Brent Smart is CMO of Telstra, where he leads Australia’s second most valuable brand and over 300 marketers. He is driving a creative transformation of the brand, forming the innovative new agency model +61 and producing high profile creative work like “Footy Country” which recently won a Grand Prix and 2 Golds at Spikes, Asia’s pre-eminent creative awards and Telstra’s first major creative award win in over a decade.

Previously, Brent was CMO at insurance giant IAG, where he took NRMA from 36th strongest brand in Australia when he joined to fifth. His work there was recognized with over 100 major creative awards and the Grand Effie in 2021, the highest honour for the most effective marketing in the country.

Brent grew up in the advertising business with a 20-year agency career that included leading New Zealand Agency of the Decade Colenso BBDO and concluded as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New York where he worked on iconic American brands Cheerios, Tide and Walmart.

As ANZ Chief Strategy Officer at VML, Ali partners with senior clients and teams alike, to create a culture obsessed with finding disconnects and overcoming them to drive growth. During her 22-year career, Ali’s worked across categories from tech and media to retail and financial services, and across brand, commerce, brand architecture and CX-based projects.

Starting at TBWA\London, she’s worked at Wieden+Kennedy, client side at Apple Europe, at Australian independent BMF and now at VML. Ali is a highly awarded strategy leader, particularly in Effies, D&AD, APG and Jay Chiat. She’s served on juries including NY Festivals and Cannes Lions, is an involved industry mentor and a columnist for Branding Mag and Mumbrella.

Naomi is a well-respected marketing executive with over 20 years of experience across a range of industries including financial services, retail and energy. Currently General Manager Marketing at Bupa. 

Naomi has a demonstrable track record of developing and transforming brands to find success. She has strategic experience launching new products and services and building go-to-market strategies that deliver results. Digitally savvy, data focussed and outcome-oriented, she specialises in building and running teams across the entire value chain known for their commercial capability.

Ben’s career spans roles in North America, UK, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Ranking among most awarded creative leaders of the past decade, Ben has twice been recognised in the top five CCO’s in the world at the Cannes Festival, and in the Top 10 CCOs in the world on The Won Report.

Ben has recently joined Dentsu Creative as the Chief Creative Officer for Australia and Aotearoa. Before that Ben was a founding member of Australia’s fastest growing independent agency - HERO, which has just cracked the Campaign Brief top 10 in its first year. Prior to HERO, Ben was CCO at Clemenger BBDO Sydney, which enjoyed the most successful period in its 38-year history, including winning Australian Agency of the Year and Network of the Year four times.