The Globe and Mail invites you to join us
for an evening of inspiration, insights, and rosé, as we cover the highlights and trends from Cannes Lions 2025.
This year's festival proved that the future of creativity isn't cautious – it's courageous. From AI's wild west to the rise of ROE (Return on Emotion), Cannes Lions 2025 reminded us that imagination still leads the way.
About Motion Entertainment
Motion Entertainment is a WPP Media Company. The division funds, develops, produces and distributes premium television, and award-winning programming around the globe in partnership with the world's leading producers, talent, networks, and platforms. Click here to learn more.
Join The Globe and Mail, the official Canadian Representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, for an evening where we come together to discuss the biggest themes from Cannes Lions.
Après Cannes 2025 Montreal will feature an engaging 45-minute presentation, Decoding Cannes, by Karen Howe, offering an insider's perspective on the work, trends, and provocations that defined this year's festival. Expect sharp analysis, standout campaigns, and a shot of creative adrenaline.
Following the presentation, we’ll host a Q&A with Canada’s Young Lions Global Media Bronze winners, Samuel David-Durocher and Tristan Bonnot-Parent, who will share their behind-the-scenes experience at the 2025 global competition.
Whether you’re an agency leader, marketer, or creative enthusiast, this is your chance to connect with peers, celebrate Canadian creativity, and toast to a year defined by bold ideas – Montréal style.
strategy™ uncovers and shares the “bold vision, brand new ideas” of Canada’s national marketing community. We deliver on this tagline via our daily news platforms, strategy magazine and strategy events. Click here to learn more.
The Canadian Media Directors’ Council is an independent association of media professionals representing advertising media agencies to ensure a fair, progressive marketplace on behalf of our clients, our agencies and our media partners. Click here to learn more.
The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) is the indispensable advocate and thought leader for Canadian marketers. As marketers’ only independent voice, we fight for members’ interests to maximize ROI, and promote positive social change in the industry. Click here to learn more.
Hope Bagozzi, a seasoned Canadian Marketer, joined Tim Hortons in January 2020. Prior, Hope spent 15 years with McDonald’s Canada, most recently as Marketing Officer.
Hope takes equal pride in developing global award-winning campaigns, as she does in building teams, relationships and campaigns that resonate hyper locally. As the recipient of Cannes Lions, Effies, Cassies and Marketer of the Year awards she has been recognized for her work, both in Canada and internationally.
Hope also believes in taking an active role in helping shape the marketing landscape. In the past Hope has sat on boards of IAB Canada, Effies, and Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory. She now is active on the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps board as well as World Coffee Research (WCR) board.
Natalie McDuff is the National Sales Director in Montreal for The Globe and Mail.
She is a media executive with over 30 years of experience driving results in the media industry. Known for her empowering leadership style and exceptional relationship-building skills, she brings a strategic and innovative approach to every challenge.
Her expertise spans sales and marketing strategy, brand and product management, team leadership, project oversight, and budget planning. With her strong foundation in the media industry she consistently delivers media solutions that generate impact for her clients.
Karen Howe leads The Township Group. She is a globally recognized Creative Director and a Cannes Lions Advisory Board member who trains Canada’s Young Lions and Judges for competition.
Regarded as an authority on global trends in culture, tech and creativity, Karen speaks to audiences across North America providing a vital analysis of these key trends.
An executive communications leader, with 22+ years of international experience in the Advertising, Media and Communications industries. Passionate and driven.
Shannon champions the Canadian Media Directors’ Council business objectives with sound strategy, inspired creativity, and humanity. The CMDC operates to ensure a fair and progressive media marketplace with members accounting for 96% of the total media investment, over $10 billion invested in the Canadian economy, jobs and communications infrastructure. Shannon is passionate about CMDC's mission of the Canadian Media Manifesto, which galvanizes the media industry to support a healthy, balanced media ecosystem, fostering responsible media and giving media agency clients more opportunities to connect with diverse Canadian audiences.
Consistently recognized as a highly motivated and transformational leader with accolades including Canadian Business RBC SME Top 25 Women to Watch. Over two decades, she has contributed to the success of global brands including BBC, Microsoft, Unilever, and Diageo. Shannon is a proud mother of two, avid skier, and arts advocate and has been known to hike a few mountains, from Patagonia to Kilimanjaro.
Carla Serrano is Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe and CEO, Publicis NY. In her current role, she draws on her background in strategy, integration and leadership to incorporate transformative thinking in all aspects of Groupe agency operations and in service of the Groupe’s clients and businesses.
Carla is also President of Le Truc, a center of excellence designed to fuel the organization’s creative offering. In addition, Carla is a member of the Publicis Groupe Directoire +, Publicis Groupe Management Committee and the BBH Global Board.
Carla is constantly looking at ways to reinvent old systems and structures to create better experiences for our talent. She has driven several key initiatives for the Groupe, including
Marcel, our global AI connectivity platform which enables a stronger sense of community and supports employees’ development journeys; as well as Work Your World, which allows
employees to work from any country for 6 weeks a year.
