The Future of Advertising 2024 | Third speakers announced

A strategist turned business director and agency founder, Laurence has started, grown and sold two creative agencies: Fallon London (twice winner, Campaign Agency of the Year) and 101.

Along the way, he’s worked with some of the world’s greatest brands and got out of the way of some of the world’s best work: from the BBC, Coca-Cola, Skoda, Sony, Stella Artois and the Tate all the way through to start-ups and scale-ups such as Innocent, Nando’s, Green&Blacks and Ben&Jerry’s. But he mainly gets asked about Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’.

An IPA Fellow for services to effectiveness, Laurence has edited two books on marketing best practice. He was the only agency strategist named in the Financial Times’ Creative Business Top 50; a founding member of cabinet (the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s creative industries thinktank) ; and a founding trustee of the Marketing Academy.

Nicky’s first role in Creative Operations was a work experience slot at Grey London. Within 8 years she became Chief Operating Officer of Anomaly and IPA Woman of Tomorrow.

Nicky is now managing partner at Creative Operations Consultancy WDC and she is co-founder of the In-House Agency Leaders Club. A community for leaders of In-house agencies to come together to learn from, support and inspire each other through events, content, research and training.

Nicky specialises in optimizing Marketing and Creative Operations for Brands and agencies, working on-site with teams to co-create solutions from within, supporting and guiding them through key critical decisions, and working with them to implement new processes and in-bed new skills and team members. Ever popular, she builds long-term relationships that live long after the initial project completion.

Antoinette de Lisser is a force majeure having been in, on or around the advertising, production and creative sectors around 30 years. A career dating back to the 1990s encompassing: Television Sales, Ratings and Programme Scheduling at Carlton Television. Understanding Brand Value at Interbrand; Plotting stunts & experiential media at Rocket (Part of the PHD Group).

And over a decade working alongside the infamous adman, Trevor Beattie at TBWA, moving on with the founders: launching award winning ad agency BMB – earning the moniker, “Legend”. Onto establish her own creative recruitment company The Legend Company, then in 2017, joining the world of Post Production; marketing and sales strategy at Absolute.

Bafta-winning designer and director with over 20 years experience working in advertising, television and film. William spent most of his career as a VFX supervisor collaborating on many iconic projects including four James Bond title sequences. He has worked on many adverts and music videos including Guinness ‘Noitulove’ which won the Grand Prix at Cannes and ‘Doo Wop (that thing)’ for Lauryn Hill which was MTV music video of the year.

Since 2016 William has been focused on his own directing and design work. The first job he took on, a title sequence for the BBC, went on to win several awards including the Bafta for title sequence design. He has also directed work for SKY, ITV, Google, Jaguar, Channel 4, and The Times.

During his time as a VFX supervisor, William won many international awards including 4 VES awards, 2 Emmys, 12 D&AD pencils and 4 British Arrows.

Janet Markwick is a seasoned Commercial Performance Consultant who specializes in spurring profitable growth within creative businesses. She has a talent for marrying creative empathy with commercial savvy, delivering actionable transformation plans that harness value and drive change.

Her background features C suite financial, marketing, and commercial positions at Coca-Cola, Sony,and significant UK and global roles within WPP, where she spearheaded sustained profitable expansion. A champion for commercial acumen in the creative industry, Janet leverages her expertise to enhance value capture and measurement, and her impact is further marked by her recognition with an IPA Fellowship and influential roles in industry bodies.

Leading her own consultancy, she continues to shape the creative sector with innovative strategies for commercial success.

Curro Piqueras is the Executive Creative Director and Partner at DUDE: London, where he works for brands such as Activision-Blizzard, PUMA, Trainline and Lamborghini. DUDE: London is a small independent agency with talent from all over the world that creates provocative global platforms and bold executions for UK and international markets. Before DUDE, he worked for JWT Madrid, McCann Milan and McCannWorldGroup London, creating work for clients like Coca-Cola, Unicef and Mastercard.

As the Head of Digital Production at Nexus Studios, Colin Davis spearheads groundbreaking initiatives in XR, AI and global interactive production teams. He has overseen major integrated productions for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, CarnivalCorporation, Bose, Coca-Cola, LAX International Airport, Microsoft, FX Networks, Dove, Hershey, and Target. His industry accolades include a win and two nominations at the Emmys for “Dexter”, a Cannes Grand Prix and Gold Lion, alongside a One Show Gold Pencil for the impressive Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas project.

Previously, he worked as the Head of Project Management at a boutique interactive agency. There he led the development campaigns and web applications for John Deere, IBM, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Motorola, Whirlpool, GE, Maytag, Home Depot, Lowes, and others. Beyond his professional achievements, Colin is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the tech industry, actively championing underrepresented voices.

Through his leadership and unwavering commitment to innovation and inclusivity, he continues to shape the future of digital production and pave the way for a more diverse and dynamic tech landscape.