Quite Frankly is a series of targeted safe-space roundtable sessions for like-minded professionals to meet, network and discuss meaningful issues, and now also a podcast. Welcome!
How do brands and businesses win in a zero-click search market? This June, we’re hosting an in-person roundtable in Milan. We want to talk honestly about what that means: for positioning, for discovery, for the metrics we use to measure success.
We'll be covering:
Interested? Let us know, but make it quick! There are only 15 seats available, and they won’t stay empty forever.
🗓️ Tuesday, 23 June 2026
📍 Milan (venue details to follow)
⏰ ️11:00 - 12:30 CET
In each episode we’ll be talking all things creativity, marketing and branding. Perfect for creative directors, copywriters, art directors, strategists, marketers, and anyone who builds brands for a living (or wishes they did).
Listen to ep.1 and join our CCO Klavs and Creative Director Jesper digging into what an idea is, what it isn't, and why the great ones always look obvious in hindsight. No formalities, just honest expert opinions.16 minutes: bosh.
Subscribe on Spotify to ensure you don’t miss an ep.
For each roundtable session we bring together people with different backgrounds and roles, but all with something valuable to add. The objective: to create a rich, respectful, insight-driven dialogue centred around the participants, not us.
7 May 2026. The day we gave agentic AI the business. Together with roughly 100 clients, colleagues, and curious visitors, we explored the risks and rewards of the new digital reality. With a core focus on how to respond as new rules reshape how brands are found online. No hype, just honest talks.
Audiences are spread across twice as many channels as before, and those channels behave fundamentally differently. In how people pay attention, what they're doing while consuming, and how that translates into commercial outcomes.
94% of B2B buyers now use AI for brand discovery and purchase decisions, putting 20–50% of search traffic at risk.
Humans search for answers by asking short questions and then skim the first few results. AI runs long queries that trigger multiple searches simultaneously, and then it evaluates each source for relevance.
If you want AI to put you in front of the right audience, your data has to “earn it”. It has to be clean, structured, consistent, and easy to find.
Marketing teams are stuck in pilot purgatory. They're experimenting widely but rarely scaling because the underlying organisation — its data foundations, tech stack, and people — isn't aligned.
AI is changing what people are hired to do and how their value is assessed. Traditional executive job titles are becoming less reliable indicators of capability. Firms are shifting toward skills, adaptability, and cross-functional experience instead.
AI isn't going to kill creativity. It's going to end lazy creativity. We're calling time on the fake. No to more robotic, soulless marketing sludge that drowns out anything with a heartbeat. Yes to bolder, simpler ideas that actually say something.
40% of core competencies are undergoing dramatic change. For larger, heavily regulated organisations in particular, there is significant work to be done in integrating AI, technical expertise, digital learning, and innovation into one coherent system.
Kevin Drennan | US
Global Brand Marketing Director at McKinsey & Company
Kate Hamilton-Baily | UK
Partner & Lead of the Corporate Affairs Practice at Odgers
Alessia Cosentini | IT
Head of Learning Strategy & Governance at Generali
Klavs Valskov | DK
Commercial Director at Frankly
Lerke Christoffersen | DK
Head of Brand at Frankly
Chris Pedersen | DK
Technology Director at Frankly
Jesper Strøm Madsen | DK
Creative Director at Frankly
After our great online events around brand purpose, digital strategies and AI, we were excited to host our first in-person roundtable in Amsterdam, where we discussed the Zero-Click Era.
B2B and B2C, across industries and markets, the room reported consistent organic traffic declines over the past 12 months. Some by as much as 40%. The zero-click era isn't coming. It's here.
AI surfaces brands based on real customer use, analyst recognition, and product presence. Not campaigns, not taglines. If the market isn't already talking about you, AI won't either.
Everyone in the room agreed: marketing is moving from storytelling to evidence. The brands winning right now are the ones that can show what they've done, not just say what they do.
AI might shortlist your options, but people still choose emotionally. A strong brand builds the trust and credibility that gets you from "considered" to "chosen."
The room found fast consensus on this one: treating brand and lead gen as competing priorities belongs to another era. The companies that stop splitting those two apart will be the ones that come out ahead.
