Speakers

her deep appreciation of the customer, her courage to ask difficult questions in order to understand, and her drive to innovate. Her diverse experience in the travel, loyalty, mobile and technology fields enables her to bring a fresh perspective to solving the toughest challenges. Prior roles include Associate VP of Marketing at FGL Sports, Regional VP of Marketing at IHG, and Director of Loyalty Optimization and Design at Aimia. Jo began her marketing career with tier 1 technology and telecommunications brands; Samsung, HP and Koodo Mobile.

TBA

Shawn Bloom has over 20 years of progressive experience in loyalty marketing, CRM and loyalty management across multiple verticals including financial services, retail, entertainment and grocery. He is currently the Vice President CRM & Loyalty at Sobeys. In this role he is responsible for overseeing loyalty strategy and planning, direct to customer communications, financial services and gift card. Prior to Sobeys, Shawn was Vice President at SCENE, the loyalty program for Cineplex and Scotiabank. While at SCENE he was accountable for the day-to-day operations of the SCENE program for its nine million members, for leading the programs’ digital strategy and for leading and developing strategic partnerships. Prior to SCENE, Shawn was Director of the Hbc Rewards program and Hbc Gift Card, at the Hudson’s Bay Company. At Hbc, he was responsible for program development, P&L management, marketing and strategy. Before moving to the Hudson’s Bay Company Shawn worked at American Express leading communications and partnerships for the Membership Rewards program. Shawn holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.

Danielle Brown is an experienced marketing leader, responsible for building and growing a number of successful marketing teams at national and global organizations. She builds deep, broad teams with wide brand/ performance/ revenue scopes. An expert in change management, she is also a trained negotiator and facilitator, who is skilled at building consensus and driving businesses forward. Her experience stretches across the worlds of entertainment, wireless, loyalty, retail and tech. In November of 2018, Danielle joined Knix as Chief Marketing Officer. She is charged with leading the growth and development of the Revenue, Brand, E-commerce, Creative, Analytics, Acquisitions & Retention aspects of the business.

Steve Buors is a leading authority on digital marketing for multi-location businesses. He works with national and international brands to develop inventive strategies using existing and emerging technologies to find new customers, increase sales, and combine the best of national brand strength with local relevance. Steve is CEO and co-founder of Reshift Media, a full-service digital agency that specializes in developing and implementing industry-leading social media, search and website/mobile strategies to enable brands to achieve tangible business results. Reshift Media often collaborates with other advertising agencies to develop, implement and manage digital strategies that amplify existing media campaigns. As a senior executive, entrepreneur and thought leader in the digital marketing industry, Steve has spoken at a variety of events, hosted many webinars and actively contributes to a number of blogs.

Jonathan Cavaliere is a menswear influencer and entrepreneur from Toronto, Ontario. He began his career in the fashion retail industry at the age of 16 and hasn’t looked back since. Although life pulled him in different directions—like travelling to Brazil to pursue a semi-professional soccer career —he always returned to the industry that inspired him most. While studying Fashion Business at Humber College, he started a personal style blog that still bears his name: Mr. Cavaliere. He put his education to good use by serving as the Fashion Director for a high-end menswear boutique, working as an editorial stylist for a variety of brands, and starting his own personal shopping and consulting business. It was after earning the title of Canada’s Sharpest Man from Sharp Magazine and Hudson’s Bay that he was able to devote himself full-time to Mr. Cavaliere, transforming it into a men’s fashion and lifestyle platform with thousands of monthly readers. His brand has attracted partnerships with Salvatore Ferragamo, Michael Kors, Adidas, Perry Ellis, and many more.

