Brand Council

The CMA Brand Council provides thought leadership on key trends and hot topics related to brand strategy for Canadian marketers and agency professionals.

Council Members

Chair

Diana Conconi

Senior Vice-President and Partner, Kaiser & Partners Inc.

Chair

Chris Brockbank

Chief Commercial Officer, Firma Foreign Exchange Corporation Ltd.

Member

Christine Smith

Director, Marketing, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp.

Member

Tulsi Dharel

Academic Governor, Coordinator and Professor, Centennial College

Member

Justin Haberman

Vice President, Client Services, Elemental

Member

Roxanna Kassam Kara

National Director, Marketing and Communications, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited

Member

Kristina Koprivica

Sr Director of Marketing, Kruger Products L.P. / Produits Kruger s.e.c.

Member

Mike Leon

Managing Director, Brand Heroes Inc.

Member

Pam Litt

Sr. Manager, Experiential Marketing, Canadian Olympic Committee

Member

Julie Melanson

Senior Brand Manager, ConAgra Foods Canada Inc.

Member

Laura Leonard

Account Director, Client Services, PHD Canada

Member

Lori Rayner

AVP, Integrated Marketing, Planning and Performance, The Co-operators Group Ltd.

Member

Bruce Symbalisty

Strategic Director, Reality Engine Inc.

Member

Andrew Butts

Managing Director, Neo Media World

Member

Brian Carey

Director, Customer Marketing, Rogers Communications Canada Inc.

Recent Articles Authored by Council

Despite pandemic challenges, the future of marketing is bright

COVID-19 has disrupted marketing plans in countless ways -- from lockdown-induced changes in strategy to last-minute changes to advertising creative -- but how has it affected the marketing industry in Canada? And what will be the pandemic’s lasting impact on marketing moving forward?

Billions of tweets, lots of insight: Conversation trends of 2021

Ever wonder what you’d learn if you analyzed billions of tweets over the last two years - possibly the most tumultuous two years in memory? Well, keep reading because Twitter did just that.

COVID-19 and a year of lessons learned: Perspectives from agency leaders

For marketers, the pandemic brought forward a common experience of facing new scenarios that we had never seen before. Many questions raced through our minds: How long will this last? Do we turn off our media? Is our messaging even relevant? We had no case studies, no textbooks, no precedents to follow.

Embracing change: How NFPs evolved their brands during COVID-19

For many industries, the impact of COVID-19 was swift and dramatic. With this upheaval came innovation, accelerated transformation and the urgent need for adaptation. This shift has been particularly...

The Story Behind CMA’s Agency Search Initiative

Agency search is a hot topic. It is for agencies anyway. But an effective and fair process is also important for clients and the Canadian marketing industry overall. Considering how closely marketing...

Measuring The Brand Relationship: Science, Value and Perception

By Diana Conconi of CMA's Branding & Strategic Planning Council and David Wood Marketers continually wrestle with determining the most effective ways to measure brand value and the influence...