Agenda
Agenda
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Day 1
8.30am
Registration, tea & coffee
Welcome, you’re now part of The Drum’s editorial team! Grab a coffee, load up on some kcals and get ready for two packed days of learning and dynamic live content creation.
9.15am
Welcome & meet the team
Meet your new boss for the day - The Drum’s Editor Cameron Clarke - as he introduces the key members of The Drum’s editorial, events and production team and outlines what will be happening during The Drum Live as our guest speakers share their insights into the latest marketing trends and techniques. The team will also highlight how attendees can take part in a podcast, vote to decide who tops our Rebel 50 list of the world's most innovative marketers and help choose the subject for Mark Ritson's next column.
Cameron Clarke
Global Editor The Drum
Lynn Lester
Senior Vice President, Events & Marketing The Drum
Richard Draycott
Associate Editor & VP of Community Engagement The Drum
Amy Houston
Senior Reporter The Drum
Sam Anderson
Intelligence Editor The Drum
Thomas O'Neill
Homepage editor The Drum
John McCarthy
Opinion Editor The Drum
Hannah Bowler
Journalist The Drum
Tyarna Agyekum
Social Media Exec The Drum
9.25am
Vibesprint Launch
In partnership with
The Drum Live joined forces with Code and Theory network agencies Instrument, Kettle and their AI partner LTX Studios to run Vibesprint – a two-day sprint to create a live campaign in 48 hours and, ultimately, demonstrate during The Drum Live the transformative power of AI in campaign creation. Find out how the project will unfold as we kick-off The Drum Live.
9.30am
Editorial Conference
Imagine - you are a Drum journalist for the day. What stories or topical issues would you pitch in to The Drum's editor Cameron Clarke? Listen in as our invited guests adopt the role of marketing journalists to pitch and discuss the topical stories they'd like to cover if they were in The Drum's editorial team.
Cameron Clarke
Global Editor The Drum
Sam Anderson
Intelligence Editor The Drum
Juanita Draude
EVP EMEA Monks
Stephen Woodford
CEO Advertising Association
10.05am
Panel: What next for the holding companies?
There's lots happening in the global advertising holding companies as Omnicom and IPG prepare to merge and rumours persist that other major groups are planning on joining forces to face a marketing future destined to be governed by AI, data and automation. So, what does this all mean if you are a brand using one of the agencies owned by IPG, Omnicom, Stagwell, Publicis, WPP, Havas and Dentsu? Our panelists will share their views on what the future holds for the holdco model and what the agency your brand is using in the coming years will look like.
Barry Dudley
Partner Green Square
Ajaz Ahmed
Co-founder Studio.One
Zoe Eagle
CEO Iris UK
Jon Goulding
CEO ATOMIC
10.30am
Fireside Chat: Matt Hancock, former UK Culture & Health Secretary
As former Health Secretary, Matt Hancock was responsible for managing comms and public health messaging during the biggest health crisis to hit the UK in recent times - the Covid-19 lock down. In this fireside chat, we'll hear how he managed communications in the early days of lock down and how he approached his daily briefings. Now back in the marketing industry with address specialists BBS, Matt will share his thoughts on how marketing has changed during his 25 years away and how targeting and direct mail are evolving in the digital age.
Richard Draycott
Associate Editor & VP of Community Engagement The Drum
Matt Hancock
Managing Director BBS
10.55am
AI Panel: The Great AI Showdown
In this live showdown of machine minds, we put four of the world’s leading AI platforms - ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude – through their paces. Each will tackle the same marketing challenges, prompts and questions in real time. You’ll judge their responses and vote for the sharpest, smartest and most surprising AI. Who will win the battle of the bots? You decide. Let the AI face-off begin.
ChatGPT
Open AI
Gemini
Perplexity
Perplexity AI, Inc.
Claude
Anthropic
10.55am
Keynote: Should your brand take a community chance?