Joost Galema | NL
Head of Storytelling & Content - Global Markets at Tata Consultancy Services
Regine Lueghausen | NL
VP of Marketing at Symrise
Joana Tene | NL
Global Director - MarTech, Ecommerce Capabilities and DCoE at Whirlpool Corporation
Jeroen Coenen | NL
Global Director of Marketing at ACT Group
Pieter van Ouwerkerk | NL
Global Growth Marketing Lead at TIP Group
Sara Cisamolo | NL
Global head of marketing and communications at Hoya Vision Care
Nicola Cavallini | NL
Digital Content Lead at Yamaha Motor Europe
Mahbir Thukral | NL
CMO Martech at Mahbir Europe
How ready are today’s marketers to truly harness the power of AI?
We asked what brand leaders from all corners of the marketing ecosystem really think about trust, creativity, and the fine line between acceleration and authenticity in the age of intelligent tech.
There's a gap between institutional AI maturity and personal confidence. Institutions appear more ready to embrace AI than individuals.
But acceleration is a neccesity to ensure efficiency, optimization, and speed in a competitive environment.
Trust in real people still defines authentic branding. But AI plays a crucial role in shaping perceptions.
There's a real danger of creative sameness and brand uniformity when AI is misused or overused.
Human oversight is still crucial, even as AI tools become more capable and autonomous.
Simon Robson | UK
Client director at Frankly
Gus Fernandez | US
Inclusive Multicultural Marketing Lead at U.S. Bank
Karlene Moore | US
Global Marketing Strategy Lead at Parexel
Marta Federici | DE
Head of Customer Experience and Data Insights at Henkel
Daniel Darst | US
Deputy Chief Marketing Officer at Flagstar Bank
How can we preserve brand authenticity now that AI-generated content is everywhere?
We explored this in depth with industry professionals, drawing on their personal experiences and wisdom to gain a richer understanding of the topic.
Emotional storytelling and the human touch that takes a brand story from bland and fruitless to memorable and relatable.
Bringing customers into brand storytelling sets your message apart from generic AI output. It can enhance relevance and emotional resonance, particularly in B2B.
Ultimately, originality wins. While AI can accelerate content creation, over-reliance can dilute authenticity and turn off your audience.
Gen Z/Alpha may take to AI with ease, but it's vital that older generations nurture critical thinking to prevent superficial content.
While AI’s rapid evolution is exciting, it also prompts concerns about misuse, particularly over-automation, over-personalisation, and deepfakes.
Antoni van Huissteden | NE
CMO for TMF Group
Elham Kabiri | FR
Innovation & Strategic Business Development Director at Bel Group
Maud Walkowiak | NE
Head of Growth Marketing Industry Verticals at Aeon
John Wilwol | UK
Communications Director at G-Research
Simon Robson | UK
Client Director at Frankly
How can brands stay authentic in a world where AI slowly takes the wheel?
We discussed this in great detail with some of the industry's brightest minds, each bringing a variety of experience, wisdom, and viewpoints to the chat.
ChatGPT can generate impressively articulate language, but when content becomes overly smart and polished, it loses the human touch and charisma.
Over-reliance on AI can lead to generic brand messaging. Original human thinking remains essential to ensure emotional depth and resonance.
Learning to prompt effectively and mastering the art of creative prompting will be key skills in the latter half of the 2020s.
Clear disclosure about AI use is critical for maintaining credibility, especially when dealing with sensitive topics or highly regulated sectors.
Younger team members see AI as a natural part of working. While their comfort with AI is a great asset, leaders recognize the need to teach critical thinking.
Simon Robson | UK
VP for Global Marketing & Communications at ABB
Greg Clayton | UK
Head of Brand Growth at Ipsos UK
Richard Farnsworth | UK
Senior Business Leader and Corporate Affairs Director at BT Group
Thomas Schulz | AT
VP for Marketing and Communications at Constantia Flexibles
Vishal Shah | IN
Digital Marketing Director (EMEA) at Franklin Templeton
This is our motto. Because creativity is exactly what your business problems need. Period. With a delightful mix of madness, curiosity, structure, and intelligence, we encourage innovation, generate ideas, and support progress.
Participants include marketing and communications professionals, as well as senior leaders from a range of industries. Attendees represent a diverse mix of sectors, bringing together expertise from corporate, nonprofit, and public organisations.
No preparation is required. However, to get the most out of the experience, you might consider reviewing any relevant topics or questions you’d like to discuss.
During the event, the Chatham House Rule will be applied. The Chatham House Rule is a guideline for conducting meetings or discussions that encourages openness and the sharing of information while protecting the identity and affiliation of speakers.
Each session is approximately 1 hour long, but can be slightly longer if required.