Paula Courtney is a retail strategist, trusted by retail leaders around the world to help them refine and create a superior customer experience. She is the product owner and chief collaborator at WisePlum, a SaaS-based research tool designed to measure specific customer insights. WisePlum is a collaboration between LoyaltyOne, a global leader in customer analytics and loyalty program design, and the Verde Group, a customer insights consultancy specialized in identifying, measuring, analyzing and resolving the financial impact of customer dissatisfaction. As CEO and Founder of the Verde Group, Paula has pioneered methodologies that have transformed retailers’ understanding of their customers. Paula is a sought-after industry keynote speaker and a frequent lecturer at the Wharton School of Business. She is fluent in French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Senior Vice President, Customer Experience

A customer-focused, technology-savvy professional who has been instrumental in developing strategic growth opportunities and has a successful track-record of exceeding revenue, operational and NPS targets. He has built innovative digital products, implemented and optimized digital sales and service experiences, with a specialty on the application of big data and marketing innovation. He has experience in digital product development, digital marketing, customer experience, loyalty, big data, marketing automation, and innovation. Equally comfortable in corporate, agency and startup environments, he has demonstrated the ability to add value in different scenarios and offers diverse industry experience in financial services, automotive, telecommunications, retail, and utilities. Recognized for strong leadership and relationship skills, he has effectively managed teams from 2 to 130, along with complex internal and external relationships. He has scaled high performance cross functional teams and as a strategic leader, coached and mentored them by cultivating a spirit of collaboration. He is an ENTP He likes funky socks He has 2 kids He will challenge rules to drive innovation He plays the drums He works hard and has fun doing it

Francois is one of the founding partners at Relation1 and currently serves as VP of Consulting Services and General Manager of the Toronto office. Francois oversees Relation1's consultancy business practice and a diverse team of industry experts on retail, loyalty and data-driven marketing. Through his leadership, Relation1 is committed to working alongside our clients to solve their most difficult problems in reaching personalization and to harness its fullest potential. He is a regular speaker at conferences and industry events on this key topic. A graduate of the University of Sherbrooke, Francois is an expert in digital marketing and marketing technologies. His dual expertise on these subjects allows him to identify the most optimal way to leverage IT and customer data for the benefits of customer-centric marketing. He is passionate about developing data-driven strategies, pragmatic implementation roadmaps and innovative solutions that increase sales and drive customer engagement.

For over 20 years, Richard has been leading the advertising and marketing of some of Canada’s best-known brands on both the client and agency side running large omni-channel marketing departments. Richard’s intimate understanding of retail marketing began during his experience on the retail floor where he spent eight years with Woolco/ Walmart and helped open Canada’s first and second Walmart stores. As Vice President at Havas/Saffer, Richard led the marketing for Home Hardware Stores Ltd, helping build one of Canada’s most respected brands and increasing sales for Dealers for over 10 years. He created Home Hardware’s social media department, and developed the strategies and tactics taking their social media presence from zero to being named #1 Best Brand on Facebook in 2015 by Canadian Business Magazine, #10 Best Brand on Twitter, and one of Canada’s Top 10 Social Brands by Marketing Magazine in 2014. In addition to building sales and segment leading advertising recall, Richard is proud of helping Home Hardware win some major awards including being named one of Canada’s Most Valued Brands for four straight years (2012 – 2016), and Top 25 Brands in Canada for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 as rated by Canadian Business. Richard has demonstrated proven marketing and advertising leadership abilities on several brands such as Honda, Acura, Taco Bell, General Motors, Nokia, Rogers, 3M, Canon, Four Seasons, and Ford. Richard is currently the Director of Marketing at Ace Canada. Ace Canada is proud to be part of Lowe’s Canadian businesses, which together operate or service over 600 corporate and independent affiliate dealer stores across Canada in a number of complementary formats under different banners. For more than 90 years, Ace Hardware has been known as the helpful place in thousands of neighbourhoods globally, providing customers with a more personal kind of helpful. With more than 5,000 hardware stores locally owned and operated around the globe, Ace is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world.

