Under the banner, Nuance in a Polarised World, the International Advertising Association’s global creativity conference comes to Italy on October 2 at La Pelota, with a flagship day bringing together a remarkable line-up of international voices and an audience of senior leaders from across the creative industries.
Among this year’s headliners are Kasia Madeira, BBC correspondent with over two decades of experience reporting on global issues; Australian singer-songwriter and producer, Nic Cester, frontman of the rock band JET, who will take the stage together with Sea Shepherd to explore the role of creativity in driving environmental activism; and Italian stand-up comedian, Francesco De Carlo, whose career spans Europe, North America and Africa, and who made history as the first Italian comic to perform regularly at New York’s Comedy Cellar.
These established international names join a programme designed to attract an international C-Level audience of CEOs, CMOs, CCOs, COOs, marketing directors, client service directors, media leaders, ECDs, creative directors, and technologists.
The programme itself explores creativity as a tool for human progress across a broad spectrum of themes. Naturalist and biologist, Daniel Lumera, founder of the International Kindness Movement, will speak on The Biology of Values and the Regenerative Power of Kindness, while Christopher Patnoe, Google head of accessibility and disability at EMEA Google, will present Building for Everyone: Iterative Innovation, on designing products and experiences for everyone.
TikTok’s Isobel Sita Lumsden, head of global business marketing for Europe, will assess whether creativity is in crisis and what can be done about it, a topic expanded further by Sandro Formica, Italian-American professor and chair of leadership at Florida International University, whose session Creativity with a Conscience: A Compass for Flourishing in a Fractured World offers a practical, human-centered framework to help participants clarify their purpose, transform adversity into creative momentum, and build cultures of trust and well-being.
Fredrik Haren, known worldwide as The Creativity Explorer, will take participants on a global journey to expand our understanding of what creativity could be, while Italian entrepreneur, trainer and advisor, Margherita Pagani, will address the challenges of transformation in her talk When Change Hurts: The Power, Traps and Tools of Narratives for Impact.
A must watch moment of the event will be the CMO Battle, a high-energy exchange between Khensani Nobanda of Nedbank, Paolo Lorenzoni of Tinder and Ilaria Pasquinelli of Cannes Lions, who will go head-to-head in championing their favourite campaigns.
More Than a One-Day Conference
On October 1, Creativity4Better will host a day of introductory sessions: workshops, masterclasses, and the Young Professionals Summit. Highlights include Fernando Machado, one of the most respected CMO’s in the industry, leading a masterclass on Creativity as a Source of Competitive Advantage, while Italian novelist Pietro Grossi explores the subtleties of storytelling in Nuances Between the Lines, inspired by Nabokov’s invitation to “caress the divine detail”. The Young Professionals Summit (YPM Global Talks), created by and for emerging leaders, will present a full-day programme on human-centric marketing, AI, and creativity as a bridge across cultures.
Milan Takeover: Creativity Spills into the City
Beyond the conference walls, Creativity4Better spills into the streets of Milan with a city-wide campaign turning the city into part of the conference. Billboards across Milan will display statements such as “A Global Stage” to discuss the impact of “Creativity and Reveal the Nuances”, each with live QR codes allowing passersby to engage instantly with the event and purchase tickets.
Creativity4Better is made possible through the support of leading partners including Accenture Song, ADC Group, Akita, BBC Studios, Brief, Cannes Lions, Ciao People, Cvent, DailyMedia, Dentsu, Economy, Engine, Excelsior Hotel Gallia Milan, Google, Kühbacher, NBCU Universal, Nielsen, Peter Schmidt Group, Pinterest, Plesh, Promotion, Publitalia, Rai Pubblicità, San Benedetto, STS Communication, Taboola, TikTok, TouchPoint, Urban Vision, YouMark!
Find full program details, confirmed speakers and registration for the event, here.
