Putting Brand at the Heart of your Financial Strategy is an annual collaboration between the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland and IAPI, the body for the commercial creativity and communications sector in Ireland.
This annual event has proved extremely popular and is the fourth in the series, and is designed for directors and senior business leaders. The online event features leading executive speakers from different industries who examine the relationship between long lasting brand strategies and business performance. The title speaks for itself as the purpose of the seminar is to demonstrate why brand strategies need to be part of an organisation's financial and business strategy to create responsible growth.
This is true now more than ever, as the fate of a brand lies in the hands of today’s consumers who are increasingly conscious of a brand’s environmental, political and social stance in the world. Transparency and authenticity are required to build trust with consumers, and this does not happen overnight, and it requires investment to build long lasting growth.
If you are a business leader looking for inspiration from leaders in brand-led organisations, this would be the event for you.
Please note this is an invitation only event. Please register your interest to attend via Eventbrite>>
IAPI and IoD Ireland are delighted to announce our line-up of speakers, all of whom are Leaders in their field.
Speaker Line-Up
- Benjamin Granger, Chief Financial Officer, Irish Distillers
- Brian O'Sullivan CDir, Managing Director, Keelings Retail
- Deirdre Waldron, CEO, TBWA\Dublin
- Louise Bannon, Executive Director – Head of Marketing, daa
- Moderated by Charley Stoney, CEO, IAPI
- Opening Remarks by Thora Mackey CDir, Chief Operating Officer, IoD Ireland
Read more about the speakers in their biographies below and please join us on the 25th August to hear exclusively from them.
Our annual thought leadership seminar is brought to you in association with The Irish Times and this event is being broadcast using Catapult’s production expertise. This is a free event for IoD members, IAPI agency leaders, CFOs, CMOs and CEOs. Please note this is an invitation only event. Please register your interest to attend via Eventbrite>> A link to the live broadcast will be sent onto you at least one week prior to the event. If you have any questions or need any further information, please email katherine@iapi.com
Benjamin Granger, Chief Financial Officer, Irish Distillers
Graduated from ESCP Europe Business School (Paris), Benjamin started his career in Investment Banking in Paris – first at Lehman Brothers and later at Nomura and Rothschild – advising a wide range of clients on different transactions (Mergers & Acquisitions, financing).
In 2011, Benjamin joined the Pernod Ricard Group in its headquarters in Paris as Group Strategy and M&A Manager, coordinating and executing M&A transactions and Group strategic initiatives across all geographies.
In 2017, he relocated to Stockholm, Sweden to become CFO for Pernod Ricard Northern Europe, the Group affiliate responsible for the distribution activities in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
In 2021, Benjamin was appointed CFO of Irish Distillers based in Dublin.
Benjamin is married with 1 daughter. He is passionate about sports (soccer, basketball, tennis), mixology and music.
Brian O'Sullivan CDir, Managing Director, Keelings Retail
Brian O’Sullivan is Managing Director of Keelings Retail and is a member of the IoD Ireland Council. Brian is also an experienced Board member, a Chartered Director, and holds a Master of Business Administration from Henley Business School. Brian is an experienced international leader with a track record of delivering sustained financial success by building iconic brands in very diverse business models.
His early career included a series of commercial roles working with international consumer goods companies developing winning brands including Mars, Snickers, Twix, Maltesers, Panadol, Veet, Lemsip, Lucozade, Ribena, Harpic and Aquafresh.
In 2000, he joined Cadbury Ireland (now Mondelez Ireland), one of Ireland's largest and high-profile food companies. He became Managing Director in 2009 integrating into Kraft Foods following the acquisition and oversaw the development of commercial brand strategies (e.g., Dairymilk, Oreo, Philadelphia, Kenco, etc) to create one of the fastest growing food companies in Ireland.
With Mondelez, he then moved to Switzerland taking up a Senior International Director role with responsibility for the international business of key global customers and also had responsibility for the brand franchise business in Ice Cream, Chilled deserts, biscuits, cakes and chocolate through B2B partnerships (e.g., Froneri, Unilever, Mueller, Hershey, etc).