I’m Shannae Ingleton Smith, but you can call me TorontoShay. I’m an astrology-obsessed, reality TV-addicted, shopping habit-having wife, mama and media professional. I am friendly, zealous and a little bit cray but I also think that my quirks and craziness help me genuinely relate to and connect with others ❤️ As a new mom and newlywed I have so much to share about the feelings, experiences (and outfits!) that come with this new world. So… here you’ll find my life, my style, and my confessions, all told from my beautifully scattered perspective as I navigate life with my favorite people by my side … in the city I love more than anywhere else.

Michael has 20+ years of brand/retail/marketing leadership experience and is considered by many as a pioneer in the Canadian omni-channel and e-Commerce retail space. As an award-winning insight driven strategic marketer with a passion for holistic retail brand/customer experience, Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career with brands such as Black & Decker, Levi Strauss & Co, Hudson’s Bay, CanWest Media, The Shopping Channel and Herbal Magic. After spending almost three years advocating and lobbying for the Canadian retail industry at Retail Council of Canada (RCC), Michael formed M. E. LeBlanc & Company to leverage this knowledge and experience back onto the front lines and regularly is invited to share his insights on the current and future retail industry in Canada and around the world.

Frederick has joined Golf Town as Vice President of Marketing and eCommerce, to turn the brand around by elevating its digital footprint and creating an interconnected retail landscape that allows eCommerce to successfully coexist with brick and mortar. From designing and implementing a cutting-edge omni-channel plan to enhancing Golf Town’s digital presence, Frederick applies an innovative approach to building emotional connections with customers. Before engaging in the journey to establish Golf Town Ltd.’s brand as Canada’s home of golf, Frederick led the Sport Chek digital marketing and eCommerce transformation as SVP of Marketing. He also brought forward ground-breaking digital change with the launch of Canada’s first digital flyer program and rollout of several eCommerce sites for the FGL and Marks banners (Sport Chek, Sports Experts, Atmosphere, Marks). For over 15 years, Frederick has influenced top organizations in roles such as Vice President for Global Brand Marketing & Digital Strategy at LG Electronics Corp in Seoul, Marketing Director for Microsoft Europe, and Marketing Director at Nokia. Prior to revolutionizing brands as a digital disruptor, Frederick’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to take part in two successful start-ups projects in Europe — one in eCommerce and another in media.

Lauren MacDonald is the Chief Marketing Officer for IKEA Canada. She oversees Marketing Communication, Media, Consumer Insights, and Loyalty and CRM and sits on the Canadian senior leadership team. Previous to joining IKEA, Lauren was with PepsiCo for ten years. Lauren has a rich international background and has both studied and worked abroad. She has lived in five different countries spanning North America, Europe, UK, and the Middle East. She is a classically trained marketer who has worked on blue chip brands like Pepsi, Gatorade, and Walkers Crisps. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Queen’s University. Lauren is a steadfast Toronto Blue Jays fan, baseball trivia enthusiast and avid yogi.

As the Vice President of AIR MILES Marketing, Rachel is responsible for overseeing the strategy, social programs and marketing communications designed to increase the engagement and profitability of the 10 million plus Collectors in the AIR MILES Reward Program, Canada’s premier coalition loyalty program. With over 20 years of national and global marketing experience in B2B and B2C environments, Rachel has a proven record of executing programs and strategies centered around customer segmentation, direct marketing, brand management, loyalty program design and public relations, to increase customer engagement while driving sustainable business results. Since joining LoyaltyOne, operator of the AIR MILES Reward Program, in 2004, Rachel has assumed several roles integral to the organization’s brand development, including leadership positions within LoyaltyOne’s International division, Corporate Marketing and Communications, and the Knowledge Office. Rachel holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University. Rachel’s previous speaking experience includes the NBA Partner Summit, Shell Leadership Conference, and she has been the invited speaker at several York University Marketing classes, various internal MAB, and internal AIR MILES Reward Program Town Hall events.

