Ryanair, Pepsi, Mondelez Leaders to Headline ad:tech London's 'Digital Decade'

LONDON, May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

New Ryanair CMO Kenny Jacobs will give his first UK keynote since joining the budget airline at ad:tech London on 21-22 October in a speaker line-up that features contributions from Mondelez VP Global Media Bonin Bough and Pepsi India CEO & Chairman 'Shiv' Shivakumar.

Appointed as Ryanair's first CMO in January this year, former Moneysupermarket and Tesco marketer Jacobs will oversee the company's brand transformation strategy. Yesterday, the firm announced that it would treble its marketing budget to £29 million in a bid to improve the end-to-end customer experience and drive sales.

Also among ad:tech London's keynotes are BBH CEO Ben Fennell, YouTube EMEA Chief Ben McOwen Wilson and Leonard Brody, "the controversial torchbearer for a new world order", Investor, Futurologist and Co-Owner of Coventry City Football Club.

This year's content and speaker line-up will be curated around ad:tech London's 10th birthday theme, 'Digital Decade: Past, Present, Future.

Newly moved to late October at London's Olympia venue and a meeting point for over 5,000 marketing and media professionals, ad:tech London will examine how what we know about consumers, marketing and technology today can help us to anticipate and the opportunities, challenges and trends that will define the next decade.

A diverse range of brand, agency and media leaders have been lined up to lead industry dialogue across a range of the most prescient issues including Future Media & Technology, Data-Driven Precision Marketing, Engagement & Brand Experience and Platforms & Devices. They include former CMO turned Pepsi CEO & Chairman 'Shiv', who will be sharing his views on what the West can learn from the East based on the experience of running multinational companies in the India market.

"Ryanair has transformed the travel business with a second-to-none value proposition and service that punctually transports more than 80 million passengers per year, making us the world's favourite airline," said Jacobs.

"Our commitment to enhancing the Ryanair product will see us completely overhaul the customer experience, from online booking and management through to in-flight entertainment. We will be putting significant resource into social media, mobile, our own content and traditional advertising with the specific aim of making the whole process transparent and easy for our customers.

"I'm very much looking forward to discussing our plans in more detail with the marketing and media community at ad:tech London."

More keynotes and speakers will be announced over the coming weeks.

"Unprecedented consumer, technology and economic change over the last decade make the role of today's marketing and media professional barely recognisable from that of a decade ago. From the products we sell to the way we invest in media and the people we hire, the pace of change has been truly remarkable," added James Drake-Brockman, Head of ad:tech in EMEA & India.

"ad:tech London's 10th birthday is a timely opportunity to consider how what we know about consumers and the industry today can help us to stay ahead of the curve tomorrow. We're looking forward to bringing the biggest brand, agency and media protagonists to contribute to the debate and roadmap the industry's next stage of evolution."

In addition to the free keynotes and pay-to-attend conference, ad:tech London will feature a 150-strong exhibition marketplace and seminar programme where industry professionals can meet the most innovative agencies, partners, trade bodies and solution providers.

Registration for the conference and exhibition is now open via ad:tech London's new website. Click here for further details.

Notes to Editors: 

About ad:tech

ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition - a marketplace for buying and selling, a community for networking, a forum for exchanging ideas and an opportunity for contributing to industry trends and initiatives.

Ten annual events around the world focus on top-notch education through keynote speakers, topic-driven panels and workshops as well as showcase the latest products and services to help implement new knowledge and ideas. Attendees leave ad:tech with the tools and techniques they need to compete in an ever-changing world.

For further information and to request a press pass, please contact: 

Dan Brain
Head of Content - Digital
dmg events
t. +44(020)3615-1697
danielbrain@dmgevents.com