In these times of diminishing consumer trust brands need to find new ways to engage and connect with consumers who are bombarded by marketing messages. Communities provide a unique opportunity for brands to break through the trust epidemic and connect directly with audiences in a way that truly resonates and builds trust and loyalty. Learn how your brand can tap into the new consumer community to consumer trust, boost campaign effectiveness and boost ROI.
Kat Bozicevich
Managing Director MG OMD
11.15am
Break
11.40am
Panel: The New Free TV: Platform Power and Expansion
In partnership with
FAST channels are redefining what it means to be on TV – creating new opportunities for established brands to expand their reach and engage fresh audiences. In this panel, LG Ad Solutions is joined by talkSPORT and CNN to explore how leading platforms are using FAST to extend their presence beyond traditional broadcast, what this expansion means for viewers, and how advertisers can harness these new environments to connect with audiences on the biggest screen in the home.
Ben Orford
Head of Sales, Media & Entertainment Europe LG Ad Solutions
Jamie Holder
Head of Monetisation talkSPORT
Faisal Karmali
Vice President, Digital Business Operations CNN
12.05pm
Gameshow: The happiest place on the internet
In partnership with
Is your brand missing out on sales in one of the most obvious places in the internet? It's time to get that grey matter working as we host our new quiz in association with ROKT - The Happiest Place on the Internet. Learn why the online checkout is the most effective place to convert sales and find out how to do it effectively. Your FD will thank you for it.
Marc Allsop
Head of EMEA Rokt
Lucy Elisabeth Whitear
Performance Marketing Manager Tails.com
12.30pm
Columnist: Mark Ritson
Meet The Drum's new regular columnist - Mini MBA founder Mark Ritson - as he speaks to The Drum's opinion editor John McCarthy to talk about his new monthly opinion column, discuss content ideas with attendees and he'll also lift the lid of The Drum's Rebel 50 - our new ranking of the planet's most innovative and rebellious marketers.
John McCarthy
Opinion Editor The Drum
Mark Ritson
Founder Mini MBA
1pm
Lunch
2.10pm
Fireside Chat: Jarrod Moses
Founder of United Entertainment Group and new agency The First Darrin, Jarrod Moses joins us to talk about why he feels advertising needs more humour and why alongside Curb Your Enthusiasm star JB Smoove have launched The First Darrin.
Lynn Lester
Senior Vice President, Events & Marketing The Drum
Jarrod Moses
Founder, CEO & President United Entertainment Group
2.35pm
Marketing impact. Facts, with receipts.
In partnership with
On average, only 5-20% of business growth is driven by marketing. Before you throw your MiniMBA in Marketing in the bin, find out the three key things most likely to get you into the 20% club and beyond. This is a speed session on marketing effectiveness. No fluff, no filler – just cold hard facts based on 25 years of data across over 50 countries and billions of marketing spend, backed up with examples from brand leaders.
Kevin O'Farrell
Vice President Analytic Partners
Christian Jähnert
Regional Data & Analytics Lead Beiersdorf
Rupesh Patel
Head of Insights Samsung Electronics UK
3pm
Fireside Chat: How TGI Fridays is bouncing back
In 2024 the TGI Fridays restaurant chain went in to administration, but a last-minute deal saw the brand and 51 of its UK restaurants rescued. On July 4th - Independence Day - the brand was officially rebranded, re-positioned and relaunched. Learn from TGI CMO, Rhiannon Scarlett, the role marketing is playing as the brand looks to return to its former glory as one of the UK's favorite US-flavored restaurants.
Hannah Bowler
Journalist The Drum
Rhiannon Scarlett
CMO TGI Fridays
3.30pm
Break
4pm
The Rebels with a cause
Powered by
The Drum loves marketers and marketing that breaks the rules. The Rebel 50 powered by WeTransfer Advertising is The Drum's ranking of the world's 50 biggest marketing rule breakers. In this session we'll hear from the brand marketers who push the boundaries, take the risks and deliver the results we'd all like to see? Find out why not playing by the rules can often pay dividends.
