A formidable line up of brand marketers are set to take to the stage at LBB’s Better Together event on Wednesday 23rd October
At 10:45am, LBB’s editor in chief Laura Swinton will be joined by:
- Simon Valcarcel, marketing director at Virgin Media O2
- Ben Curtis, vice president and global brands leader at Magnum (Unilever)
- Lindsay Barrett, Vice President of Data-Driven Marketing & Communities, Mars Pet Nutrition
- Kate Wall, marketing director at KFC
- Elise Burditt, senior marketing director at Mondelēz / Cadbury
Together, they will discuss how they like to work with their partners, what they’re really looking for and what a creatively excellent relationship looks like to them.
The session will follow an opening foreword from Little Black Book, the Advertising Association and WARC. This introduction will set the tone for the day’s discussion by presenting the facts and figures our industry is working with as well as asking the big questions - how well do we really collaborate and how can we work better together? Across the day, curated panels will also focus on the changing agency landscape, the modern world of production, successful new models of making and creating and more.
Better Together is set to bring together 200 of the city's finest marketers, agency leaders and producers to discuss what's really driving change in the industry right now and how we can help collectively achieve more as an industry. More information about the event can be found
here.
Read on to meet the panellists.
PANEL SYNOPSIS
Modern marketers have a lot to think about. Their jobs have become more complex than ever as their businesses navigate the demands and possibilities presented by the 21st century. For those working with brands, whether media, creative or PR agencies or production companies, they can easily find themselves hyper-focused on their particular niche, without fully understanding the bigger picture, leading to missed opportunities. Not least when it comes to creativity and fully leveraging it to transform brands.
We’re bringing together a clutch of top marketers to get an insight into how they like to work with their partners, what they’re really looking for and what a creatively excellent relationship looks like to them.
MODERATOR
Laura Swinton, Editor in Chief, Little Black Book
For over a decade, Laura has been the editorial driving force behind the growth of LBB. Joining when Little Black Book was a little known industry challenger, under Laura’s leadership the platform has grown from a challenger to a truly global news and information resource that celebrates creative marketing in all its forms and brings voices from marketers, agencies, makers and platforms across the world together in the creative conversation.
Laura grew up in Scotland, where her first forays into journalism included a newspaper about the social comings and goings of her cuddly toys and a work experience stint at her local paper. Laura’s journalistic career has been a vehicle for her insatiable curiosity and nosiness. As an undergraduate, she studied Chinese with Politics, inspired and intrigued by China’s 19th and 20th century history. She studied Magazine Journalism at the prestigious City University in London and got a taste for creative B2B writing at Promo News, the music video industry magazine. She then joined shots as a reporter, where she immersed herself in the production environment and creative advertising.
After a hiatus studying for a degree in psychology and working as a freelance writer, Laura joined Little Black Book in 2012, bringing a deeper understanding of neuroscience, human behaviour and the psychology of creativity.
Outside of work, Laura is a serial hobbyist and can often be found enthusiastically having a go at some newly-acquired passion or another. She lives in a seaside town in the south of England with her partner and her schnoodles, Bonnie and Curie.
PANELLISTS
Elise Burditt, Senior Director of Marketing, Mondelēz / Cadbury
Elise is the Senior Director of Marketing for the UK Confectionery portfolio at Mondelēz, overseeing a $1.5bn portfolio that includes brands like Cadbury Dairy Milk, Twirl, Maynards Bassetts, and Sour Patch Kids.
She began her career on Capitol Hill as a staffer for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before earning her MBA from Kellogg School of Management. Over the past 11 years at Mondelēz, Elise has held leadership roles across North America and Europe, including US OREO Equity lead, US Savory Commercial Director, and UK Biscuits & Baked Snacks Director.
A strategic leader known for driving growth and building purpose-led brands, Elise recently led Cadbury’s 200th anniversary campaign. Her work has earned industry recognition, including two Cannes Lions shortlists in 2024, and she was named in UK Campaign Magazine’s Power 100 in 2023.
