Note from the CEO: June 2017

Dear members,

In April we ran an extraordinary event in London that felt like a step change for our industry. It was all about mental health, which affects one in four people.

A number of our members shared stories about when they’d struggled at work and home, spoken word poet and mental health campaigner, Hussain Manawer performed and we heard from members including Robin Wight who talked about his positive experience of being bipolar.

That night we learned a lot. About how brave people can be when they tackle taboos, about what happens in a room when we have uncomfortable conversations, about the importance of telling the truth and about the power of being yourself at work.

Since then, a number of senior marketing leaders from big brands have pledged to build mental health into their agenda in company days and I hope we’ll be able to share some of these stories in due course so we can all collaborate and learn from one another as a network.

I made a public pledge that this event was just the beginning. We mean it and I’ve explained why I believe it’s a critical issue for our industry in an article published in The Times and the next edition of our own magazine Market Leader.

This is just one taboo that we’re trying to tackle this year with our brave agenda. So whether we’re persuading CMOs to talk about failure, or asking Steve Radcliffe to address the topic of bad leadership, it’s another example of us trying to break down barriers.

Our brave agenda has clarified a hunch we’ve had for ages, that our network is so powerful when we share, listen and learn from one another. So let’s keep collaborating and coming together – whether we’re sharing best practice or swapping war stories about tough times at work – it’s only going to help us become stronger and bolder marketers. One of the ways we’re going to make this easier is through a monthly, global email newsletter, curating the best content from our events and members all over our network, which will be arriving in your inbox in June.

Meanwhile, it’s been a busy spring for our global network. We’ve already run 34 events across the world from breakfast with Matt Britton, president EMEA business & operations, Google in Dubai to a discussion on trust in media in Singapore with Jamie Angus, editorial director, BBC Global News, followed by an exclusive leadership dinner with Leanne Cutts, group head of marketing, HSBC in Hong Kong and a provocative dinner with digital entrepreneur, Kunal Shah in India. After a flying visit to the Festival of Media in Rome, I’m just back from our inaugural dinner in New York. Next stop - Cannes in June for our legendary lunch.

We’re finalising details for our Brave Conference on Wednesday 15 November at the Science Museum followed by our Annual Dinner at the Tower of London, write the date in your diary and I hope to see you there if not before.

Very best

Gemma Greaves
Chief Executive