Richard Draycott
Associate Editor & VP of Community Engagement The Drum
Berit Block
Global Marketing Director WeTransfer
Anders Braso
Chief Marketing Officer Monocle
4.25pm
Vibesprint check-in
In partnership with
Eight hours into the Vibesprint project we take a look at what progress has been made in just a single day and hear what Day 2 of the Vibesprint project holds.
5pm
Hit the bar
Relax and network over a few drinks to bring day one to a close. But don’t drink too much – The Drum Live Day 2 kicks off tomorrow.
Day 2
8.30am
Registration, tea & coffee
Welcome to Day 2 of The Drum Live. You’re now part of The Drum’s editorial team! Grab a coffee, load up on some kcals and get ready for two packed days of learning and dynamic live content creation.
9.15am
Welcome & meet the team
Meet your new boss for the day - The Drum’s Editor Cameron Clarke - as he introduces the key members of The Drum’s editorial, events and production team and outlines what will be happening during The Drum Live as our guest speakers share their insights into the latest marketing trends and techniques. The team will recap on the Vibesprint project that kicked off on Day 1, invite attendees to record their own podcast in The Drum Studio and get attendees thinking about headlines for Mark Ritson's next column on The Drum.
Cameron Clarke
Global Editor The Drum
Lynn Lester
Senior Vice President, Events & Marketing The Drum
Richard Draycott
Associate Editor & VP of Community Engagement The Drum
Amy Houston
Senior Reporter The Drum
Sam Anderson
Intelligence Editor The Drum
Thomas O'Neill
Homepage editor The Drum
John McCarthy
Opinion Editor The Drum
Hannah Bowler
Journalist The Drum
Tyarna Agyekum
Social Media Exec The Drum
9.25am
Vibesprint check-in
In partnership with
It’s Day Two of Vibesprint with Code and Theory network agencies Instrument, Kettle and their AI partner LTX Studios looking to demonstrate how AI is revolutionising campaign creation. Day 2 is when the real work kicked in – bringing idea to life. We check in with the team for a progress report.
9.30am
Editorial Conference
Imagine - you are a Drum journalist for the day. What stories or topical issues would you pitch in to The Drum's editor Cameron Clarke? Listen in as our invited guests adopt the role of marketing journalists to pitch and discuss the topical stories they'd like to cover if they were in The Drum's editorial team. Prepare to have your say.
Cameron Clarke
Global Editor The Drum
Sam Anderson
Intelligence Editor The Drum
Chris Camacho
CEO Cheil UK
Mallory Simmonds
President, EMEA Kepler
9.55am
Fireside: Sir Martin Sorrell
In this scene-setting keynote, Sir Martin Sorrell offers a state-of-the-nation address for the marketing industry, reflecting on where it’s heading post-Omnicom-IPG merger approval. He’ll explore the future of holding companies in an AI-driven world and ask whether the traditional model can still thrive. Expect unfiltered insights from a man who reshaped the agency landscape - and thoughts on how he’d do it differently if starting all over again
Cameron Clarke
Global Editor The Drum
Sir Martin Sorrell
Executive Chairman S4 Capital
10.20am
Building resilient reach in an evolving media landscape
The way we watch TV is changing, and so should your marketing. With shifting viewership behaviours, achieving your brand's reach goals requires a new playbook to measure media effectiveness. This panel brings together industry experts to explore how to successfully navigate the evolving media landscape. Discover how to adapt your media plans, unlock the unmatched opportunities of modern TV platforms, and ensure marketing remains a powerful engine for business growth.