Ben Curtis, Vice President and Global Brands Leader, Magnum (Unilever)
Ben has been the global brand vice president for Magnum ice cream for the last six years. In that time he’s overseen a doubling in the size of the brand’s turnover at the same time improving Magnum’s creative output, with multiple award winning campaigns as recognised by Cannes Lions, D&AD, Clio’s and Effie. During his career Ben has worked across a number of global brands in companies such as Unilever, PepsiCo and L’Oréal and has worked in both developed markets in UK and Europe and developing markets in South East Asia.
Lindsay Barrett, Global Vice President Data Driven Marketing and Communities, Mars Pet Nutrition
Lindsay Barrett is the Global Vice President of Data Driven Marketing at Mars Pet Nutrition, responsible for leading the organisation’s digital marketing, media, content and community strategy – a critical enabler of Mars’ mission to deliver digital-first global mega brands. Based in London, and with more than 20 years of experience in digital and content marketing, Lindsay has played an integral role in building digital media, content, search and CRM capabilities for some the world’s most iconic pet food brands including PEDIGREE®, IAMS®, CESAR®, WHISKAS®, SHEBA®, TEMPTATIONS®, NUTRO®, and GREENIES®.
In her role, Lindsay leads the integrated agency ecosystem – spanning agile content hubs, creator communities, strategic partnerships, production and media planning across paid, owned, and earned media. This includes retail media and sponsorship initiatives to maximise brand exposure and community engagement globally. Lindsay also manages Mars Pet Nutrition’s digital demand use cases, working closely with global and regional brand teams to develop world-class omnichannel experiences for brands that are underpinned by the right mar-tech solutions.
Lindsay first joined Mars in April 2021 as Head of Data Driven Marketing for Mars Pet Nutrition in Europe, launching a new regional strategy and Centre of Excellence (CoE). Lindsay built a team of 40+ media, content, search, and consumer experience experts, who plan, create, and execute all digital marketing and media initiatives across the region. Under her leadership, the CoE successfully transformed Mars Pet Nutrition Europe into a data-driven organisation delivering strong net sales value growth for brands. Since October last year, she has used this success and experience to drive data driven marketing initiatives at a global level.
Prior to joining Mars, Lindsay spent four years in Singapore as Global Content and Customer Experience Director at Reckitt Benckiser. There she led the digital transformation of the Nutrition portfolio’s content and consumer engagement strategy across US, China, LATAM, and Southeast Asia.
In her own words, Lindsay loves driving “big hairy transformations” and building teams that are “powered by positivity, fun and fearlessness”.
Kate Wall, Marketing Director, KFC UK & Ireland
Kate Wall is a much loved and well-established part of KFC’s leadership team and culture.
Kate has been a driving force behind KFC marketing for the past 5 years, since her move to Marketing Director in early 2024 she’s been instrumental in the transformation of the brand, 2024 saw the launch of KFC’s new brand vision, identity and tone culminated in the BELIEVE campaign which launched across the UK and Ireland in June 24.
Alongside the formidable Monica Pool the leadership team have set a clear ball's eye on the next generation of believers, making KFC a truly consumer centric brand; Kate’s leadership style has brought passion and ambition into every aspect of the work, her momentum and brilliant instincts have meant her first year in tenure has been phenomenal; every layer of marketing communication has been transformed from Brand, Limited time craveable products to Value and restaurant comms. Kate and her team have pushed the brand forward striving to make the brand more iconic, bold and relevant.
Prior to KFC, Kate worked at Mondelez on the award-winning repositioning of Cadbury Dairy Milk and is a Marketing Academy Scholar.
In year one as Marketing Director the bravery, ambition and trust Kate has brought into the marketing team has meant KFC is certainly a brand to watch.
Simon Valcarcel, Marketing Director, Virgin Media O2
Simon Valcarcel is a Spurs, Oasis and Star Wars fan who works for Virgin Media O2 as Marketing Director, in that order. While he waits for Oasis to reform (which they now have), Simon defines and leads the marketing strategy and execution for Virgin Media O2. Before Virgin Media O2, he worked at TalkTalk for five years. Building the brand into a household name through The X-Factor sponsorship and working with Disney on one of his all-time favourite Pixar films, WALL-E. Passionate about brilliant creative, media planning, finding out what makes customers tick and innovation, Simon is also part of ISBA's Executive Committee.
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