Mike leads the marketing efforts for Adobe in Canada with a focus on delivering experiences that help compel Canada’s top brands and organizations to want to do business with Adobe. We creatively utilize technology and initiatives to effectively deliver value and the right message, to the right person, at the right time. Mike continues to work enthusiastically to develop an excellent understanding of marketing and is fortunate to have received invaluable training from his 25 years of Canadian tech sector experience as well as formal training at UofT, Wharton and corporate programs. He enjoys giving back by sharing these insights with MBA classes, various industry conferences and on LinkedIn.

Jesse is a proven leader with over 15 years experience in business development, consumer packaged goods (CPG), marketing, corporate strategy, and brand partnerships. Currently, Jesse is the Managing Director of North America for Stocard, a mobile wallet company based in Germany, operating in 7 countries with more than 30 million active users worldwide. Launching the North American office in Toronto in September 2018, Jesse oversees operations, go-to-market strategy, P&L, agency partnerships, and client consulting on loyalty best practices. Prior to joining Stocard, Jesse was Sr. Sales Director at Flipp, where he built and lead partnerships with retailers in the U.S. and Western Canada. Jesse also spent time at ConAgra Foods, where he hit aggressive sales targets and forged partnerships with consumer brands such Walmart, Loblaw’s, Metro, and Sobeys. Jesse graduated with a BA from Brock University and an AD at Conestoga College.

Jeremy Miller is a Brand Strategist and the bestselling author of Sticky Branding. He helps ambitious teams grow their businesses and brands to the next level. Jeremy comes by his expertise honestly. After watching his family’s business nearly hit rock bottom, he was forced to take a hard look at the way the company was run and at their industry as a whole. Jeremy realized it wasn’t his company's sales people or marketing processes that were failing, it was the brand. This insight caused him to regroup, revamp, and rebrand the business. Within a year, the company turned the corner and rocketed into growth mode. And in 2013 he sold the business. It was this experience that compelled Jeremy to embark on a decade-long study of how companies grow recognizable, memorable brands — what he calls Sticky Brands. One of Jeremy’s key discoveries from the research is everyone is creative, provided they’re given structure. Jeremy shows organizations of all sizes how to unlock the creative genius of teams to solve complex sales and marketing challenges. As an inspirational keynote speaker, his blend of humor, stories, and actionable ideas will inspire you to innovate and grow your business and brand from the inside out.

At 17, Eric cut his teeth in the retail sector pushing the latest technologies at the time - Windows 95 and laptops - at none other than the iconic Canadian retailer Future Shop. Yes, he was a pushy salesman, but what better way to learn the rigours of retail. Eric then moved on to the banking and software industry, where he spent 20 years working on high volume transactions. With this knowledge of retail and software in tow, Eric founded Taarga, a pioneering company in bi-directional communications in the automotive industry; now used by more than 1,500 dealerships in 13 countries. After refining the technology behind high performance marketing databases in automotive, Eric saw a similar opportunity in the clothing retail space, and partnered with his former colleague James Elenakis to launch Raange, where today they're helping retailers crush sales.

Matt has seventeen years of multifaceted experience in media and marketing, having held various agency, ad tech consulting, and client-side roles, notably, leading the Connections team at AB InBev in Canada. A dynamic leader, he applies his relentless drive to improve marketing effectiveness by connecting brands with audiences in more targeted and measurable ways. As Managing Director of Reprise Canada, Matt leads a team of over ninety specialists with unparalleled expertise in all facets of digital performance and marketing services. Under his leadership, Matt guides Reprise as they implement leading-edge digital campaigns that integrate search, social, mobile, content and eCommerce capabilities to drive results across leading brands and retailers. With technology outpacing traditional marketing practices, Matt’s time is focused on providing strategic counsel around how to make digital experiences work together to drive business forward for clients. He also provides on-going thought leadership and leads agency partnership strategy with Google, Facebook, Amazon and other major partners in the Canadian market.

