Curiosity is your competitive edge. Are you still using it? Uncertainty does two things: it opens up opportunity and it tempts you toward the safe call. Kit's session is a direct challenge to that pattern – the most interesting brands right now aren't playing from a bigger budget, they're asking better questions.

Speaking

Keynote

Kit Blackburn

Founder

Beneath the Surface

Jake Karls helped build Mid-Day Squares into one of the most talked-about emerging brands in North America by taking a different approach to brand building from day one. He breaks down how the team used storytelling, authenticity, and sharing the real journey to earn attention, build a deeply engaged community, and turn customers into passionate advocates.

Speaking

Jake Karls

Co-founder & rainmaker

Mid-Day Squares

Most marketers still think of media companies as one thing: a place to buy ad space. That's changing. A growing number of Canadian media owners are realizing they can be an advertiser, a publisher, and a data owner at the same time, and that each role, activated programmatically, makes the others more valuable.

This session uses a new, first-of-its-kind Canadian partnership between Cineplex Media and The Trade Desk as a real-life example of how that looks in practice: unlocking premium inventory for programmatic buying, activating proprietary audience data to reach high-intent consumers across the open internet, and treating owned media as one channel within a broader always-on strategy rather than a standalone buy. 

The result is a blueprint other Canadian organizations (retailers, broadcasters, venues, and beyond) can start applying to their own data, inventory, and media strategy today.

Speaking

Kristie Painting

EVP and MD, Cineplex Media

Cineplex Entertainment LP

Spencer Charters

Head of data partnerships

The Trade Desk

For decades, great marketers have had reputations as innovators, trend-setters and early adopters, but technological leaps have put their roles under threat, alongside other white-collar work. It's time to move past fear mode and into confidence mode. What strategies are on the table that involve working alongside technology in creative and efficient ways and bring back some of that marketing swagger?

Speaking

Sean Stanleigh

Director of Globe Content Studio

The Globe and Mail

Canadian retail has never been harder to navigate. Simons competes across fashion, home and private label, facing fast fashion on one side and premium designers on the other.  Frédérick Lecoq shares how the Canadian retailer is using brand, community and its distinctive physical store experience to stand apart, build relevance in new markets and grow without losing the identity that made it successful in the first place.

Speaking

Frédérick Lecoq

Chief digital and marketing officer

Simons

From the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics to emerging domestic leagues and hyper-local activations, sports and cultural partnerships are rewriting the marketing playbook. Hear from Coca-cola, Labatt, NFL Canada and Sephora as they unpack their partnership strategies, explain how they measure real ROI and share what it takes to create experiences that drive both business results and lasting fan engagement.

Speaking

Laura Cutsey

VP, marketing and partnerships

The Coca Cola Company

Tara Chetkowski

Director of marketing & fan development

NFL Canada

Brendan Christie

Editor-in-chief, content director

strategy & Media in Canada

Andrew Oosterhuis

VP, marketing

Labatt

Allison Litzinger

SVP, marketing

Sephora

In this brand-led session, Diana Frost, Chief Growth Officer at Kraft Heinz, explores how the company turns cultural moments into opportunities for its brands. From R&D-driven innovation to an agile structure built for speed, Frost breaks down how Kraft Heinz spots what matters to consumers – and moves quickly enough to act on it.

Speaking

Diana Frost

Chief growth officer, North America

Kraft Heinz Canada

New for 2026, "The CMO Loft" is an exclusive series designed to bring together top marketers and a small group of attendees for candid, off-the-record conversations. Hosted in a cozy lounge atmosphere, this AMA format prioritizes open dialogue and meaningful connection.

Seating is limited and requires advance sign-up. You can sign up at the registration desk on-site on the day of the event.

Speaking

Susan Irving

CMO

Kruger Products Inc.

