Brands&Culture Event Launches in London on 7th November 2024

Brands&Culture, an event series dedicated to helping brands shape and define culture, will host its inaugural event on 7th November at the Ministry of Sound in London, following on from its successful soft launch at Cannes Lions.

The evidence is clear: brands will better cultural currency build business equity. And yet, so many marketers struggle with how to engage with culture. In fact, according to a report from Dentsu Creative, while 84 percent of CMOs believe brands must be culturally relevant, 86 percent struggle with effective integration. Clearly, there is a huge learning gap.

Brands&Culture is based on the premise that some brands ignore culture, some brands imitate culture, some brands react to culture, but the best brands shape culture. This requires deep work and a meaningful commitment to be a part of culture rather than exploit or hijack culture. 

Speakers confirmed so far include:

• Emilie Rose, global director of cultural marketing, Europe, Adidas
• Katy Lubin, VP brand, Lyst
• Matt Watson, executive creative director, Sips & Bites, PepsiCo
• Kenny Annan-Jonathan, creative director, Crystal Palace FC
• Peter Semple, CMO, Depop
• Filip Nilsson, ECD, Oatly
• Leila Fataar, founder, Platform13
• Mat O’Brien, executive campaign director, Three  
• Nicole Pacitti, sponsorship campaign director, Three
• Tom Rainsford, chief marketing officer, Beavertown Brewery
• Perla Bloom, Expedia
• Beth Bentley, co-founder, Tomorrowism
• Charlotte Langley, chief marketing officer, Bloom&Wild
• Oyin Akinini, head of cultural conversations, Chivas 
• Natalie Lee-Joe, CMO, Delli Market
• Lars Silberbauer, CMO, Nokia
• Nneoma Ulu, brand PR, influence and cultural partnerships director, Bacardi Martini
• Aaron Cole, chief marketing and growth officer, AA-X

Topics the event will explore include:

• How your brand can make a meaningful (non-exploitative, non hijacking) impact in culture
• Why you should play the long-game, why is patience key and how to sustain momentum  in cultural endeavours
• What “good” cultural intelligence really means and how to spin insights into gold
• How you can get business buy-in to what might be perceived as 'risky' or non-traditional marketing activities and convince internal stakeholders of a financial and brand payoff
• Why misfires are inevitable, how can you mitigate them, and what you can learn from those who have been there, done that
• How to measure the impact of culture-led brand activities 

The team behind B&C are ex-Cannes Lions and Contagious execs who saw a clear need for an event of this kind.

For more information about the event email here.