WHERE THE BRANDS OF TOMORROW DEFINE THE FUTURE OF COMMERCE
FUTR GROUP OPENING
WELCOME ADDRESS & PLENARY MC
CHAIR: Simon Hearn, Managing Director, SJH PARTNERSHIPS
OPENING KEYNOTE
In a world where a hundreds of well funded start ups fight with incumbents, attention spans shatter with hundreds of media channels and the trifecta of chat, gaming, social commerce taking over share of mind, how can brands win share sustainably. Unilever International is the fast growing global white space division of Unilever that has thrived in this environment and will share lessons from a 1000 brand launches done over the past few years.
Aseem Puri, Chief Executive Officer, UNILEVER INTERNATIONAL
• How are brands and retailers tracking, segmenting and forecasting consumer behavior?
• Who is the future customer; their persona and profile?
• What are the trends in consumer expectations, habits and interactions across the region?
30 MINUTE PANEL
Satyaki Banerjee, Group Chief Operating Officer, LUXASIA
Fetty Kwartati, CEO, PT SARINAH
Sherawaye Hagger, Head of Comms & PR, Region East Asia, H&M
MODERATOR: Madhurjya Banerjee, Senior Global Brand Director Oral Care, UNILEVER
Join Papri Dev, Vice President of APAC Communications, Tinder, and Evangeline Leong, Founder and CEO of Kobe Global Technologies, for a deep dive into the art of making winning matches for Generation Z. With their unique perspective towards making new connections and falling in love – with people and with brands, learn more about how brands like Tinder are tailoring communications and marketing strategies to appeal to this future generation, from IRL experiences to influencer marketing.
30 MINUTE FIRESIDE CHAT
Papri Dev, VP APAC Communications, TINDER
Evangeline Leong, Founder & CEO, KOBE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
MODERATOR: Simon Hearn Managing Director, SJH PARTNERSHIPS
TRACK CHAIR: Vishwesh Iyer, Publisher, ASIABIZTODAY
TRACK CHAIR: Michelle Koh, Founding Partner, Growth & Innovation, SAYA
TRACK CHAIR: Andy Edmonds, General Manager, MSQ ASIA
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Anil Konidena, CEO & President Director, LANDMARK GROUP SEA
People today are increasingly looking to global brands to make the world a better place. For marketers, this expands our sphere of influence beyond driving the business to driving social impact as well. One powerful way of doing this is through inclusive marketing. But what does inclusive marketing truly entail? And how do you transition from a well-meaning marketing campaign to meaningful cultural impact while achieving measurable ROI?
In this CMO Masterclass, Mastercard’s head of marketing & communications for Asia Pacific, Julie Nestor, reveals the brand’s leading approach to inclusive marketing that celebrates diversity as it strengthens the business. From the Cannes Lion Grand Prix-winning ‘True Name’ campaign empowering transgender and nonbinary cardholders to use their True Name, to creating another Lion winner, Australia’s first pictureless motion picture for the blind and low vision community, designing open-source technology for wheelchair users to become tennis ball kids and so much more, Mastercard has set the standard. Join this session to learn how to innovate thoughtfully, leverage technologies creatively, and drive meaningful consumer engagement for your company.
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Julie Nestor, Executive Vice President Head of Marketing and Communications Asia Pacific, MASTERCARD
To meet the evolving needs of its customers, DBS embarked on an ambitious transformation programme. A cultivated culture of customer obsession, achieved through a deliberate transformation programme and innovative strategies, has helped the bank consistently drive growth and exceptional customer experiences. Bidyut Dumra, its Head of Innovation, will share insights on what it takes for organisations to transform and enable sustainable culture change.
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Bidyut Dumra, Head of Innovation, DBS BANK
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Vaibhav Dabhade, CEO & Founder, ANCHANTO
This session provides a practical framework for integrating brand and performance strategies to achieve explosive growth. Learn how strong brands influence consumer behavior, enhance performance campaigns, and drive measurable results. We’ll explore real-world case studies and unveil Google’s latest tools to help you build a winning brand and maximize your ROI.
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Deepak Chandran, Head of Ads Research & Marketing Effectiveness, GOOGLE APAC
The session will explore how organizations can establish content ecosystems that merge cutting-edge AI technologies with human creativity. By blending automation with expert talent, enterprises can streamline content production, personalize customer experiences, and address the evolving demands of a digital-first world. This session highlights practical strategies for scaling content operations, empowering teams, and delivering impactful, data-driven narratives, ensuring a seamless alignment with business objectives and audience expectations.
