🎓 In this episode, we sat down for a master class with one of Canada’s most distinguished Marketing educators, Professor Ken Wong.

Professor Wong is a retiring Distinguished Professor of Marketing from Queen’s University - where he was a faculty member for nearly 50 years. His list of accolades is so long that we would legitimately require a full episode to properly cover them but simply put, he has been one of the most influential minds and voices in the field of Marketing. He has also been inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends, has graced magazine covers such as Canadian Business, and has been a panelist and expert trusted by some of the largest media outlets in Canada.

We talked to Professor Wong about how he got started in Marketing, what has kept him in it, and the common qualities and traits of successful Marketers (vetted by a sample size of thousands of students!). He also shares what it was like growing up in an entrepreneurial family and useful advice on how students can best prepare themselves for a tough job market and the impact of technological and societal change on Marketing.

This is an inspiring and insightful conversation that you won’t want to miss!

🤔 As marketers, we see some amazing work but rarely have a chance to look behind the scenes. What was the insight? Where was the tension? What was left on the cutting room floor? All of those questions & more will be answered in this series called “The DeBrief”!

In this episode - we chat with Rebecca Smart (Marketing Director at McDonald’s) & Andrew Chisholm (Executive Creative Director at Cossette) who are two of the brilliant minds behind the beloved “International Menu Heist” campaign. This campaign took the country by storm over the summer & was built around 6 menu items from around the world mysteriously showing up in Canada for a limited time.

Amongst other things, we chatted about: the fan truth that inspired the campaign, how they worked around some tricky constraints, the secret sauce to a nearly 50-year client/agency relationship, the mysterious figure that crashed one of their meetings & what it’s like to work on this iconic brand. 🍟

In this episode - we had an absolute blast chatting with Jonelle Ricketts who is the Head of Marketing for IKEA Canada! 🇨🇦🇸🇪

IKEA is one of the most beloved brands in the world but you probably already knew that! The odds are that you’re one of the 33 million guests that visited their stores last year in Canada & left with more than just thoughtfully designed furniture (those Swedish meatballs are seriously delicious).

Jonelle has had a remarkable career working across a range of companies (IKEA, Sephora, Blackberry) and countries (Canada & the Netherlands). She is an award-winning marketer having recently been recognized as 2025 Strategy Marketer of the Year & also recently snagged numerous awards at Cannes.

Amongst other things - we chatted about the winning streak that her team is on, the career leaps that changed her life, a late-night DM campaign that started a mattress war, what a dance class taught her about taking chances, the importance of inclusivity, and we even got a behind-the-scenes look on how they continue to build such an iconic brand.

• More specifically, Jonelle shared her thoughts on the following questions:
• How would you describe what you do to a stranger? (2:00)
• What was your “Marketing Moment”? (5:40)
• How has your view of marketing evolved over time? (8:38)
• What advice would you have to anyone looking to make a career leap? (12:05)
• How was your transition moving back from the Netherlands? (18:17)
• Talk us through the decision of returning in Canada to lead marketing for IKEA? (21:51)
• How does your team stay tapped into culture? (29:53)
• How is your Marketing team in Canada structured? (38:35)
• We put Jonelle in the hot seat 🔥(41:33)

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