This year sees the Festival of Marketing expand from its previous two-day format into five days presented digitally, from October 5-9. Over 80 sessions will take place across the five days, including a mix of headline speakers and panel discussions, as well as marketing masterclasses and mentoring and virtual networking opportunities.

The themes explored across the five days will include understanding trends, delivering for customers, change and strategy, and driving recovery. Also, for the first time, there will be a day devoted to exploring creative effectiveness, hosted by Creative Review.

In this, there will be a mix of talks and panel discussions looking at topics such as the client-agency relationship, how to build an effective in-house creative team, and how to measure creative effectiveness. There will also be a panel discussion featuring a mix of leading creatives and marketers to discuss ‘home truths’ about the industry and the biggest challenges we face today.

Speakers that are confirmed so far at Festival of Marketing 2020 include: Mark Ritson, professor of marketing and Marketing Week columnist; Paul Pomroy, CEO of McDonald’s UK; Claire Hennah, Global Vice President of Ecommerce at Unilever; Ines Ures, Chief Marketing Officer of Deliveroo; and Alex Weller, European Marketing Director, Patagonia.

“The marketing industry is full of innovative, creative and resourceful people,” says Marketing Week editor Russell Parsons. “We will bring many of those together in October to discuss, debate and determine the best way to face the future. With the help of brightest minds from the world of marketing and beyond, we will present over five days inspiration, insight and advice on how to tackle the biggest challenges you face.”

“It’s not just another crappy conference,” says Mark Ritson. “It’s the Festival of Marketing! And online or offline it’s unmissable.”

For a full-list of confirmed speakers and buy a pass for this year’s Festival of Marketing, visit festivalofmarketing.com