SBC Summit's Digital Marketing & CRM Academy to Tackle AI, Brand and Platform Strategy

SBC Summit's Digital Marketing & CRM Academy will take delegates from agentic CRM campaigns to AI-ready advertising strategy, with sessions led by senior marketers, brand leaders and platform specialists from the likes of Meta and Google.

Part of the event's premium Education+ programme, the Academy will bring together senior marketers, platform specialists and brand leaders for hands-on sessions covering campaign execution, brand modernisation, creator partnerships and applied AI, with a close eye on where marketing budgets are heading next.

Taking place on Wednesday, 30 September at Sala Tejo, MEO Arena, the Academy is aimed at marketing, CRM, and commercial professionals who want a sharper, more informed approach to reaching audiences, applying AI, and putting their budgets to better use.

Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, said: "Marketing right now sits at an interesting crossroads. AI is reshaping how campaigns get built and platforms are shifting fast, but the fundamentals haven't gone anywhere. You still need to know your audience, build a brand people trust, and spend your budget with intent.

"This Academy is about bringing all of that together in one room — AI, platforms, brand, and giving people something practical to take back to their teams, not just theory."

The Academy will open with the session Built, Sent, Reported: An Agentic Campaign From Start to Finish, led by Lucy Neylin (Head of Client Solutions, Xtremepush). Using XpertOS, Xtremepush's Agentic Operating System for CRM teams, Neylin will demonstrate a campaign brief moving through its full lifecycle: audience discovery, creative, compliance, execution, and reporting. Delegates will learn how agentic technology can help at each stage.

Brand strategy will then come into focus in the case study Practical Principles for Modernising a Brand Across Markets. Tatiana Vivienne Jouanneau (Group Chief Brand Officer, Allwyn) will look at what keeps established brands relevant as technology, culture, and customer expectations shift. Drawing on her experience balancing global consistency with local relevance, Jouanneau will explore how sports partnerships can strengthen a brand and how local teams can be given room to create without straying from a clear, shared identity.

Next, the panel Platform Discovery: TikTok, Meta, Snapchat, YouTube, Netflix and Spotify will explore how brands can improve their visibility across the platforms competing for consumer attention. Mert Babayigit (Client Services Partner, EMEA Gaming, Meta) and James Fox (Senior Industry Manager, Google) will examine creator partnerships, cultural relevance and performance in 2027, including the growing influence of AI-powered tools, social commerce and changing content behaviours.

The Academy will also examine how AI can sharpen returns on digital advertising in the session A Guide to Applied AI in Digital Advertising. Rikard Bildsten (Partner and Head of New Product Solutions, Havion Media), formerly RVP at Microsoft Advertising, will explore the trends driving rapid change across digital advertising before turning to practical use cases and tools delegates can use to build their own marketing action plan.

Attention will then turn to influencer partnerships during the fireside chat Beyond the Post. Ben Jeffries (CEO, Influencer) will explore how brands can build effective collaborations with creators, from structuring agreements and shaping the creative approach to identifying the commercial outcomes that matter beyond engagement metrics alone.

The Academy will conclude with the interactive workshop Where Would You Spend $1M Today?. Featuring Dean Akinjobi (CEO, Football Media), Hebert Luiz T Crespin Gaban (CMO, KBET and DEBET), Dawid Pożoga (CMO, STS) and Joseph Sancio (Director of Affiliate Partnerships, Hard Rock Digital), the session will challenge delegates to allocate a hypothetical $1 million marketing budget across different channels, justify their choices and compare how investment priorities shift according to brand objectives and real-world performance benchmarks.

Access to SBC’s Digital Marketing & CRM Academy is available exclusively through the Education+ Upgrade. Priced at €249, the upgrade can be added to any ticket and provides access to one selected Academy.

Education+ Passes can be purchased as an add-on for all SBC Summit and Affiliate Leaders Summit ticket types.