Canada is at a pivotal moment. While other nations center innovation and research in shaping their economies and industries, Canada is falling behind—especially in marketing. This panel brings together thought leaders to explore the untapped potential of innovation in Canada's marketing ecosystem.
Join us as we dive into critical questions:
- What is Canada’s role in the global marketing landscape?
- Where do we lag—and where do the opportunities lie?
- How can we transform our business and academic environments to become global leaders in marketing innovation?
- What must we do to ensure Canadian marketers have a bold, research-backed voice that influences the future of marketing?
This is more than a conversation—it’s a call to action for Canada to redefine its place in the world through innovation.
Nuno Bamberg, SVP, Brand & Marketing, Sleep Country Canada INC
Nuno Bamberg, Senior Vice President of Brand & Marketing at Sleep Country Canada, is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience blending strategic business expertise with creative communication. His journey, from creative writing to senior leadership, highlights his deep understanding of brand management and marketing strategy. Before joining Sleep Country, Nuno spent nine years at Publicis Groupe Canada, where he helped transform the agency into a top creative production powerhouse, delivering innovative campaigns for major brands like The Home Depot, Rogers, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Pfizer. Known for fostering collaboration and innovation, Nuno excels at developing integrated marketing strategies that drive results. At Sleep Country, he continues to lead with passion, pushing the brand forward in a dynamic market while shaping the future of Canadian marketing.
Keith Barry, Partner, Vice-President, Strategy, LG2 Toronto
Trained in industrial design, Keith has always taken a unique, user-centric approach to solving business problems and building brands. His insightful approach has helped him connect people to brands to drive business for over 18 years at top-tier agencies in Canada and the United States. Keith’s greatest accomplishments are all about helping large, complex businesses manage transformation strategically, whether it is going through a merger and acquisition like Desjardins and State Farm or modernizing a crown corporation like LCBO into a brand Ontarians can get behind. A Type A who loves the craft, Keith sweats the details while balancing what’s required to shape the future of how businesses engage with their audiences. He is a skilled strategic thinker who is at his best making insights actionable, working with marketing leaders across the world to make growth simpler and easier. Whether his thinking results in a campaign, brand positioning, a documentary or a seamless user experience, Keith delivers strategies that have moved the needle for clients such as Audi, Nike, The Bay, Domino’s, Volkswagen, RBC, Porsche and Bell, among others.
Darrick Li, VP Sales, North America, Standard Media Index (Guideline)
An experienced sales, research, and marketing professional currently holding the role as VP Client Partner, North America, at Guideline (Guideline acquired Standard Media Index in June 2022). Guideline's mission is to simplify and bring clarity to media buying and selling. By combining the leading media planning and data companies, we've created the world’s most trusted set of solutions to help shape mission-critical advertising decisions. Guideline data uniquely provides the industry with comprehensive spend and pricing data across TV, digital, radio, OOH, and print by pooling actual billing data from the world's largest agency-holding companies and leading independents at granular levels across publishers and product categories. Darrick sits on the leadership team and has the pleasure to work with and learn from North America's leading media owners and platforms.
Darrick is also a Board Member with the North York Harvest Food Bank, a non-profit organization engaged with the northern Toronto community in meeting food needs by providing dignified food assistance, education, focused advocacy, and long-term food solutions.
Darrick has also previously held the role as a part-time Professor at the Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Marketing Faculty. This passion for developing and learning from the new generation of industry professionals has led him to present in various speaking engagements across the education and media industries.
At home, Darrick is interested in entrepreneurial ventures, learning new techniques in cookers, adopting new technologies, advancing advertising conversation, and developing his skills in basketball.
If you'd like to learn more about Darrick's professional profile, please feel free to connect on LinkedIn or listen to the guest podcast interview with Marketing News Canada here.
