Brand Strategy

Tim Calkins: Mastering Brand Strategy and Business Communication Tim Calkins helps people and organizations build strong brands. He is an award-winning marketing professor, author, speaker, and consultant. He is Associate Chair of the Marketing Department and Clinical Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He teaches courses including Marketing Strategy and Biomedical Marketing. Tim is a prolific author. His latest book, How to Wash a Chicken – Mastering the Business Presentation (Page Two, 2018), was named Top Business Book by the IndieReader Discovery Awards, and received the Gold Prize for Business and Economics from the Foreword Indie Book of the Year Awards. Tim also wrote Defending Your Brand: How Smart Companies Use Defensive Strategy to Deal with Competitive Attacks (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Earlier, Tim wrote Breakthrough Marketing Plans (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012 and 2008). He was co-editor of Kellogg on Branding (Wiley, 2005) and Kellogg on Branding in a Hyper-Connected World (Wiley, 2019). Tim has received numerous awards for his teaching. He won the Lawrence G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, the top teaching award at Kellogg, in 2006 and 2013, making him one of just six people to have won it twice in the award’s more than forty-year history. He was a finalist again in 2022 and 2023. In 2018, he received the Top Professor Award from Germany’s Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA Program. He received the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award in 2008 and 2022. In 2016, Poets & Quants included him on its list of “Favorite MBA Professors.” Tim maintains a blog on brand strategy: Building Strong Brands. Inc. included the blog on its list of “Six Blogs That Can Teach You More Than an MBA.” You can find the blog at www.timcalkins.com In addition to teaching at Kellogg, Tim works with major corporations on strategy and branding issues. His recent clients include Abbott, Amgen, and Novo Nordisk. Tim began his career at the consulting firm Booz Allen and Hamilton. He joined the marketing team at Kraft Foods in 1991. During his almost 11 years at Kraft, he led brands including Miracle Whip, Taco Bell, Parkay, and DiGiorno. He was responsible for the launch of more than two dozen new products. He received his BA from Yale and his MBA from Harvard.

Gabriela Salinas: Global Authority on Brand Strategy and Valuation Gabriela Salinas stands at the forefront of brand management and valuation, bringing a unique blend of strategic, financial, and marketing expertise to the field. Her international career spans major markets such as New York, Buenos Aires, Singapore, London, and Madrid, reflecting her ability to navigate diverse business landscapes.​ Professional Experience In her role as Global Managing Director at the Brand Finance Institute, Gabriela has advised a distinguished roster of clients, including Bank of America, Repsol, Telefónica, Mapfre, Iberia, Laliga, Bausch & Lomb, Johnson & Johnson, Roca, GM and Great Eastern Life. Currently a Senior Director at Brand Finance, her work encompasses a broad range of strategic solutions, including brand positioning, engagement, architecture, and measurement, all aimed at driving business growth through enhanced brand value. ​ Prior to her tenure at Brand Finance, Gabriela held significant positions at FutureBrand and Deloitte, where she developed and implemented brand strategies for international companies, further solidifying her reputation as a leader in the field.​ Academic Contributions and Thought Leadership Beyond her consulting achievements, Gabriela is a dedicated educator, lecturing on Brand Valuation, Management, and Strategy at several esteemed business schools in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Her commitment to academia is evidenced by her numerous academic articles and papers published in leading marketing journals and publications, such as the Marketing Science Institute, Journal of Brand Management, and Harvard Deusto Business Review. ​ Gabriela’s authorship includes several pivotal books on brand valuation, notably “The International Brand Valuation Manual” (Wiley, 2009), which serves as a comprehensive resource for executives, marketers, and investors seeking to understand and leverage brand value effectively. ​ Speaker Engagements and Media Presence As a sought-after conference speaker, Gabriela frequently shares her insights on branding and marketing at international forums. Her expertise has also been featured in global business press and television networks, including CNN+, CNN En Español, Cuatro, and Intereconomía, where she provides commentary on branding trends and strategies shaping the global market. ​ Awards and Recognition Gabriela’s contributions to the field have been recognized with prestigious accolades, including the “Excellence in Marketing Award” and the “Brand Leadership Award,” underscoring her impact and leadership in brand management and valuation.​ Through her strategic guidance, academic contributions, and thought leadership, Gabriela Salinas continues to shape the evolving field of brand valuation—empowering organizations around the world to unlock and maximize the true value of their brands.

