Forbes CMO Summit Europe 2024: A reminder of what still matters

I had the privilege of being invited to attend the inaugural Forbes CMO Summit Europe in London at the wonderful BAFTA venue at 195 Piccadilly. This was a genuinely thoughtful gathering of senior marketing leaders from across Europe and beyond.

BAFTA, 195 Picadilly

What stood out immediately was the tone. This was not a conference built around performance theatre or recycled keynote slides. Under Chatham House Rules, the Summit created space for honest conversation about growth, effectiveness, and leadership at a time when marketing was under increasing pressure to justify itself in narrow, short-term terms.

Seth Matlins was, as ever, an outstanding host. His ability to frame conversations, challenge lazy assumptions, and draw out substance rather than soundbites set the standard for the day. The quality of dialogue reflected that discipline.

In addition to the pre-event dinner where I was fortunate to dine and speak with two experienced marketers responsible for the entry of Skoda into the UK, and their current marketing. The evening was sponsored by Canva and showcased new features and tools they’re adding to the Canva platform which look interesting for both agency and marketers.

From the day of the summit two sessions in particular stayed with me.

Rory Sutherland was very much his excellent self — sharp, contrarian, and intellectually generous. His observations were less about novelty and more about reminding the room that behavioural insight, creativity, and context still outperform mechanistic thinking. In a world obsessed with optimisation, he made a compelling case for judgment.

Later, Laurence Green brought the conversation back to effectiveness — not as an abstract principle, but as a professional obligation. His contribution reinforced something I have long believed: efficiency without effectiveness is simply faster failure.

What I valued most about the 2024 Summit was not any single idea, but the collective maturity of the room. This was marketing discussed as a long-term growth discipline, not a tactical function. Fewer slogans. More substance.

I left with a renewed sense that the best marketing conversations happen when senior leaders are prepared to think slowly, challenge each other respectfully, and resist the gravitational pull of fashionable nonsense.