FORUM MEDIA WILL ALSO FOCUS ON TRANSFORMING THE WAY AGENCIES OPERATE

This year’s Forum Media conference, which will take place on 10 November at the O2 Universum, will feature dozens of leading figures from the worlds of PR, marketing, media and advertising. This year’s event will focus on the changing landscape of communication in a world of threats and conflicts.

The full programme for this year’s Forum Media conference has now been published, so we’d like to introduce some of the most recently confirmed speakers.

A major topic both here and around the world is the transformation of the agency business model. The traditional model, based on the sale of creative work and media space, has run its course. What is to replace it? A number of influential figures, including Michael Farmer, are pondering this question. He advises the world’s largest agencies on how to transform themselves, both internally and externally, in order to return to a growth trajectory. In Prague, he will also present his latest book, which is dedicated precisely to the transformation of agencies.

Brian Kessman, founder of the consultancy firm Lodestar Agency Consulting, will also be speaking there. He helps the management of independent agencies and global networks to transition from the traditional model based on hourly rates to a model that recognises the true value and business results that agencies deliver to their clients. He is the author of the influential publication *Redesigning the Agency Value Model*, which has become one of the most cited works on the future of the agency economy in the age of artificial intelligence.

Participants will also see Cătălin Dobre. He is one of the biggest stars on the European advertising scene, with more than forty Cannes Lions to his name, including the very first Grand Prix for the Central and Eastern European region. He has also succeeded in transforming the Bucharest branch of the global McCann network into a creative workshop that produces campaigns for more than 100 markets worldwide. He is a proponent of the ‘creative effectiveness’ school of thought, based on the belief that creativity should, above all, generate business results and cultural impact, rather than merely media attention. The interview with him will be conducted by Jakub Hodboď from WPP.

Among the previously announced speakers, we should particularly mention Joah Santos, an expert in brand and community building, who was behind Dove’s famous ‘Real Beauty’ campaign. Also coming to Prague is Mark Borkowski, one of the most influential figures in PR in recent decades, who has advised, amongst others, Michael Jackson, Mikhail Gorbachev and the band Led Zeppelin. You can also look forward to Nick Couldry, a professor at the London School of Economics, who will speak about “digital colonialism”, currently practised by major digital platforms, led by social media.

Forum Media will take place on 10 November at the O2 Universum in Prague. You can find the full list of speakers here.

Source: mediaguru.cz