Jenni Baker
Senior Editor – Branded Content The Drum
Anthony Yuen
Measurement Lead YouTube
Emma Magliocchi
Head of Media Cluster North - UK, Ireland & Nordics Nestlé
Alex Glover
MD, Programmatic BrainLabs
10.55am
Panel: Show me the funny
We look back at the funny ads that wouldn’t get made today for fear of offending people and hear from brands and creatives on how to approach humor in advertising without crossing the line. Brands can learn why they should invest in humor, take it right up to the line like Paddy Power, but always pull back before crossing it.
Sam Anderson
Intelligence Editor The Drum
Alex Macqueen
Head of Humour Kitchen
Leah Spears
Head of Brand Strategy Paddy Power
Noel Bunting
Chief Creative Officer Publicis London
Paddy Gilmore
Founder and MD HumourScope®
11.25am
Break
11.40am
Fireside Chat: Inside L’Oreal
L'Oréal’s Laetitia Raoust lifts the lid on the marketing tensions keeping her awake at night - from influencer advocacy and retail media to measurement and the role of Gen AI. In this candid session, learn how a global powerhouse like L’Oréal balances control with experimentation and what it really means to be a modern marketer in an increasingly centralised, tech-powered world.
Hannah Bowler
Journalist The Drum
Laetitia Raoust
Chief Digital & Marketing Officer L’Oréal
12pm
Insight panel: In ctrl or out of touch? The ninth P of marketing revealed
In partnership with
Marketers used to own the data conversation. Now AI is shaping the customer journey and consent is happening everywhere, not just on your website. Yet while 79% of CMOs say they are comfortable with their use of consumer data to power AI-driven personalization, 59% of consumers say otherwise - exposing a widening trust gap. In this exclusive first look at research from The Drum and Usercentrics, we reveal the ‘ninth P of marketing’ and how it can help brands close that gap. Discover how to turn trust into your most powerful growth driver, and why it’s the key to staying in ctrl, not out of touch.
Maria Greaves
Assistant Editor – Branded Content The Drum
David Diaz
Community Manager Usercentrics
Phil Szymala
Senior Director, Head of Insights and Analytics, Europe Visa
12.30pm
#ChallengeGaryVee: Day Trading Attention?
Gary Vaynerchuk thrives on conviction. Marcus, President of VaynerMedia EMEA, is here to challenge it. In this unfiltered Q&A, Marcus takes on the role of devil’s advocate, putting Gary’s boldest theories and ideologies to the test. Expect tough questions, real pushback, and raw insights as Gary defends, debates, and refines the ideas that have shaped his career. This isn’t a talk – it’s a chance to hear perspectives designed to push the boundaries of what you think you know about business, leadership, and the future of advertising.
Marcus Krzastek
President VaynerMedia EMEA
Gary Vaynerchuk
CEO VaynerMedia
12.55pm
Panel: Show me the media money
In partnership with
Who has the toughest gig in modern marketing? The Media Director has to be up there. With such a fragmented media marketplace offering so many media options ranging from the humble billboard to the not so humble social influencer learn where smart brands are going to be spending their marketing money in 2026?
Cameron Clarke
Global Editor The Drum
Sally Weavers
Founder Craft Media
Gonca Bubani
Media Thought Leadership Director Kantar
Richard Clay
Chief Strategy Officer Zenith UK
Dan Patton
Director of Digital Publishing & Audience Data Outernet
1.25pm
Lunch
2.00pm
Columnist: Mark Ritson
Mark Ritson will be on The Drum Live stage to reveal and discuss his crowd sourced opinion column for The Drum. Attendees can help him devise a killer headline and then we'll press 'Publish' to launch Ritson's latest outing on The Drum. And Ritson will also reveal which marketers are named The Rebel 50's most rebellious marketer based on the audience's vote.
John McCarthy
Opinion Editor The Drum
Mark Ritson
Founder Mini MBA
2.30pm
Fireside Chat: On stage with ABBA Voyage
ABBA Voyage in London has been a phenomenon since its launch in May 2022 taking live entertainment to a whole new level. We speak to ABBA Voyage chief commercial officer Jaki Ellenby about marketing such a unique premium event brand and how selling a loved legacy brand like ABBA is very different to selling food or fashion.
