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- In-person attendees can register for onsite workshops.
- Virtual attendees can register for virtual workshops.
Your StratFest ticket includes two workshops. Pick one per session. Seats are limited, so don't wait.
Time
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Session #1:
Featured Workshops
WARC Future Of Strategy 2026: Becoming The Upstream Partner Clients Want In The Room
An important bright spot identified in WARC’s Future of Strategy report is that strategy is gaining ground in being asked to help solve upstream business problems. If automation gets everyone to the obvious answer faster, how do we transform the profession from an automated add-on service into an indispensable business diagnostic partner? This workshop will explore the skills strategists need to earn a seat in the rooms where the biggest problems are being solved.
Speaker: Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC
You Can’t Borrow Someone Else’s Cultural Relevance
Brands are constantly pointing to another company’s breakthrough and asking their agency to recreate it. But cultural relevance cannot be lifted from a case study or reproduced through someone else’s playbook. It has to come from a brand’s own DNA, audience and earned permission to participate. Using the examples of Starbucks and Yahoo, brands whose resurgence was built through months of testing, listening and refining, this workshop will illustrate how strategists can distinguish between ideas a brand can credibly own and ideas that will inevitably feel forced.
Speaker: Ashley Richardson-George, Head of Strategy, Conscious Minds Studio
AI Creativity: Escaping the Generic Trap
As brands pursue greater speed and scale, the drive for efficiency can unintentionally erode the very thing marketing depends on most: trusted human connection. Experts from Ipsos and Syracuse University will present new research on the “Generic Trap” – and why AI-only creative is often becoming “just good enough.”
We will explore the ethical implications of AI-generated creativity, the importance of disclosure and authenticity and why Human Intelligence (HI) remains essential for creating advertising that is distinctive, resonant and effective. You will leave with a practical roadmap for balancing AI-powered scale with the empathy, creativity and cultural understanding required to build lasting consumer trust.
Speakers:
- Caroline Hunt Riby, Professor of Practice, Advertising, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
- Lisa Sobilo, Vice President, Strategy, IPSOS
See What Your Competitors Miss: Synthetic Data for Strategic Market Advantage
Your deepest insights come from existing customers—but your biggest opportunities may often hide in market blind spots. Synthetic data reveals the full market picture, enabling you to spot emerging audience behaviors, model new strategies, and make faster decisions without relying on incomplete or fragmented data.
In this workshop learn how to use synthetic data to complement your existing insights infrastructure, uncover hidden market opportunities, and build client strategies on evidence rather than assumptions.
Speakers:
- Basil Fraysse, VP & General Manager, AIOS, Plus Company
- T.S. Kelly, Managing Director, US, Arima
Virtual Workshop #1: How Brands Shrink: Why Decay is the Default, and What to Do About It
Most brands don't grow. The default state is decline. This session explores why brands shrink, what to do when it's happening to you, and why effective advertising is essential for survival, let alone growth.
Speaker: Paul Ruscoe, Vice President, Market Intelligence, Incubeta
1:00 - 1:45 PM
Session #2:
Featured Workshops
What the C-Suite Needs to Learn from Marketers (and How to Teach Them)
Lately, marketers have been told to "speak the language of finance". And this is on top of needing to submit creative work to the hyper-logical analysis of CEOs and CFOs, which often kills great work. However, the C-suite’s reliance on purely rational economics creates a huge blind spot about buyer psychology and human nature—blind spots that strategists and planners see clearly. This workshop shows you how to flip the power dynamic and regain authority in the C-suite. You will learn how to call out “naive rationalism”, reframe “illogical” human behavior and defend great creative ideas.
Speaker: Ethan Decker, Founder & President, Applied Brand Science
Less Noise, More Signal: Recognizing the Innovations That Matter
The signals of change for our industry are all around us, with momentum mounting by the hour. The challenge is knowing where to look amidst the noise of all things AI. The pursuit is for more SIGNAL. Then we can recognize the innovations that matter, in an attempt to own these shifts as they unfold. This workshop will outline how we track the shift from noise to signal and actively own the executional path to respond to it. As a member of the 4As Expert Network for AI Transformation and Readiness, Albert Thompson will take strategists on the transformational journey from Creative Alchemists to Marketing Technologists.
Speaker: Albert Thompson, Co-Founder, Director, Brand Strategy, Transient Identiti
Guardrails and Judgment: Making AI Client-Ready
AI can generate an answer quickly, but should an agency trust it enough to act? In this interactive workshop, participants assess four recommendations for the same client, debate the evidence behind them, and use live voting to determine what they would accept, challenge, verify, or reject. The session offers a practical framework for using AI responsibly while preserving strategic judgment, client trust, and human control.
Speakers:
- Ashwin Bhargava, Director, Partner Marketing, ActiveCampaign
- Jonathan Petrino, VP, Global Partner Growth & Channel Sales, ActiveCampaign
It's All Connected: The Next Era of Strategy Will Be About Systems
Does life feel like a game of whack-a-mole? Another product launch.,A new fad. And just as you catch up, the next one arrives.
Mintel's 2027 Annual Predictions points to a bright spot: a shift from products to systems, moving beyond isolated product benefits toward connected ecosystems designed to help people achieve outcomes.
In this new landscape, brands become project managers, helping consumers navigate increasingly complex journeys. Fragmentation isn't disappearing, but strategists are best positioned to orchestrate the connections that move people and business forward. Every brand strategist in 2027 is faced with a decision: do we keep reacting to the next whack-a-mole moment or do we start designing systems that create meaningful connections and drive results?
This session will explore the deeper forces shaping the products-to-systems mindset and culminate in an outcome-mapping exercise that puts the thinking into practice. Participants will blend strategy and project management to design more relevant, connected systems.
Speaker: Diana Kelter, Head of Consumer Trends, North America, Mintel
Virtual Workshop #2: Built, Not Prompted: Creating Future-Fit Strategy Departments
AI can make strategists move faster, but many of the tasks it replaces are the same ones that taught generations of strategists how to think, problem-solve and develop sound judgment. This workshop explores how to embrace AI without outsourcing the curiosity, judgment and drive or eliminating the productive struggle that shapes junior talent into great strategists. And, more importantly, it examines how leaders can intentionally create the culture that develops them.
Speaker: Kate Rush Sheehy, VP Client Strategy, PMG