Tom Roach, VP Brand Strategy, Jellyfish Tom is a marketing and communications strategist with 25+ years of experience in some of the world’s best agencies, including adam&eveDDB, BBH London, Leo Burnett and AMV BBDO. He is one of the most highly awarded authors of IPA Effectiveness cases in its history, with multiple gold IPA Effectiveness Awards to his name, including for Sainsbury’s, McDonald’s and John Lewis. His regular articles on marketing and creative effectiveness for Marketing Week, WARC and his own blog are required reading in the industry, and consistently include thought leadership which has become widely adopted in marketing practice. He is the originator of cutting edge marketing thinking on a diverse range of topics including bothism, brand building in the platform age, the new marketing funnel, the performance plateau, and latterly the application of GenAI for brands. As VP Brand Strategy at integrated digital marketing business Jellyfish, part of the Brandtech Group, Tom works across their global client portfolio to deliver more effective digital marketing strategy and execution, with a particular focus on how brands can achieve a balanced approach across brand and performance activity and the convergence of creative and media in the new platform landscape. Before moving to Jellyfish, he was Executive Strategy Director and Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, where he worked alongside the ‘Godfather of Effectiveness’ Les Binet. Prior to this he was proud to have steered BBH London to the title of Effectiveness Company of the Year at the IPA Effectiveness Awards 2018, in his role as Head of Performance at BBH. He is in demand as a speaker at major marketing industry events, including at SXSW, Cannes Lions, Google Think, Google Firestarters and the IPA’s Effweek.

Kevin Lane Keller: Trusted Advisor to the World’s Leading Brands Kevin Lane Keller is the E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Professor Keller has an AB (with distinction) in math and economics from Cornell University, an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University, and a PhD in marketing from Duke University. At Dartmouth, he has taught popular MBA and executive education courses on strategic brand management and marketing management. Previously, Professor Keller was a tenured member of the faculty at Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, where he also served as the head of the marketing group. Additionally, he has been on the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, been a visiting professor at Duke University and the Australian Graduate School of Management, and has two years of industry experience as Marketing Consultant for Bank of America. Professor Keller’s areas of expertise include consumer psychology and branding, communications and marketing strategies. His research has been published numerous times in each of the four of the major marketing journals – the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research and Marketing Science. An academic pioneer in the study of brands and branding, with over 135 published papers and over 365,000 Google Scholar cites, he is one of the most highly cited of all marketing academics world-wide and has received numerous awards for his research accomplishments. Actively involved with industry, he has worked on a host of different types of marketing projects. He has served as a long-time consultant and trusted advisor to marketers for some of the world’s most successful brands, including Accenture, American Express, Disney, Ford, Intel, Levi Strauss, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Samsung. Additional brand consulting activities have been with other top companies such as Adobe, Allstate, Beiersdorf (Nivea), BJs, BlueCross BlueShield, Campbell, Capital One, Caterpillar, Colgate, Combe, Eli Lilly, ExxonMobil, General Mills, GfK, Goodyear, Hasbro, Heineken, Intuit, Irving Oil, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, L.L. Bean, Mayo Clinic, MTV, Nordstrom, Ocean Spray, Red Hat, SAB Miller, Serta, Shell Oil, Starbucks, Time Warner Cable, Unilever, and Young & Rubicam. Professor Keller has served as an academic trustee for the prestigious Marketing Science Institute from 2000 to 2006, as their Executive Director from 2013 to 2015, and as a member of their Executive Committee and Board from 2015-2022. He has also served as an expert witness for top firms such as Amazon, Ernst & Young, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, and the NFL. A popular and highly sought-after speaker, he has made keynote speeches and conducted workshops with top executives in a wide variety of forums. Some of his senior management and marketing training clients have included such diverse business organizations as AT&T, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Telekom, ExxonMobil, Fidelity, GE, Google, Hershey, Hyundai, IBM, Macy’s, Microsoft, Novartis, Pepsico, S.C. Johnson, and Wyeth. He has lectured at over 150 conferences, conventions, seminars, and symposiums all over the world, from Seoul to Johannesburg, from Sydney to Stockholm, and from Sao Paulo to Mumbai. Professor Keller is currently conducting a variety of research studies that address marketing, branding and communication issues. Heralded as the “bible of branding,” his textbook, Strategic Brand Management, now co-authored with Vanitha Swaminathan, is in its 5th edition and has been adopted at top business schools and leading firms across the globe. He is also the co-author with Philip Kotler and Alex Chernev of Marketing Management, the most widely used MBA textbook in marketing around the world, now in its 16th edition. An avid sports, music, and film enthusiast, in his so-called spare time, he has helped to manage and market, as well as serve as executive producer, for one of Australia’s great rock and roll treasures, The Church, as well as for the late American power-pop legends Tommy Keene and Dwight Twilley. He is a long-time member of the Board of Directors for the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism. Professor Keller lives in Etna, NH with his wife, Punam (also a Tuck marketing professor).

