career has been spent in the United Kingdom working at the intersection of live experience, media relations, and influencer marketing for major agencies Hill & Knowlton, HAVAS, and M&C Saatchi.  He eventually moved in-house as the PR Lead for Virgin Atlantic in their London office, before returning home to Aotearoa to launch Special PR - the PR, influence, and activation arm of Special Group, New Zealand’s leading creative agency.

What do you do when your main competitor is the world’s biggest brand in your category? Think Samsung vs Apple. Burger King vs McDonald’s. ZURU vs LEGO and Mattel. What are the benefits of being the disrupter, the challenger?

Our panel of powerful challenger brands are all agile market disrupters and are successfully taking on some of the world's biggest incumbents. They’ll discuss what it means for their brand and how they do it. How it motivates their teams to continuously innovate and improve, to outperform the market leader by introducing unique value propositions, products and customer-centric marketing tactics.

• Finding your own ground - thinking like a challenger brand.
• What it takes to disrupt established markets and larger competitors
• Benchmarking and co-existing as brands: the symbiotic value of being up against a giant.
• Actionable tips to grow your brand and rise above the competition
• Practical advice on creating disruptive marketing campaigns.
• Insights into building strong consumer connections.

About Sue

Sue is a highly awarded brand and marketing strategist with over 20 years of industry
experience across a range of markets, including US, Canada, Europe, Africa, and NZ/AU.

She has worked at some of New Zealand’s largest agencies including FCB and Colenso BBDO, at the top level in New York as managing director – strategy at Sullivan, and more recently spent time client side as brand strategy manager at One New Zealand. She is currently the Executive Strategy Director at YoungShand.

Sue is curious, relishes solving complex problems and challenging norms and conventions; is passionate about innovation, and is driven to create transformative strategies that grow big brands.

Co-presenting with Alex Haigh

Xero wanted to leverage the power of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and England Women’s team partnership to grow awareness and consideration of the Xero brand. Their multi-year agreement is one of the largest an NZ brand has ever embarked upon and set a new benchmark for brand empowerment and global reach.

We are joined by Xero’s UK Head of Marketing Tracy Smithers and Meblourne based Global Brand Lead Alex Haigh who will share how the bold "Dream Bigger" campaign resonated with football fans and small business owners alike, celebrating their aspirations and driving record highs in brand awareness and perception.

Building global brand visibility and engagement through strategic partnerships
Resonating beyond a calendar moment
Gaining cut through as a challenger brand with authentic storytelling across OOH, press, social, digital, TV and partner content
Demonstrating Xero’s brand in action through community programmes
Marketing lessons from ‘Dream Bigger’ in ’23 and ’24

About Tracy

Tracy has been leading marketing teams both in the UK and NZ for over 2 decades.  As UK GM of Marketing for Xero, she has the great privilege of championing Xero amongst small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers with an innovative mix of brand, sponsorship, campaigns, digital and lifecycle marketing.  It's a pretty cool gig to be working for a kiwi company in the UK after spending the 10 years prior working in Auckland where some of you may remember me from Westpac, Mercury Energy and the incredible DDB Track agency. 

Presented by Colleen Ryan with special guests Brynley Stent & Tom Sainsbury

It’s been a tough few years, and it’s not over yet. Is being playful or humorous a risky strategy? Should brands stand back? Yet, to be memorable, brands need to tap into our emotions.

The current narrative is that humour is a powerful emotional device. When a punchline is the difference between being cringeworthy or a crack-up, getting it wrong can be costly. But being playful, however, is de-stressing and lightens the load – if your audience is in the mood for it.

With so much at stake, we sent our finest research minds into the field to find out. They chatted with a couple of thousand New Zealanders and Australians and mulled it over with comedians, brand owners and creative types. Then they spent hours analysing this research to uncover the uncommon truth.

Join Colleen Ryan and special guests, comedians Tom Sainsbury and Brynley Stent, stars of Silo’s upcoming show Camping, for a barrel of humorous insights into the findings.

About Colleen

Colleen Ryan is recognised in the international research industry for her notable contributions to innovation in research. Together with Wendy Gordon, she co-founded The Research Business International (TRBI), lauded for its pioneering role in the methodologies of insight gathering and application, and creating the boutique research category in the UK.

