The world is changing. It's time we change too.
Yes, sure, a lot of the fundamental strategy skills will be as important as ever. If not more! But how do you practise your strategy craft in a changing world? That's the topic for this year's Group Think Festival. Join us, and some top practitioners in the field, on June 3rd, 8am–8pm BST.
🔥 A killer line-up of strategic minds 🔥
Download a PDF version of our full line up here (including the bios of our amazing guest)
Rachel Mercer
Founder and CXO at Proto
Panel guest: The role of strategy in agency/client relationships
Marcelo Peretti Kuhn
Co-Founder at The Dojo
Open Your Mind: Breathing to change your mind
Thas Naseemuddeen
CEO at Omelet
Hit session: Real Talk Lessons in Leadership
Dom Boyd
Managing Director at Kantar UK
Panel guest: the changing skills of strategists
Grace Francis
Chief Experience Officer at Karmarama
Hit session: TBC
Julian Douglas
Vice-Chairman at VCCP, President at the IPA
Hit session: Bringing more 10x outcomes to strategic thinking
Sue Unerman
Chief Transformation Officer at MediaCom
Hit session: Why current D+I initiatives aren’t working and what you can do about it
Fergus O’Carroll
Host of ‘On Strategy Showcase’
Hit session: Getting to Better: lessons from 60 episodes
Simon Andrews
Founder at addictive
Hit session: The Grammar of Media (The Secret Of Creative effectiveness)
Nathan Young
Head of Strategy, Chicago Studio at Deloitte Digital
Hit session: Beyond the Brief: Providing Strategic Value to the C-Suite
Julian Cole
Founder of Planning Dirty Academy
Hit session: Strategy On A Page - 3 Billboard Workout
Nick Myers
Planning Partner at OLIVER
Panel guest: The changing skills of strategists
Maggie Gross
Head of Strategy, Studios at Deloitte Digital
Hit session: Beyond the Brief: Providing Strategic Value to the C-Suite
Sairah Ashman
Global CEO at Wolff Olins
Panel guest: The role of strategy in agency/client relationships
Grace Gordon
Global Brand Creative at Netflix
Panel guest: The role of strategy in agency/client relationships
Ben Shaw
Director of Brand and Comms at Wheely
Hit session: How not to lose your mind and cheat your way to success
Toby Brown
Strategy Director at eatbigfish
Hit session: How we can help brands love change
Anna Vogt
Chief Strategy Officer at TBWA London
Panel guest: The changing skills of strategists
(Line-up subject to change as we work out final schedules.)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is this for?
Strategists from all backgrounds. We believe the strategy scene needs to learn more through conversations with other disciplines. And we believe in looking at the messy reality of the job, not just perfect theories. So expect a range of fields and practical approaches. And speakers from the client-side too! Madness, we know. So if you consider yourself a strategic thinker of any kind, or aspire to enter the industry... This Group Think Fest is for you.
What am I buying into?
Knowledge. First of all, the chance to learn about a bunch of stuff. The future of strategy skills, strategy departments, client-agency relationships, challenger brand thinking, how to go upstream, creativity and tech… and plenty more to be announced soon.
Connections. Access to top conversations with some of the top of their field. But also access to a global community of 3,000 other strategy peers.
Resources. We'll even write up the festival findings for you! Here's what last year's write up looked like. Pretty sick, right?
Will the talks be recorded?
Sadly, no. From experience, that tends to get in the way of us having genuine conversations. However, we will package up all the main learnings for festival attendees!
Where is the money going?
For the last 5 years, Group Think has hosted around 40 free events a year. That's around 200+ events for free, enjoyed by 3,000+ strategists. Like, zoinks! But the reality is we're 100% self-funded and run by volunteers, so once a year we do this paid festival to keep the lights on. None of us takes a cut. All the £££ goes back to the community. Because, really, this isn't about us. It's about you. 😘
Ok. Can you reframe this for me please?
Let's assume the stuff you learn at Group Think Fest will help power up your skills for at least the year ahead. If you buy a ticket at £35, this means you're investing £2.9 a month (cheaper than your morning latte). Or something like £0.67 a week (cheaper than many chocolate bars). How's that for a sweet deal?
What's gonna happen on the day?
Here are the main things you should know. It will happen on Zoom, from 8am to 8pm BST. A mix of panels, short talks and some of our initiatives too. And you can jump into whatever session you fancy. Simples!
Can I expense this to my boss?
You can, and should! (If you need help, email us.)
You want testimonials, we got testimonials
“Group Think Fest was full of provocations and entertainment in an unpretentious setting - felt like family :) Looking forward to the next one.”
“[Loved the] breadth of content, very practical sessions are most useful to see how people do things and their thought processes/examples of their methodologies.”
“The new standard for festivals. Go home Glastonbury, it’s over.”