Joerg Niessing: Expert in Business Transformation, Digital Strategy, Brand Strategy and Customer-Centric Growth Joerg Niessing is a globally recognized expert on customer-centric business transformation, sought after for his ability to bridge academic rigor with hands-on business impact. With deep expertise in digital strategy, branding, marketing, customer experience, and data analytics, Joerg helps organizations to unlock growth by building powerful brands that stand out in highly competitive markets. His cutting-edge research and advisory work are redefining how organizations approach innovation, digital transformation, and business reinvention—enabling them to create future-oriented business models, experiences and strategies. A Senior Affiliate Professor at INSEAD and former Partner at Prophet—one of the world’s leading brand consultancies—Joerg has spent more than 25 years helping top executives from over 300 companies, including Google, L’Oréal, Roche, Ferrero, Walmart, Marriott, Diageo, Electrolux, and Samsung. He specializes in crafting future-proof strategies, building meaningful customer experiences and scaling brands globally—always grounded in robust data and insight. During his time at Prophet, Joerg built and led the firm’s customer insights and analytics practice, helping organizations turn data into actionable strategies. In addition to his work with global enterprises, he actively supports startups in building impactful, purpose-driven businesses. He was the first investor and strategic advisor to Waterdrop, helping shape its brand and drive its expansion into 30+ markets. He also co-founded of vstrat.ai, an AI-powered strategy tool that enables companies to scale the use of proven strategy and branding frameworks, empowering every employee to think and act strategically. At INSEAD, Joerg directs and teaches 30+ top-ranked executive programs each year, focused on business transformation, customer-centricity, branding, and data-driven strategy. His highly interactive and example-rich teaching style has earned him multiple awards, including the “Teaching Excellence Award” in executive education for nine consecutive years. In 2025, Joerg was named the winner of the international Outstanding Case Teacher Award by The Case Centre—a lifetime recognition for innovation and impact in business education. As a keynote speaker, Joerg brings a rare mix of academic depth, real-world examples, business acumen, and engaging storytelling to every session. He speaks regularly at global conferences such as the Mobile World Congress, QSP Summit, and the Chief Marketer Institute Europe, as well as private leadership offsites and corporate events. His keynotes are designed to inspire bold thinking and are packed with insights, examples and practical tools that empower leaders to build brands that create lasting value, energize organizations and drive measurable business impact. Having lived in six countries across Europe, the US, and Asia—and worked in over 40—Joerg brings a truly global perspective, blending European strategic depth with Silicon Valley dynamism. What to Expect Joerg’s sessions are fast-paced, insight-packed, and highly actionable—blending cutting-edge thinking with practical tools and a compelling storytelling approach. Whether engaging senior executives, entrepreneurs, or cross-functional teams, Joerg delivers a powerful mix of strategic frameworks, vivid case studies, and real-world applications grounded in data, innovation, and purpose. Expect to dive deep into how organizations can drive customer-centric transformation and build powerful brands by harnessing the full potential of data, digital technologies, and AI. Joerg explores how leading companies are reinventing their business models, customer experiences, and internal cultures to stay competitive in an era of disruption and rising customer expectations. Rather than treating transformation as a one-off initiative, Joerg challenges participants to embed customer obsession into the DNA of their organization—turning insight into action, and strategy into sustained impact. His sessions connect the dots between strategy, customer-centricity, data & technology, organisation change, and innovation, providing participants with a holistic playbook for transformation that sticks. Because real change requires more than surface-level fixes—Joerg calls out the common pitfall of “putting a digital lipstick on a legacy pig.” His approach cuts through the noise to focus on what truly drives progress: deep, meaningful transformation that starts from within but focussing on creating customer value. What You’ll Leave With You’ll walk away with a refreshed mindset and a strategic playbook f or driving customer-centric transformation—equipping you to lead with clarity, confidence, and impact in a rapidly evolving digital world. Joerg challenges leaders to rethink the fundamentals: “If people want to use WhatsApp, don’t optimize the fax machine.” The point? Transformation is not about incremental tweaks—it’s about reimagining value from the customer’s point of view. You’ll gain deep insight into how to harness data, technology, and AI to create relevant brands, value-driving customer experiences, foster innovation, and build future-ready business models. Key action points include turning customer insight into strategic direction, designing end-to-end experiences that drive engagement and growth, aligning cross-functional teams around the customer, and embedding agility and experimentation into your organization’s DNA. You’ll learn how to connect strategy with execution—translating bold ideas into scalable, real-world impact across functions, markets, and touchpoints. Whether you’re leading a transformation, reimagining customer value, or unlocking new growth opportunities, you’ll leave equipped to act boldly, inspire change, and create organizations that are not only more digital—but deeply customer-first and innovation-driven.

