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The Festival of Marketing – Fast Forward 2021 is a unique digital experience where ambitious marketers can discover, learn, celebrate and shape the future together. As the world of business begins the path to recovery, the marketing community gathered at the Festival to create a blueprint that will lead their brands through change.

From June 7 to 10, the four-day virtual event offered some much-needed perspective on what the future holds. Sessions uncovered answers to the big questions about the future of your brand, your job and the way you work. Each day of the festival had a carefully curated theme, providing thought-provoking content. 

The festival reflected the very nature of marketing – seamlessly blending inspiration and practical application. It allowed attendants to immerse themselves in marketing and gain an array of ideas and inspiration to tackle their next big projects, while providing them with skills to navigate the economic and social landscape. 

On day one, Digital Experience and Zone hosted the DX Summit to explore how and why businesses need to change to meet increasing expectations from their customers, and their employees. This included talks on CX experiences, measuring the true impact of CX, and how and why AI can be applied to businesses. 

Day two was all about future-proofing brands. There is no shortage of predictions of seismic change in marketing, but what will change and how do marketers need to prepare and adapt to thrive? Attendees discovered what the future may hold for their brands and how they could prepare for it.  

Then, on day three, the sessions were focused on innovation. When should brands innovate? How should they approach decision-making? And how do they determine potential success? Fast Forward’s attendees discovered the process, mindset, checks and balances that can lead to successful innovation.

Finally, on day four, the conference concentrated on work and working. Has the pandemic hastened the need for marketers to have new capabilities, or highlighted the need for marketing fundamentals? The attendees discovered the structure, skills and mindset marketers and their teams must possess to prosper.

The festival included an impressive lineup of speakers who shared their insights on several aspects of the marketing industry. Louise Richardson, head of Marketing Europe at Pinterest, Philippa Roberts, author of Brandsplaining, Elaine Rodrigo, analytics officer at RB, were some of the many speakers. 

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