Circus Festival of Commercial Creativity 2013 returns March 19-21; first keynotes confirmed

The Communications Council has confirmed its first two keynote speakers for Circus Festival of Commercial Creativity 2013: Vice President, Global Advertising Strategy and Content Excellence from The Coca-Cola Company Jonathan Mildenhall (far left) and Head of Consumer Marketing Facebook Rebecca Van Dyk (above).

‘Circus’ is set for March 19-21 and brings together some of the most influential leaders in the world of commercial creativity. Coming from international markets such as the US, UK and Asia, these speakers bring a global perspective to commercial success.

“Circus is an opportunity to step out of the day to day, and glean insights on cutting edge creativity and how it is transforming businesses. Hyper-competition, globalism, fragmentation, the rise of social creativity, big data – these are just some of the trends agencies and their clients need to grapple with,” says Margaret Zabel (left), CEO of The Communications Council, the organiser of the event.

“Two or three days out of the office can seem a formidable commitment, but in my experience we need that time away to break new ground in communications and to raise the bar on our own capability and expectations. What better place to do so than at Circus, a world class event with world class speakers.”

The Circus Festival runs over three days. Day one showcases international keynote speakers which explore the latest developments in the world of commercial creativity. Day two sees the running of the Battle of Big Thinking, a day of short presentations by a diverse group of leaders presenting their big ideas, exploring the wider societal context in which creativity operates. Day three includes a Master Class segment, which will provide attendees the opportunity to get to the heart of the most innovative thinking in creative communications in a way that is relevant to their day to day work.

The event concludes with the prestigious AWARD awards, the annual Australasian creative awards celebration.  

For more details on last year’s line-up and for highlights of last year’s speakers visit circusfestival.com.au. You can follow on @CircusFest2013 or on Facebook.

Tickets will be on sale in December 2013.

Rebecca Van Dyck

Facebook

Before joining Facebook, Rebecca was the Chief Marketing Officer for Levi’s®, where she was responsible for the development and implementation of fully integrated marketing strategies across all of the Levi’s® brand’s product categories and consumer communication channels, globally.

Prior to Levi’s, Rebecca was at Apple, Inc. where she led the worldwide marketing and communications strategies for some of the world’s most well-known and admired product launches, including the iPhone, iPad, Macs and iPod + iTunes.  Before that she was the Nike Global Account Director at Wieden + Kennedy (WK) where she managed the account across four continents and led Nike’s Global World Cup and Olympic Campaigns.

Rebecca graduated from Macalester College with a BA in History and Psychology, and studied abroad at the University of Cairo in Egypt. She currently sits on the board of PSI and the board of trustees for Macalester College. Rebecca lives with her husband and two daughters in Palo Alto, California.

Jonathan Mildenhall

The Coca-Cola Company

Jonathan Mildenhall joined The Coca-Cola Company in December 2006 and is responsible for leading global creative vision and strategy for the Company’s portfolio of global brands. In his role, Jonathan oversees marketing communications strategies, core creative idea development and content production.

A self-proclaimed “diagonal” thinker – someone who excels at both left and right brain thinking – Jonathan has a big passion for popular culture in addition to a passion for business strategy. In 2007 Jonathan was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Manchester Metropolitan University. Jonathan lives in Atlanta with his partner Mirco, a Human Resources professional.