Meet Shontavia Johnson Shontavia Johnson is an entrepreneurship and innovation expert who has helped hundreds of people build personal brands, businesses, and intellectual property portfolios. Twice named one of the top young lawyers in America, Shontavia is an educator at heart. Shontavia was the first African-American woman to receive full tenure and an endowed chair at Drake University Law School, where she also directed the Intellectual Property Law Center. Today, she leads the intellectual property efforts for a half-billion dollar research and development center. Shontavia is also an entrepreneur and creator. She founded the Brand and Business Company to provide women and people of color with greater access to entrepreneurship. The company’s Academy gives professionals a formula for entrepreneurship that allows them to pursue ideas that make an impact while also making money. And, the company’s media platforms provide free education about entrepreneurship, law, and leading a purposeful life. As a speaker, Shontavia has spoken at the Smithsonian, SXSW, and given the closing talk at TEDxAtlanta. She has also shared her message globally in places including Europe, Asia and across North America. She has appeared in TIME, the Washington Post, the LA Times, NPR, and on Hear to Slay with Roxane Gay and Tressie McMillan Cottom. She has also been named one of 200 black women in tech to follow on Twitter (@ShontavaJEsq) for the past five years. Shontavia is a Liberty Fellow through the Aspen Institute and served as a Fulbright Specialist to Uzbekistan in 2022.

Meet Max Lenderman Max Lenderman has a pulse on the future so that you and your business can win today. Throughout his career as CCO, CMO and CEO at global ad agencies and fast-growing brands, Max has worked at the forefront of marketing’s evolution. His first book 15 years ago made the term “experiential marketing” part of a brand’s lexicon and is still considered “the best book on experiential marketing.” His second book presented outrageously effective marketing campaigns from around the world. And for the past decade, he has consulted Fortune 100 companies on the power of purpose in marketing – years before the term “brand purpose” became a must-have in business. He is also a well-known marketing voice in the world of web3, having launched one of the earliest web3 consulting agencies in early 2021. He is currently helping brands and businesses understand the “phygital” connections between digital and physical worlds that will be the next frontier of marketing and advertising. He is a columnist for Adweek and Campaign magazines, where he writes the “Into the Metaverse” column. He has spoken at major conferences like SXSW, Consensus, Forbes CMO Summit, Advertising Week, The Art of Marketing and X-Prize, as well as dozens of marketing conferences and company off-sites. Max is a masterful “explainer” and connecter. If you are interested in innovation, creativity and insight to unlock business growth and social impact, Max will help you look within and see around the corner.

Meet Madison Butler Madison Butler is an unapologetic advocate for authenticity, vulnerability, and creating workplaces where people feel safe to show up as their true selves. A New Englander turned Austinite since 2017, Madison is passionate about helping organizations embrace the power of human connection and psychological safety as the cornerstones of a thriving culture. As the founder of Blue Haired Unicorn, she focuses on designing spaces and crafting scalable strategies with this intention in mind. Known for building bold, ethical and authentic brands through storytelling, tough empathy and data, Madison facilitates conversations that many shy away from—conversations about mental health, trauma, and the courage it takes to be vulnerable at work. She believes that embracing humanity in leadership isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a business tenet. Humanity is the key to building resilient teams and sustainable organizations that empower people to show up fully. Madison partners with companies to break free from outdated norms and build environments rooted in trust, transparency, and authenticity. Her mission is to help individuals and teams unlock their potential by creating spaces where they can live, work, and exist out loud. Her work and thought leadership have been featured in prominent outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Yahoo, Rolling Stone, and many others. She has been recognized by Linkedin as a top Black voice to follow and also as Austin’s rising star by DivInc in 2021. Her first book, “Let Them See You: Empowering Change Through Authenticity,” will be released in Summer 2025, offering a powerful guide to fostering change and creating space for people to show up fully. As a start-up enthusiast, Madison thrives on building intentional cultures from the ground up. She is committed to redefining what it means to be “human at work,” challenging the status quo, and empowering leaders to lead with compassion, authenticity and truth.