Returning to Ireland in 2017, Brian became the CEO of Fulfil Nutrition, the successful Irish start-up company, scaling it by successfully repositioning the brand and developing an international network of leadership capability to support market entry and growth.
He joined Keelings Retail as Managing Director in March 2021. Keelings Retail is the biggest business unit in the family owned Keelings Group. It is the largest supplier of fruit and the largest grower of Irish produce on the island of Ireland. Keelings is a premium brand and the largest in fruit, achieving the position of the 19th biggest grocery brand in Ireland.
Deirdre Waldron, CEO, TBWA\Dublin
Deirdre is CEO of TBWA\Dublin. Her career began as a software engineer, taking in early detours into the dotcom bubble and financial services sector in both San Francisco and Boston, before she found herself at home in advertising, back in Dublin.
In 2010, Deirdre embraced the role of Managing Director of Agency.com, helping many clients grow their brands through digital channels. The following year, Deirdre became Managing Director of TBWA\Dublin and although her head is still often turned by great TV ads, her heart still remains in technology. Her passion for creativity keeps her coming to work each day. Well that, and the brilliantly talented team she closely works alongside and who continue to inspire her on a daily basis.
In 2015, Deirdre became CEO of the TBWA\Dublin group, managing the group’s entire offering and directing its growth as one of Ireland’s most effective advertising agencies. With a staff of over 60 talented creators, the group continues to excel not simply within the Irish marketplace, but also on the international stage.
In a career that has spanned over two and half decades, Deirdre’s understanding of the communications process, along with her technical acumen, has seen the agency generate award winning campaigns across all major categories and brands, with Jameson Irish Whiskey, SuperValu, Centra, Laya Healthcare, BMW, Mini, McDonald’s, Audi, ESB, Electric Ireland, Ballygowan, MiWadi and Bank of Ireland among the more notable.
Under Deirdre’s leadership the agency has also built strong long-term partnerships with many Government departments and agencies, including the HSE, Department of Justice, Department of Health and most recently, Department of An Taoiseach, where she oversaw the highly sensitive and demanding COVID communications project for the Government of Ireland during 2020 & 2021. The agency is grateful and proud to have been of assistance during a very difficult time for our country and its citizens.
This year, under Deirdre’s expansion plans for the agency, her team launched a new inhouse production company called Bolt by TBWA\Dublin. A truly versatile offering, it boasts a cutting-edge studio space, suitable for a range of production services from film and photography to digital content and post-production solutions.
Louise Bannon, Executive Director – Head of Marketing, daa
Louise Bannon is Head of Marketing at Dublin Airport and a member of the daa Executive Team. Louise has overall responsibility for consumer and B2B/Partner marketing programmes and digital channels, as well as an extensive customer research and planning function. She has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and product management/development roles, focused on driving customer-led strategy development and implementation in complex customer service environments.
She joined daa in 2006, having previously held senior management roles in two of Ireland’s key utilities; eircom and ESB. A former president of the Association of Advertisers in Ireland, Louise remains on the Council and is also a Non-Executive Director of the Irish Exporters Association. A member of the ACI EUROPE Facilitation & Customer Services Committee since 2014, Louise was recently appointed Vice Chair.
Louise lives with her family in Dublin and is a first-class honours graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Dublin Institute of Technology. She also holds an MBS from Dublin City University.
As the leading voice in the debate on improving corporate governance standards, the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland is dedicated to developing and improving the effectiveness and performance of directors and boards throughout Ireland. IoD Ireland is a dynamic network with members drawn from companies large and small in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
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Add to Calendar 2022-08-25 14:30:00 2022-08-25 16:15:00 Europe/Dublin Putting Brand at the Heart of your Financial Strategy - IAPI / IoD Seminar 2022 Putting Brand at the Heart of your Financial Strategy is the 4th annual collaboration between IoD Ireland and IAPI Online Broadcast IAPI info@iapi.com
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Add to Calendar 2022-08-25 14:30:00 2022-08-25 16:15:00 Europe/Dublin Putting Brand at the Heart of your Financial Strategy - IAPI / IoD Seminar 2022 Putting Brand at the Heart of your Financial Strategy is the 4th annual collaboration between IoD Ireland and IAPI Online Broadcast IAPI info@iapi.com