Chris Renton is the Chief Growth Officer at SnapPay, the leading Alipay and WeChat Pay Gateway, providing marketing and payment acceptance solutions for North American Merchants. Chris is an expert at launching and scaling major new customer facing financial and customer experience technologies, and has held senior leadership roles at TruRating – Head of Sales, MasterCard – VP & Head of Merchant Relationships and Visa – Director Sales. Chris was instrumental in the successful launch of TruRating, MasterPass, Visa Debit and the Visa Contactless product lines. He is passionate about emerging technologies in the marketing, customer experience and payments space, and is an industry driver for creating better consumer experiences and fostering retail sales growth.

Zena is a CRM marketing, strategy and loyalty professional with over a decade of experience in the UK and North American industries. Starting her career as a data analyst, she has a deep appreciation for data and turning it into tangible output for clients. From data matching, propensity modelling to management reporting, getting the right information out of systems is half the battle! Building on her knowledge of data science, she has since moved into client lead, strategy and account management roles, helping clients understand what the data points mean and turning insight into actions across automotive, CPG and recently FI verticals. She has previously worked at Proximity London, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH London), dunnhumby and Cossette. Being an advocate for client’s customers, she believes that putting the customer at the heart of business decisions and making their experiences personalized is the key to growing their loyalty and to keep them coming back. Zena holds a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Computing and Management Science from Sheffield Hallam University, England.

Shawn joined Canadian Tire in 2014 to lead the launch of the digital loyalty program and has since led the launch of the recent Triangle Rewards Program. He also leads customer research, insights and is accountable for building and integrating Canadian Tire’s #1 Retail Brand NPS program. Prior to Canadian Tire he led Retail and Customer Analytics for the Air Miles loyalty program and during his consulting career with Accenture and McKinsey he worked with over 30+ retailers on marketing, merchandising, loyalty and analytics programs. Earlier in his career he was a statistician specializing in econometrics.

Neil Sweeney founded and serves as CEO of Freckle IoT, a global data company specializing in media measurement and identity. Freckle is the company’s media measurement product which determines the effectiveness of advertising to drive customers to a physical location. Killi, their newest product, is a consent management solution for solving privacy challenges facing consumers and companies. Killi allows consumers to control their identity and sell it for cash to companies looking for compliant first-party data. He previously founded JUICE Mobile, a mobile technology and advertising firm, that he led. He has also owned StreamTheWorld – a venture he helped transform into the world’s first, and largest, in-stream programmatic audio platform prior to its sale in June 2010. Technologies Neil created are used by Fortune 50 brands like Coca-Cola, Lowe’s, Walmart, General Motors, Unilever and Mondelez. They are also the core component of the top media demand side platforms, including Adelphic, The Trade Desk, AppNexus, MediaMath; RocketFuel and TubeMogul. Neil has received numerous academic and business awards. He was awarded a gold medal at the 2007 Media Innovation awards for his integration of mobile technology into the Grammys – an initiative that has since been taken worldwide – and many others. Neil has also been named among Deloitte’s Fast 50 three years in a row and is a two-time Finalist for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Neil is a Mentor at Next36, a large startup accelerator organization as well as an adviser to more than 12 individual entrepreneurs and startups. He has been featured in Bloomberg, MSNBC, Ad Age, Adweek, AdExchanger, VentureBeat, MediaPost, and others. Neil is a frequent industry speaker, having been on stage at IAB, M1, and StreetFight summits as well as Mobile World Congress and investment panels, including Progress Partners.

Andrew’s career spans over 22 years in the retail and consumer-goods industries. He currently manages health & wellness and industry relations for Retail Council of Canada. In his role, Andrew leads stakeholder engagement for member retailers for the portfolios of: health & wellness, responsible sourcing and animal welfare, among others. Andrew previously led the sustainability efforts for Walmart’s Canadian market, and was a member of the Walmart global sustainability leaders team. Prior to Walmart, he held a range of sales and category management positions with General Mills Canada and The Nielsen Company of Canada. Andrew is a sought-after speaker on the topic of retail sustainability, and was involved in mentorship programs at various MBA schools across Ontario for many years. He holds a degree from the University of British Columbia.