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Anirudh Singla, Founder & CEO, PEPPER CONTENT
Join us as we delve into the world of convenience retailing and the transformative journey of 7-Eleven, the world’s largest convenience retail chain. We welcome Danni Peirce, CEO for 7-Eleven at the DFI Retail Group, who will offer her insights into the company’s vision and how it is redefining the traditional store model by harnessing innovation and technology to revolutionise the customer experience. She will be joined in conversation on stage by Dina.
20 MINUTE FIRESIDE CHAT
Danni Peirce, Chief Executive Officer – 7-Eleven, DFI RETAIL GROUP
MODERATOR: Dina Abdullah Alsagoff, Founder & Chief Digital Marketing Strategist, THE DIGITAL MARKETING THERAPIST
In a time when seemingly everything online is characterised by a trend, the biggest question is whether anything is actually trending at all. Fuelled by the fear of logging off and the rise of social media, consumers are adopting and discarding trends at a rapid rate. But should we brace for an era of trend fatigue?
Join Joe McDonnell, Director of Insight at WGSN, for a deep dive into the cultural and environmental impacts of the TikTok-influenced accelerated trend cycle and discover the lasting effects that are forcing brands to rethink their strategies.
Join this exclusive session to:
Discover key brand strategies to win Gen Z consumers
Understand how to cut through the noise and tap into the right trends for your brand
Uncover the drivers disrupting the trend cycle, from visual pollution to tech-celleration
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Joe McDonnell, Director of Insight, WGSN
What are the key barriers in adopting a digital first approach and how to overcome them? Join Murilo as he will share how RBI scaled learnings across the network and unlock growth for partners. If youre looking to know what it takes to win and thrive in the QSR industry, this session is not one to miss!
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Murilo Becegato, Director, Digital Sales, APAC, BURGER KING
• Creating hybridized, unified customer experiences by merging online and offline retail
• How to measure retail success?
• How to use technology to create seamless online/offline experiences
• Activate your employees as brand advocates
40 MINUTE PANEL
Alvin Neo, Chief Customer & Marketing Officer, NTUC ENTERPRISE CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED
Toru Koyama, Executive Officer, CIO & CDO, H2O RETAILING
Poonam Genzler, Head of Paid Media, MONEYHERO GROUP
MODERATOR: Mila Sedivy, Managing Director, APAC, WE ARE DISTILLERY
• Understanding the power of incorporating purpose driven brand strategy • Implementing brand accessibility and DEI across brand, product and retail strategy
• Driving brand love/ affinity in light of rising inflation and decreasing purchasing power of consumers’ wallets
• Balancing brand building and long-term sales or performance marketing for short term
40 MINUTE PANEL
Julie Nestor, Executive Vice President Head of Marketing and Communications Asia Pacific, MASTERCARD
Sophie Guerin, Global Head of D&I, Wealth & Personal Banking, HSBC
Prerna Suri, Vice President, Communications, Asia and the Middle East, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
MODERATOR: Michelle Koh, Founding Partner, Growth & Innovation, SAYA
• How is technology used to create a connection with the customer and improve customer experience?
• Looking at use cases of AI to achieve production efficiencies, drive revenue opportunities, and create hyperpersonalized experiences
• Predicting consumer behaviour through the use of AI and machine learning
40 MINUTE PANEL
Mason Tay, Global Markets Growth Lead, TRIPADVISOR
Swetha Vigraham, SEA ECommerce Leader, SHARK NINJA
May Chin, Head of Product Growth & Analytics, ZALORA
Kishore Kumar Shetty, Sr Vice President, TELEPERFORMANCE
Simrat Sawhney, VP Sales & Client Growth Asia, EPSILON
MODERATOR: Alon Weinstock, Managing Director, LEAD TO PEAK
• Top use cases, early adoption, and expected outcomes
• Recommendation: take a responsible approach, prioritize governance and privacy, experiment but don’t settle for mature use cases only
Xiaofeng Wang, Principal Analyst, FORRESTER
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
This session explores the realities of in-housing—examining the good, the bad, and unexpected challenges brands face when bringing capabilities in-house. Leaders will share insights from their in-housing journeys, addressing common barriers, surprising outcomes, and essential factors for success. Attendees will get a candid look at how in-housing can reshape marketing, operations, and business growth, ending with actionable advice that provides brands a roadmap to start—or elevate—their in-house agency effectively.
40 MINUTE PANEL
Ann Gacutan, Unilever In-house Agency Lead, SEA, UNILEVER
Sivaram Parameswaran, the Consumer Marketing Director, PROPERTYGURU
Georgina Koh, Director, Marketing Activation, SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD
MODERATOR: Nathalie D Ramirez, Founder and Managing Partner, SAYA
The role of payments in shaping the customer experience is pivotal, with research consistently highlighting that complex checkout processes and payment failures lead to cart abandonment and erode brand loyalty.