Carla has a true passion about mentoring the next generation and advancing the DE&I agenda. She sits on the Publicis Groupe Diversity Progress Council and is a mentor in both the 4A’s
Vanguard Program and Adweek’s Executive Mentor Program. Carla is on the Effie Worldwide Board of Directors and is a mentor for their Global Marketing Effectiveness Bootcamp. She was recently named one of Crain’s Most Powerful Women in New York and Ad Age’s Women to Watch.
Irene Daley is the Vice President of Canadian Tire Marketing at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC). In this role, Irene leads brand strategy and full-funnel marketing campaigns for the company’s Canadian Tire Retail, Pro Hockey Life, and Party City banners, as well as Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. She oversees a best-in-class team of marketers who leverage customer data and insights to drive deeper brand trust and loyalty to further the iconic Canadian retailer’s continued growth and modernization.
Before being named Vice President in 2022, Irene was the Associate Vice-President, Strategic Marketing, a role she had held since joining CTC in 2016. In this position, Irene led the evolution of many of Canadian Tire’s most iconic campaigns, including Canada’s Store, Canada’s Garage, Tested for Life in Canada, and We All Play for Canada, Canadian Tire’s Olympic and Paralympic campaign. Irene is a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive leader who champions her team and unleashes their strategic creativity with incredible results, evidenced by her team’s reimagining of Canada’s Store and Tested for Life in Canada, which have been highly recognized and awarded, including multiple wins at the Effies, Cassies, and Canadian Marketing Awards. Before joining CTC, Irene spent 17 years in consumer-packaged goods marketing leading large global brands such as Oreo, Ritz, the What’s Cooking recipe content strategy, and the Kraft Hockeyville community platform.
Irene is committed to living CTC’s Brand Purpose – We Are Here to Make Life in Canada Better – both inside and outside the company. She is a member of the Canadian Marketing Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Committee, previously served as a Board Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. Irene holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.
Early Life – Born, educated and worked in the UK for the first half of his existence.
Career – Sales (Xerox UK), Brand Management (Mars UK), Research (ACNielsen-Asia, NPD-Canada) … before selling to Ipsos in 2002.
Giving Back – Canadian Marketing Association board member and judge for the Young Lions. Earth Rangers Foundation board member.
Today – Ipsos (many senior leadership roles). Author of (among other things) the Most Influential Brand study – Globally. The Digital Marketing Pulse (14 years), The Long Middle story. Frequent public speaker.
Personal – Hair – it is an ALL, or none issue. Eyewear is a big deal. Avid golfer/tennis player. BIG on hot weather. Loves a great hamburger and fries. Father of two daughters + best lifetime partner.
Honour – Canadian Marketing Association Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 https://youtu.be/Mvjt0yRCqXM
Fellow – Canadian Research and Insights Council 2023
Penny is a highly accomplished executive with a proven track record of driving business growth and building strong partner relationships in the media industry. As the Managing Director of Client Partnerships and Commercial Operations at The Globe and Mail, she leads the company's advertising sales division and is responsible for developing and executing strategies to deliver on client goals and objectives.
Penny is known for her passion for the media industry and her ability to build strong, collaborative and highly effective teams. Throughout her career, Penny has held several senior leadership positions at some of Canada's most iconic media brands including serving as the Publisher of Maclean’s, and Group Publisher of Chatelaine and Today’s Parent. She is a results-driven leader who prioritizes innovation, creativity, and teamwork.
Penny Hicks is a distinguished graduate of McGill University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and served as Associate Editor of the Interdisciplinary Journal of the Arts.
Marcin is a seasoned marketing professional with a proven track record in Brand, B2B, and B2C marketing, sponsorships, and communications. As the Head of Trade Marketing at The Globe and Mail, he leads brand, marketing, communications, and trade events for Globe Media Group, the advertising arm of The Globe. His strategic and creative thinking have been instrumental in driving successful brand campaigns, re-positioning efforts, platform development, product launches, events, and corporate strategies.
Prior to joining The Globe, Marcin spent 12 years at Rogers, where he held various roles spanning communications, sponsorships, and brand marketing across multiple lines of business. Passionate about making a positive impact, Marcin has championed community initiatives and spearheaded the development of CSR platforms at Fido and Rogers Sports & Media. His commitment to social responsibility has led to impactful partnerships and programs that have benefited local communities.
Marcin is also dedicated to fostering creativity and innovation in the marketing industry. At The Globe, he leads the representation of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Canada, driving strategic initiatives that support the growth and recognition of Canadian talent and creativity.
With a strong blend of strategic vision, creative expertise, and a passion for driving positive change, Marcin continues to make significant contributions to the marketing landscape, both within The Globe and beyond.
Tristan Bonnot-Parent is a Media Tech Supervisor at Cossette Media. With a background in media performance analytics, he transitioned into product development to build smarter, tech-driven solutions for media challenges. His expertise bridges data, media, and AI technology to drive innovation across all Plus Company agencies.
In 2022, Tristan won Gold in the Media category of the Canadian Young Lions competition, earning a festival pass to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. He returned in 2025 to win Gold again in Canada and went on to win Bronze in the Global Competition in Cannes, France.
Samuel is an advertising professional currently working as a business intelligence analyst at Cossette Media. With his background in finances and experience in media planning, he excels at extracting stories and insights out of numbers.
He earned Gold in his debut at the 2025 Young Lions Canadian Competition in the Media category and went on to win a Bronze medal on the global stage in Cannes, France.