Meet Mark Levy Mark is a seasoned globally minded Employee Experience Leader who has chosen to work for big-hearted companies and focus on how he and his team can unleash the talents and passions of a company’s employees. Early in his career, he worked with the likes of Best Buy, Levi Strauss & Company and Gap Inc. partnering with business leaders to support their HR needs including innovative ways to create a learning organization and ensure integration between work and life. Mark also spent two years living and working in Paris, France for Thomson/Technicolor. Mark was the pioneer of designing the Employee Experience at Airbnb, which has since created significant changes in the way organizations globally are looking at expanding the HR function to focus on the entire employee journey. This group included traditional HR functions, in addition to broader teams focused on social impact, culture and workplace. Mark helped to further Airbnb’s mission “to create a world where you can belong anywhere,” by establishing the employee experience mission that employees feel they belong at Airbnb. Glassdoor recognized Mark and his team’s work by naming them the #1 Place to Work in 2016. Most recently, Mark was the Employee Experience Leader of the flock at Allbirds, leading their global expansion to scale their people and culture while also taking his learnings to consult with companies, from startups to large global brands, to advise on how to evolve from HR to Employee Experience, how to create an integrated internal and external brand, how to bring the mission and values to life, and how to create a greater connection between the company and their employees, between employees, with the company’s customers, as well as the communities in which they operate. In addition, Mark is also working with Backstage Capital, a unique Venture Capital firm which is focused on securing funding and resources for underestimated founders- Women, LGBT and/or People of Color. He is helping them scale their organization, seek out like minded investors, as well as supporting their Founders to help them strategize and grow their businesses. Mark has his JD/MBA from the University of Colorado after four formative years at Colorado College. Mark chose to leave the practice of law after one year to focus his career on helping organizations do the right thing and to attract, develop, engage and retain creative and diverse talent to drive business results, curate the culture and create community connections. In addition, Mark has been actively involved in giving back, including helping organizations enable their employees to help those less fortunate through volunteering programs and community involvement. He served on the Gap Foundation Board of Directors, and is currently on the Board of First Graduate, a non profit which helps those who are first in their family to attend and graduate college.

Peter Fisk is a global thought leader – author, futurist, speaker – whose career was forged in a superconductivity lab, accelerated by managing supersonic brands, shaped by working with some of the world’s best companies in Europe, North America and Asia, evolved by leading a digital start-up, and formalised as CEO of the world’s largest marketing network. He works with business leaders to reimagine their markets and strategies for a better future. He brings together the best in strategy and innovation, brand and customer thinking to drive smarter, sustainable growth. Peter leads GeniusWorks, an innovative business accelerator, based in London, and is professor of leadership, strategy and innovation at IE Business School in Madrid, where he is responsible for executive programs. He also works independently and with other business schools. He was Thinkers50 Global Director, founded and hosts the annual European Business Forum, and publishes the monthly ”Fast Leader” magazine. He has over 30 years of practical business experience, working with over 300 companies and 55 countries … from Adidas’ growth into new markets to Asahi’s consumer-centric innovation, Cartier’s redefined luxury and Coca Cola’s growth strategy, McKinsey’s leadership development to Microsoft’s new approach to strategic innovation, P&G’s direct to consumer strategy and Pfizer’s future scanning, Santander’s future bank vision and Sompo’s digitally-minded leaders, Takeda’s patient-centric healthcare and Tata’s growth as a global business. Peter’s first book “Marketing Genius” fused the brains of Einstein and Picasso to ask how would they do business today, and was translated into 35 languages. His next 8 books explore the renaissance creativity of Leonardo da Vinci, in “Creative Genius”, how to innovate with purpose for positive impact, in “People Planet Profit”, and learning from the world’s most innovative companies, in “Gamechangers”. His new book “Business Recoded” challenges leaders to have the courage to create a better future, harnessing the opportunities of a post-pandemic world, through 7 shifts built on deep dives with 49 of the world’s most inspiring business leaders today. It is shortlisted for CMI Business Book of the Year 2021, and was reviewed by the Financial Times with “Wow. The book you have to read now”.

