Byron Sharp joins Festival of Marketing line-up

Professor Byron Sharp is the latest marketing leader to be added to the stellar line-up for the Festival of Marketing (18 – 21 October), joining the likes of Marketing Week columnists Mark Ritson and Helen Edwards. 

Hosted by Marketing Week editor-in-chief Russell Parsons, Sharp’s session entitled ‘Everyone hates marketers, even marketers hate marketers’, will explore how marketing can be used to power growth, discussing marketers’ ability to transform the fortunes of the businesses they work for. The discussion will be a celebration of what marketers can achieve, as well as an exploration of what might be getting in their way.

One of the most influential minds in marketing, Sharp is the author of How Brands Grow and serves as both a professor of marketing science and director at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.

Another unmissable speaker is Mini MBA founder and Marketing Week columnist, Professor Mark Ritson. He will be discussing how small businesses can get big marketing outcomes despite lower budgets and resources. Ritson will be outlining how the fundamental concepts of marketing can be used by smaller businesses to land massive brand results.

A fellow standout speaker is Passionbrand founder and Marketing Week columnist Helen Edwards, who will show marketers how to avoid stagnation by moving ‘forwards not sideways’. Expect an example laden, inspiring talk to help marketers keep their ambitions high, steer themselves around the pitfalls and foster breakthrough innovation.

The Festival of Marketing is also honoured to have actor and comedian Eddie Izzard sharing her story on how she crafted comedy into storytelling. The session on creativity and challenges will cover her tremendous feat of running 27 marathons in 27 days, as well as discussing her feeling of being trapped in the wrong body since the age of four.