With a total population of around 330 million, the CEE region represents a very large and dynamic economic area with considerable potential for further growth. Consumers from new EU member states and candidate countries are evolving at an incredible pace, and it is likely that decades of change in the West will be encapsulated in a much shorter time period in the East. Therefore, identifying and understanding the needs of the consumer will be more, not less important, than it is in the mature markets of the West. And now is the time to do so.

Marketing Leaders in the region need to adapt to these rapidly developing consumer trends. They must redefine the function and responsibilities of their department, and organize it as efficiently as possible in order to develop a marketing-driven spirit throughout their organization. In doing this, they will reassert their leadership and supervision skills and develop enterprise-wide innovation and dynamism.

Today, marketing is coming to be viewed both as a strategic business partner and as a key driver of value creation. And Marketing Leaders are key players in this process. In an increasing number of organizations in CEE, Marketing Executives are moving out of the back room and starting to drive change and strategy by leading from the front – moving from transaction to transformation. This is in addition to being increasingly accountable, and responsible for, innovation, creativity and bottom line profit.

The Central and Eastern European Marketing Summit is the only event in the region that brings together Marketing Executives at the highest level. The 2007 Summit agenda has been designed with the aim of giving Marketing Executives in Central and Eastern Europe a carefully structured and interactive learning experience that imparts essential tools and techniques, acts as a catalyst for new ideas and approaches to marketing, looks at the key challenges and opportunities facing Marketing Executives in the CEE region, presents best practice examples, and is ultimately as thought-provoking as it is enjoyable.

Thanks to high-level, practical and original case studies, participants will be given the opportunity to learn what it takes to create, position, and deliver consumer offerings that are innovative, more exciting, adapted, and value-laden than those of the competition. Equipped with new analytical tools that work in branding, advertising and communication for consumer products and services in the CEE region, Marketing Executives will leave the summit with the knowledge needed to stay ahead in a world of fast followers.