Bobby Umar – Heart-Centered Leadership Expert, Global Influencer, Award-Winning Speaker With over two decades of experience, Bobby Umar has delivered 1,000+ keynotes and workshops across four continents, inspiring audiences on topics such as authentic connection, personal branding, digital marketing, and heart-centered leadership. Named an Inc. Magazine Top 100 Leadership Speaker alongside global icons like Richard Branson and Brené Brown, Bobby is a 5x TEDx speaker who has impacted over 500,000 individuals worldwide. Bobby has graced stages at prestigious events including InfoShare in Poland, Social Media Week Mumbai, and the Middle East Association Congress in Abu Dhabi, sharing actionable strategies for meaningful networking, personal growth, and leveraging digital platforms. Beyond the stage, Bobby is a coach who has designed programs such as TEDx Mastery Intensive Program, Personal Branding Discover Course, Paid Speaker Mastermind Program, Thought Leadership Branding Program, and aNetworking Mastery Course. These programs have guided and helped over 1,000 individuals hone their storytelling, craft impactful messages, develop a strong, branded digital presence, and deliver life-changing talks on global stages. Audiences leave Bobby’s sessions inspired, motivated, and equipped to: Develop and communicate their authentic personal brand. Build meaningful, results-driven connections. Leverage social media for professional growth and influence. Lead with heart, empathy, and purpose in all aspects of life. “Bobby’s clarity, passion, and actionable insights have transformed the way I approach my business and relationships. He truly walks his talk as a masterful connector and leader. Bobby is not just a speaker; he’s a catalyst for personal and professional growth.” — Janelle Morrison, Former Ironman Tri-Athlete Bobby’s unique blend of expertise—engineering (Bombardier), brand marketing (Kraft and Unilever), and performing arts (Second City)—gives him a distinct ability to connect with audiences across industries. As the founder of DYPB – Discover Your Personal Brand, Bobby led North America’s largest conference dedicated to personal branding, featuring 60 experts and 300+ attendees. His influence extends beyond the stage, with 750,000+ social media followers and over 2 billion impressions worldwide. Bobby is the speaker to book because… He is a well-known thought leader in networking, connections, building relationships, personal branding and social media He has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years He loves to and will make himself available throughout the entire time of your event, not just the talk His topics are relevant and of huge interest to your target market. He has been professionally speaking for over a decade to over 500,000 people around the world – Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and North America. He has a huge social media reach to promote the event and your organization. This includes 750k+ on social media and 10k in his email list. He has written a book on his networking expertise along with hundreds of blogs and video blogs sharing insights. His focus and why is to help small business owners and entrepreneurial leaders. When you book Bobby Umar, you’re not just hiring a speaker—you’re gaining a true partner who amplifies your event’s impact. Known for his high-energy delivery, deep empathy, and actionable takeaways, Bobby creates an immersive experience that leaves audiences energized, informed, and ready to act. Whether you’re hosting a corporate event, leadership summit, or community gathering, Bobby is the ideal choice to deliver transformational results that resonate long after the event ends.

Kathryn Strachan is an award-winning fractional CMO, strategic advisor, and expert keynote speaker whose insights drive transformative growth for businesses globally. Known for her engaging presence on stage, Kathryn has spoken at prestigious events including Money20/20, the London Tech Summit, and the India SEO Conference, and has lectured as a guest at NYU’s MBA program. She regularly serves as an MC and panelist at industry summits like The Drum or FinTech Fringe and also hosts advanced marketing workshops for Semrush. With a strong online following of over 16,000 LinkedIn followers, Kathryn’s reach extends beyond the stage, where she actively connects with a global audience on topics from B2B marketing to leadership and workplace innovation. Her speaking repertoire spans courses and conferences such as the WEConnect Conference, CMA Summit, and MoneyLive, where she shares her expertise on B2B marketing and innovative workplace practices. She also actively contributes to podcasts on these topics, showcasing her thought leadership across various platforms. Formerly the founder and CEO of CopyHouse, Kathryn led the agency to a market-leading position with a team of 32 and a $1.5 million turnover, attracting top-tier tech clients. Her forthcoming book, Scaling Success: Building Brands that Break Barriers (Fall 2024) and her podcast, Marketers Unleashed, continue to expand her impact as a thought leader. Recognized by the CMA, The Drum, IoD, and BIMA with accolades like Young Director of the Year and Content Marketing Person of the Year (two years running), Kathryn’s expertise and leadership are acknowledged across the industry.