Trinh Tham is a seasoned business leader with experience developing top talent, P&L management and growing some of Canada’s favourite brands including Sobeys, Tim Hortons, CTV, HBO, Loblaws and President’s Choice. Trinh is currently the VP, Integrated Marketing at Sobeys with oversight of all banner and private label brand strategy, marketing services, media, digital and social media, creative studio, sponsorships, and PR. Prior to Sobeys, Trinh also held roles as VP of Integrated Marketing at Tim Hortons and Head of Marketing for Entertainment TV Brands at Bell Media. She also spent close to 8 years of her career at Loblaws where she held various roles including Senior Director of Merchandising, Senior Director of Private Label Marketing and Senior Director of Ethnic Marketing. Trinh obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Marketing and a Minor in Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

Peter van Stolk is the CEO of Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery or SPUD.caTM, the largest pure play online grocer in Canada. SPUD.ca is focused on creating meaningful relationships with Canadians around the benefits of local, organic food. SPUD.ca operates in 4 markets and utilizes proprietary technology. This allows the company to provide free delivery throughout the 4 Western Canadian cities it services. With 700 employees, SPUD.ca is building community among its customers both online and off with a unique omni-channel strategy of hyper-local small markets through its retail brands, Be Fresh Local Market, Blush Lane Organics and Organic Acres Market. van Stolk believes: “Food will have the greatest impact on our generation. How we think about food, how we buy food, and how we consume food will change, and we are excited to be a part of this transformation”. As founder of Jones Soda Company in 1987, van Stolk served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors until 2007. Jones Soda was one of the first consumer branded companies that recognized the potential of Social Media in creating emotional connections with its consumers. van Stolk has been recognized for his business savvy and innovative branding strategies in various publications such as The New York Times®, CNN®, Wall Street Journal®, Fast CompanyTM, Inc.MagazineTM and People Magazine®. Peter has received numerous business awards including Price, Waterhouse, Coopers’ 40 under 40, Brand Week’s Top 100 Marketer, and was chosen as one of Canada’s Top One Hundred Canadians by MacLean’s Magazine®.

Leveraging 25 years of working with executives from many of the world’s best known retail brands, agencies, and technology companies, Sam’s expertise in connecting insights, corporate analysis and consumer behaviour is unparalleled. He is thrilled to be able to share his experience and insights at Future Stores. Sam is both a Board member and President of Unefi, the parent company for RMS - an enterprise retail management software and marketing automation platform that is leading the shift to technology as a critical element of unifying commerce. As President of RMS, Sam’s focus is on overseeing the leadership team, global sales and support teams. Prior to launching RMS, Sam was focused on retail marketing as a Partner at CV Studio, where he was responsible for developing and driving strategy for global retail executions, marketing services, and data. Viewed as an innovative force in driving retail of the future, Sam has been – and continues to be – an active adviser and board member at various adtech and martech companies.

Breadth of international experience in the Americas and EMEA includes: Leading teams across multiple markets, strategic planning, brand management, 360 marketing (traditional & digital), communications, organizational development, budget management, product/portfolio development, quantitative/financial analysis, contract negotiation, vendor and agency management and leading cross-functional project teams. Currently leading Strategy & Innovation for the Canadian Branded Solutions team with a focus on exploring the white space and creating solutions to accelerate our growth. Prior to this role, I lead partner communications (internal communications) for Canada working closely with the leadership team on internal communication strategy to lead and engage our partner base (employees) of over 13,000. Previously, Director of Marketing EMEA at Starbucks responsible for: leading a team across multiple markets supporting a diverse region of 34 countries; launching new brands, marketing channels & innovative products; creating strategic 360 marketing promotions to develop the brand and drive the business; creating, implementing, executing and reviewing trading plans across all markets with a variety of ownership models (company owned, Franchising & Licensing); opening new markets; channel marketing; analyzing business needs and organizational development.