Commerce is entering a new era. As agentic AI transforms how consumers discover, evaluate and purchase products, retailers and brands face a fundamental shift in shopper behavior and the rules of engagement – a revolution of the same magnitude as ecommerce itself. After helping build the retail media industry over the last decade, Criteo is seeing firsthand how AI is disrupting established approaches and creating new opportunities for growth.

Criteo will share a commerce-focused perspective on the changes reshaping the market, from evolving consumer decision journeys to the increasing importance of connected data, trusted partnerships and outcome-driven commercial models. Drawing on real-world examples directly from leading retailer and brand partners, we’ll explore what forward-thinking industry players are doing today to remain relevant and competitive as AI-powered agents become even more integral in the shopping experience.

Speaking

Janine Flaccavento

Managing director, Canada

Criteo

Join Beth Sidhu, CEO of SPORT BEACH and Toronto Tempo President Teresa Resch for a lunchtime fireside conversation. 

Speaking

Teresa Resch

President, Toronto Tempo

Tempo Basketball

Beth Sidhu

CEO

Sport Beach

This year, Gen X will drive $15.2 trillion in global spend. If they were a country, they’d be the world’s second largest consumer market, outspending China’s consumers 2:1. With the generation poised to inherit the largest wealth transfer in history, Gen X represents one of the biggest growth opportunities for brands. WGSN’s Andrea Bell shares fresh insights into the cohort's multigenerational spending power and the long-term loyalty trends marketers need to know to stay relevant.

Speaking

Presenter

Andrea Bell

VP, creative intelligence

WGSN

Has anyone actually cracked the creator code? Beyond the vanity metrics lies a tougher question: how do brands balance authenticity, brand safety and measurable ROI? In this candid conversation, top CMOs and a leading brand partner share what’s working, what’s not and what it really takes to build creator partnerships that drive mutual growth.

Speaking

Krista Webster

CEO

Veritas Communications

Liv Judd

Fashion, beauty, and travel creator

Chandra Colbear

Sr. director, head of marketing

Revlon Canada Inc

Irene Daley

VP, marketing & content

Canadian Tire Corporation Limited

New for 2026, "The CMO Loft" is an exclusive series designed to bring together top marketers and a small group of attendees for candid, off-the-record conversations. Hosted in a cozy lounge atmosphere, this AMA format prioritizes open dialogue and meaningful connection.

Seating is limited and requires advance sign-up. You can sign up at the registration desk on-site on the day of the event.

Speaking

Jonelle Ricketts

Head of marketing

IKEA Canada

The way Canadians discover, consume and engage with content is evolving rapidly, creating new opportunities for brands to rethink how they build attention and drive impact through television. 

Join Kristyna Petrollini, marketing lead at Samsung Ads Canada, for a forward-looking discussion on shifts in audience behaviour, the rise of streaming-first consumption and the smarter TV strategies helping brands navigate today’s fragmented media landscape. 

The session will conclude with a fireside conversation featuring Erin McGrath, head of customer engagement at Skip, exploring how leading brands are adapting their approach to TV, leveraging data-driven insights and modern measurement to connect with Canadians in more meaningful and effective ways.

Speaking

Kristyna Petrollini

Strategic marketing lead

Samsung Ads Canada

Erin McGrath

Head of customer engagement

Skip

New for 2026, "The CMO Loft" is an exclusive series designed to bring together top marketers and a small group of attendees for candid, off-the-record conversations. Hosted in a cozy lounge atmosphere, this AMA format prioritizes open dialogue and meaningful connection.

Seating is limited and requires advance sign-up. You can sign up at the registration desk on-site on the day of the event.

A staple of the Forum, the CMO Interview brings together two of Canada's top marketing leaders for an unscripted, peer-to-peer conversation. Hear candid perspectives on navigating Canada’s complex consumer landscape, what’s keeping them up at night and what’s getting them energized and moving in the morning.

Speaking

Lauren MacDonald

CMO

GM

Shirley Mukerjea

CMO

PepsiCo Foods

Join us as we celebrate the best brand-building ideas, the insights behind them and the planners who brought them to life.