Over the last decade, Colleen has played a pivotal role at TRA as a partner, steering thought leadership and innovation strategies within TRA's operations across Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland.

Her expertise is extensive and multifaceted, encompassing brand strategy, cultural sociology, cognitive psychology, behavioural science, applying these disciplines to continuous innovation in research and its application to marketing.

About Laura

As Head of Planning at DDB Aotearoa, Laura leads a team of some of New Zealand’s best brand minds, experts at establishing and growing loved and successful brands. With over a decade’s experience in brand strategy and creative planning, and a few Effies to show for it, Laura is a staunch advocate for the enduring and adaptable power of brand to overcome market challenges, weather digital fads and connect with new audiences. 

What do you do when your main competitor is the world’s biggest brand in your category? Think Samsung vs Apple. Burger King vs McDonald’s. ZURU vs LEGO and Mattel. What are the benefits of being the disrupter, the challenger?

Our panel of powerful challenger brands are all agile market disrupters and are successfully taking on some of the world's biggest incumbents. They’ll discuss what it means for their brand and how they do it. How it motivates their teams to continuously innovate and improve, to outperform the market leader by introducing unique value propositions, products and customer-centric marketing tactics.

• Finding your own ground - thinking like a challenger brand.
• What it takes to disrupt established markets and larger competitors
• Benchmarking and co-existing as brands: the symbiotic value of being up against a giant.
• Actionable tips to grow your brand and rise above the competition
• Practical advice on creating disruptive marketing campaigns.
• Insights into building strong consumer connections.

About Shannon

Shannon Watts is the Group Marketing Director at Samsung across Mobile, TV & Home Appliances.

Previously she worked in the beauty industry for nearly 20 years, eight years which were in London for Coty Beauty UK before returning to NZ as Marketing Director for L’Oreal Consumer Products for six years. Shannon then moved across to Mars New Zealand where she headed up the marketing team across Confectionary, Food & Petcare.

Presented by Colleen Ryan with special guests Brynley Stent & Tom Sainsbury

It’s been a tough few years, and it’s not over yet. Is being playful or humorous a risky strategy? Should brands stand back? Yet, to be memorable, brands need to tap into our emotions.

The current narrative is that humour is a powerful emotional device. When a punchline is the difference between being cringeworthy or a crack-up, getting it wrong can be costly. But being playful, however, is de-stressing and lightens the load – if your audience is in the mood for it.

With so much at stake, we sent our finest research minds into the field to find out. They chatted with a couple of thousand New Zealanders and Australians and mulled it over with comedians, brand owners and creative types. Then they spent hours analysing this research to uncover the uncommon truth.

Join Colleen Ryan and special guests, comedians Tom Sainsbury and Brynley Stent, stars of Silo’s upcoming show Camping, for a barrel of humorous insights into the findings.

About Tom

Tom Sainsbury is a New Zealand comedian, actor, writer and filmmaker. Since 2017 Tom has been known across Aotearoa as the 'Snapchat Dude', going viral with his parodies of famous Kiwis including Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges. As a television comedy writer, he has contributed to 7 Days, Jono and Ben, and Wellington Paranormal, has guest starred on Give Us a Clue and Have You Been Paying Attention, and hosts TVNZ's Snack Masters. One of NZ's most successful comedians, Tom has been performing stand-up around Aotearoa for over a decade and was nominated for the prestigious Billy T Award in 2019.

In search of the next big idea! In this session, our panel will explore what great work really means for brands today. Is innovation just an overused buzzword, or is it still alive and well? They’ll discuss how advertisers and industry leaders are assessing media’s role in achieving these goals, look at global trends, and pinpoint key areas for New Zealand brands to focus on as we approach 2025.

About Mark

In search of the next big idea! In this session, our panel will explore what great work really means for brands today. Is innovation just an overused buzzword, or is it still alive and well? They’ll discuss how advertisers and industry leaders are assessing media’s role in achieving these goals, look at global trends, and pinpoint key areas for New Zealand brands to focus on as we approach 2025.

About James

James has delivered a wide variety of outstanding award-winning work for many well-known brands such as Genesis, Spark, Skinny, KFC, ANZ and more. One thing he prides himself in is his ability to translate high level strategic and creative ideas into actionable media plans that can be seamlessly brought to life. Outside of work life, James tries to still be a football player, but spends most of his time running around after his two wonderful children.