Richard Draycott
Associate Editor & VP of Community Engagement The Drum
Jaki Ellenby
Chief Commercial Officer ABBA Voyage
2.50pm
Rapid Fire Talk: Synthetic data in focus
In partnership with
Research can be a costly and time-consuming process - especially in the fast-paced world of product innovation. In this session, Paul McCormick from Empathy Lab by EPAM will introduce Humanique, an AI-driven research accelerator that uses synthetic audiences to simulate real-world user testing. You’ll hear how Empathy Lab partnered with the Mars Innovation Team to trial and validate the accuracy of synthetic audience testing, dramatically reducing the time and cost of traditional research. This talk will explore how Humanique enables brands to test concepts, gather insights, and validate ideas at scale - without ever running a traditional focus group. Empathy Lab by EPAM and Mars reveal how AI-powered synthetic audiences are transforming product research. Learn how Humanique accelerates innovation, slashes testing costs, and delivers real-world insights - without a single focus group - enabling brands to validate ideas and launch products faster than ever before.
Paul McCormick
Head of Digital Business Empathy Lab by EPAM
Yasmeen Cohen
Global Product Strategy Lead Mars Wrigley
3.15pm
Keynote: Closing the credibility gap – why brands win when they do what they say
For years, marketers have chased attention and awareness, often at the expense of credibility. But new research shows that consumers now treat credibility as a non-negotiable – and they’re quick to walk when brands fall short. In this keynote, Nonsense's Strategy Director, Tom Primrose, shares findings from the 2025 Brand Credibility Index and shows how credibility drives not just consideration but conversion, loyalty and advocacy. He’ll reveal what today’s audiences see as credible, how customer experience can become a brand-building tool, and what CMOs can do to “beast the basics” in low-trust sectors.
Tom Primrose
Strategy Director Nonsense London
3.40pm
Panel: Under the influencers
Have the rules changes in 2025? With major brands and companies spending more now on social and influencers what does that mean for the future of advertising and media? Our panel of advertising experts and social specialists look to the future.
Lynn Lester
Senior Vice President, Events & Marketing The Drum
Detch Singh
CEO Hypetap
Sarah Fulford-Williams
Co-founder Our Own Brand
Leandro Barreto
CMO, Beauty & Wellness Unilever
4pm
Break
4.20pm
Fireside Chat: The view from Visa
Personal finances have never been a more emotive subject than today 2025 as world economics shift as a consequence of social and political factors hitting many people in the pocket. Visa's European VP of marketing chief Alexey Bokov joins The Drum Live to talk all things financial marketing from balancing trust and innovation to personalization, partnerships and performance-driven marketing.
Hannah Bowler
Journalist The Drum
Alexey Bokov
VP Marketing Europe Visa
4.40pm
Vibesprint - See The Results
In partnership with
Vibesprint was a sprint to create a campaign in a day with Code and Theory, Instrument, Kettle and their AI partner LTX Studios using AI to strategise and create a campaign to demonstrate how AI is transforming campaign creation. It’s time to see the fruits of their labor and discuss the project live with the Vibesprint team in New York.
5.00pm
Keynote: If AI Is Conscious…Now What for Advertising?
Advertising has always relied on unconscious humans: emotional, distracted, persuadable. But as we outsource decisions to AI agents - and those agents grow more aware, autonomous, and recursive - the industry faces a new buyer: one that may be conscious. In this provocative talk, futurist Danielle Dodoo explores what happens when emotional manipulation stops working, and why advertisers must rethink influence in a world where attention, identity, and agency no longer belong to humans alone.
Danielle Dodoo
Digital Strategist. AI Researcher. Author. Serial Founder
5.25pm
Hit the bar
Relax and network over a few drinks to bring The Drum Live to a close for 2025.
