Wildfire :: Flammable Thinking

The list of speakers lined up for this event pretty much speaks for itself. From global marketers to icons of the blogosphere, we’ve attracted the players who set the agendas and are rewriting the rules.

The line-up is yet to be finalised so watch this space for news of even more influential opinion-formers as and when they sign-up. Remember, charisma is contagious.

The speakers

Ajaz Ahmed: Chairman and Co-Founder, AKQA.
Russell Davies: Founder, Open Intelligence Agency.

The world’s getting all blurry, in case you hadn’t noticed. Brands are now having to be interesting or useful. Ideally, they’d even be both. learning from the cheap and dramatic spread of new technology and moving towards an attitude that’s less prescriptive, and more ‘always in beta’.
Matt Dickinson: Film-maker and writer.

Today Matt will be taking us deep into the Death Zone—where risk levels are so high that one in six climbers don’t come back. This is a world where only a handful of elite teams achieve enduring success—and many fail with catastrophic consequences. Who are the teams who are truly equipped to tackle the challenges of a fast changing future? And what are the leadership tactics that brings those teams back alive?
Miguel Fluxa Orti: Vice President, Camper.

In today’s frenetic brand landscape, Camper’s brand philosophy has translated our Majorcan-crafted shoe designs into fashion iconography, and inspired a hotel and restaurant chain. Camper has always set its own agenda, eschewing category convention in favour of community and ecology. Miguel will be explaining the success behind this extraordinary brand, which keeps its ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ ethic at the heart of everything it does.
Ze Frank: Designer, Performer, Consultant (www.zefrank.com/theshow).

The transition to an ‘authorship society’ brings with it massive amounts of content to consume – nowadays, everyone is creating, blogging, taking picture with their phones and camcorders, uploading content to their websites etc. This creates new relationships between people – new communities and new relationships between our notion of creativity itself. This real time creativity affects the way we think about teaching and learning.
Sarah Gavin: Communications Director, Bebo.

Users of social networks have grown up with mobile phones, high-tech games and the internet, and they are using digital media in highly sophisticated ways. This new audience has a compelling desire to participate, a desire to communicate and a desire to be heard! They are no longer just 'surfing' - they are socialising. Sarah will examine this exploding phenomenon and look at the potential for advertisers to harness the power of consumer feedback and user-generated content to connect with today's young and savvy consumers.
Jon Kamen: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of @radical.media.

To better understand the future, one must look curiously into the past. If our business doesn't embrace change, we'll be "driven out of Dodge" and Felix the Cat will have our lunch. A must see event from the other side of the pond!
Paul Kemp-Robertson: Editor of Contagious.

As technology accelerates, dragging the ad industry along for the ride, brands have to hit on some extraordinarily creative ways to get their message across. Happily, Contagious has rounded all the best bits up, so you don’t have to. Sit back, relax, and learn how it’s done.
Cameron Saunders: Head of Marketing, Digital Channels, Channel 4.

TV’s not dead, it just looks a bit different. Cameron will be looking at ways to profit from the convergence of content and connectivity, showing how to make the most of what’s still the most exciting audiovisual experience available in your living room.
Tom Savigar: Trends Director, The Future Laboratory.

Rolodex Teens. Emos, moshers, skaters, New Ravers, Nathan Barleys, mic massives, trackies, piratopians: once you chose your ‘tribe’ and stuck to it, but now teens and 20somethings flit and spin between identities. Here Tom looks at the effective targeting of the Bluestreak generation, the rise of nano culture and the impact this has on marketing to young consumers.
Reuben Steiger: Chief Executive Officer, Millions of Us.

The explosion of virtual worlds and their communities in the past twelve months has been phenomenal. As the virtual realm becomes increasingly integrated into the lives of millions, their cultural and social importance cannot be underestimated. Reuben will be exploring this relevance, and examining the ways in which brands can integrate themselves genuinely and usefully into this environment.
Rishad Tobaccowala: Chief Executive Officer of Denuo, Chief Innovations Officer of Publicis Groupe.

In this presentation, Rishad identifies the key challenges facing organizations in a changing world and proposes seven key drivers of success in a fast moving, people controlled marketing environment.
Mark Tutssel: Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide.
Johnny Vulkan: Partner, Innovations, Anomaly.

Branded Utility is more than just about brands being useful through their marketing. At its best it begins to scratch the surface of defining the role of brands, products and companies in a modern society. How we support these first steps will define our own success along with them.
Jordan Weisman: Chief Creative Officer, 42 Entertainment.

In 2001, the first HIVE mind was formed to solve the mysterious story surrounding Steven Spielburg's film AI. A giant collaborative team of millions, a HIVE, combines every skill set, every knowledge base, and unlimited resources to become the most powerful super-brain on the planet.

Focusing that power on your brand's story is certainly playing with fire, but well handled that fire can be the spark that creates a cultural event that leaves lasting brand impressions and deep emotional connections.

Ajaz Ahmed
Chairman and Co-Founder, AKQA

Ajaz co-founded AKQA in London in October 1995 with the founding values of Innovation, Service, Quality and Thought. Today AKQA is the world's largest independent digital network and employs around 350 people with offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Washington D.C. and Singapore. AKQA's clients include: Xbox, Nike, Coca-Cola, Sainsbury's, Unilever. AKQA has been named Agency of the Year five times in the last two years and has been named "most respected agency" twice in a peer survey by New Media Age magazine.

Prior to AKQA, Ajaz worked with Apple. A recognized pioneer and innovator, Ajaz won the prestigious Advertising Age International and Forbes Media Innovator of the Year award in 1998. He is a Reviewer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management. Ajaz received an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University, England in 2002. In 2003, Ajaz was a mentor for students at Said Business School, University of Oxford. In 2004 Ajaz was appointed to the Council of the Institute of Contemporary Arts and was also named by the UK Department of Trade and Industry as one of the most influential people to drive the growth of e-commerce. In 2005 Ajaz was elected a fellow of The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

Ajaz co-authored Made in AKQA: Ideas Volume 1, the agency's first book which features 21 award-winning projects.