Meet the Panellists: Beachside Chat with Coca-Cola and WPP Open X
Since the beginning of their partnership back in 2021, WPP Open X and The Coca-Cola Company have redefined what creative collaboration at scale can look like - spanning 200 brands, five categories, 195 countries and nine territories. This award-winning partnership has already delivered major results, including being named Creative Brand of the Year at last year’s Cannes Lions.
On Thursday afternoon at 12:30pm, LBB’s founder and CEO Matt Cooper will sit down for a candid beachside conversation with Islam ElDessouky, global VP of creative strategy & content at Coca-Cola, and Laurent Ezekiel, global CEO of WPP Open X, to unpack what’s driving their success and what’s next for one of the most ambitious creative models in the industry.
Islam ElDessouky, global VP of creative strategy and content, Coca-Cola
Islam’s conviction is that storytelling is a super power. Once harnessed authentically and consistently, it drives brands to penetrate culture and become part of people's lives.
He has been the driving force behind some of Coca-Cola's most successful, awarded, and impactful campaigns, both globally and regionally.
His obsession with creating genuinely clutter-breaking work has seen him rise through the ranks at The Coca-Cola Company, from Brand Manager on Sprite for the Middle East to now leading global creative & content for the flagship Coca-Cola brand.
He is driven by ideas that achieve results, an approach that has seen his work awarded creatively and strategically across the world.
He is Egyptian, a lover of history, BBQ, and a passionate fan of basketball, sneakers, and Hip-Hop music.
Laurent Ezekiel, global CEO, WPP Open X
Laurent Ezekiel is a global industry leader creating the future of marketing for the world’s most iconic brands. Recognised by Business Insider as a key driver in WPP’s transformation, Laurent was the first chief marketing and growth officer appointed on behalf of the creative transformation company.
Laurent has led WPP to the top of global new business league tables by integrating diverse, integrated teams of experts in creative, media, social, PR, data and commerce. He assembles the best talent across WPP to achieve creative impact at scale which has led to numerous industry awards including Creative Company of the Decade at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2020. Laurent is known for inspiring teams to deliver modern marketing solutions and meaningful experiences for future-forward businesses including Coca-Cola, Nike, Amazon, Netflix and Google.
Laurent led the multi-agency, multi-disciplinary, global team that was appointed global networked marketing agency partner for The Coca-Cola Company in 2021. Reported as the industry’s most significant pitch, Laurent was the key architect in creating WPP Open X, a bespoke agency model that is integrated at its core and unprecedented in its scale. Indeed his leadership as CEO of WPP Open X, this dedicated team is reinventing marketing across The Coca-Cola Company’s 200 brands across 195 countries and building the client-agency model of the future.
MODERATOR
Matt Cooper, CEO and founder, Little Black Book
Matt Cooper has been working in the ad world for over 35 years. He began at Saatchi & Saatchi, London in the wild 1980s — before the internet and mobile phones but during the heyday of flash company cars and bottomless expense accounts. He later joined a small effects company called The Mill, now a top global post-production house with offices in London, New York, and Los Angeles.
While at The Mill, Matt launched BEAM.TV, the online advertising approval, archiving and distribution platform. It was during his global travels for BEAM that the idea for LBB was born: a need for a central platform to find the best companies, places to stay, client-friendly restaurants and creative resources in each city. What began as a series of books evolved into the global creative platform that LBB is today.
Read the full ‘Better Together’ content programme.
Content Sponsor:
Partners:
72Point. | Adobe | APA - Advertising Producers Association
AudioStack&Claritas | Bauer Media Group | Cannes Lions
Croud | Girl&Bear | GPN - Global Production Network
IAPI - The Institute Of Advertising Practitioners In Ireland
ICA - The Institute of Canadian Agencies
ICCO – International Communications Consultancy Organisation
ITG - Inspired Thinking Group | KEEP | LIA - London International Awards
LucidLink | MSQ | Nouri Films | Peach | Porter Novelli | Razorfish
RWS Small World Studio | Shutterstock Studios | thenetworkone | Zulu Alpha Kilo