But efficient and innovative payments don’t just streamline customer transactions—they unlock new market opportunities, cut operational costs, and accelerate growth.
Despite these advantages, findings from the Untold Story of Payment Pioneers report reveal that payments often remain an overlooked strategic priority by senior leadership.
Join the conversation to explore why payments should become a strategic priority in every business.
40 MINUTE PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION
Sameer Talwar, Head of ANZ & Greater China, PRIMER
20 MINUTE KEYNOTE
Peter Laughton, Founder, EEBZ
Ann Gacutan, Unilever In-house Agency Lead, SEA, UNILEVER
Sivaram Parameswaran, the Consumer Marketing Director, PROPERTYGURU
Georgina Koh, Director, Marketing Activation, SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD
MODERATOR: Nathalie D Ramirez, Founder and Managing Partner, SAYA
Sameer Talwar, Head of ANZ & Greater China, PRIMER
• How to use technologies such as AI to convert footfall into sales?
• Expanding your physical footprint: where to invest and how much? • How to ensure global brand strategies are efficiently and consistently executed in store designs?
• How to delight the customer through instore experiences?
• How to maximize customer spend through instore design?
• Building instore experiences for the mobile first generation • How can the landlord help brands and retailers achieve retail success?
40 MINUTE PANEL
Shahrazz Hayat, Chief Executive Officer, NIPPECRAFT / COLLINS DEBDEN
Abigail Concepcion Beja, Head of Retail, SHILLA TRAVEL RETAIL SINGAPORE
Richa Tulasyan, Founder, AHIKA CONSULTING
Anton Reyniers, Head of Strategy, WE ARE SOCIAL
MODERATOR: Clarisse Desgeorge, Omnichannel Director South Asia Pacific, TIFFANY & CO
2X10 MINUTE PRESENTATIONS + 20 MINUTE PANEL
Grace Astari, Creative Director, APAC Innovation, DIAGEO
Perrine Cavat, Scotch Innovation Director APAC, DIAGEO
David Chung, General Manager-Marketing and Customer Relationship, MAZDA
MODERATOR: Simon Hearn Managing Director, SJH PARTNERSHIPS
40 MINUTE PANEL
Andy Lo, Commercial Director, DELIVEROO
Akshay Halve, APAC Senior Regional Brand Manager – Digital Commerce, COLGATE PALMOLIVE
Mark Gray, Managing Director, CRESCO DATA PTE. LTD.
Shawn Roy, APAC Scaled Innovation & Insights Lead, HALEON
MODERATOR: Hein Hun Leong, Vice President, DSG CONSUMER PARTNERS
What circular business model (repair, rental, resale) offers the biggest commercial opportunity for brands?
• How can brands and retailers incrementally facilitate a shift to a more circular pattern in consumption without alienating consumers and losing revenue?
• What part can technology play in this? • How to make it work commercially and operationally?
40 MINUTE PANEL
Sarah Garner, Founder & CEO, RETYKLE
Hari Vijayarajan, CEO-APAC, REEBELO
Vishal Salunkhe, Vice President & Regional Head of Commercial, CAROUSELL
Tingzhi Liu, Founder, WASTD
MODERATOR: Vishwesh Iyer, Publisher, ASIABIZTODAY
• How to find, engage and partner with the right creators and influencers
• How are brands other than fashion and cosmetics leveraging social selling and doing so profitably?
• Leveraging social selling to drive business growth
• What are the pitfalls of social selling? And what can brands do to avoid them?
40 MINUTE PANEL
Charlene Lee, Global Public Relations Director, SHEIN
Nabill Shukry, Founder, CHEEKIES
Roopa Sharma, Director – Brand and Content Marketing, AUDIBLE
Xiaofeng Wang Principal Analyst, FORRESTER
MODERATOR: Jenny Hall, Managing Partner, PLAYBOOK XP
• What is working in terms of media mix and channels such as Retail Media, Google Ads and Social Media on local market level?
• Are there any new channels or technology innovations that are working well for ecommerce and DTC?
40 MINUTE PANEL
Alin Dobrea, Marketing Director, ZALORA
Edwin Garcia, Head of Digital Marketing, Ecommerce and Media, BAYER
Priyanka Nath, Founder, CRUX ADVISORY
Edouard Delvaux, APAC Digital Commerce, COLGATE PALMOLIVE
MODERATOR: Ali Malik, Senior Director – Brand + Analytics & Insights – Hair Care Asia Pacific & Australia, P&G