Mastering Retention: How to keep customers coming back

Tenacity, commitment and passion for the business have been the driving forces behind Stephen Brown’s marketing and advertising career. With his extensive experience in brand, CRM, digital, social media and experiential marketing, Stephen has the experience needed to create, strengthen and grow brands across a wide range of categories. His clients have included CIBC, Hyundai, Canadian Tire, GE, Cashmere and Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, just to name a few. Stephen's leadership, vision and forward thinking have proven to be key to pushing FUSE – and each of its clients’ businesses – to new heights.

In 2003, Stephen and his partners launched FUSE Create – a creative agency focused on delivering innovative, marketing solutions that drive sales and deliver real results. He is active within the marketing industry, being involved with the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) for several years and taking on the role of Chair of the Board of Directors in 2015.

Beyond his industry participation, Stephen also believes in being active in community causes. He is currently on the board of Casey House – Canada’s leading HIV/AIDS hospital – focusing on fundraising and branding initiatives. Stephen is also a Partner with Social Venture Partnership (Toronto Chapter) – a leading community charity association that aims to make a positive change in the lives of people in our community.

Stephen was recently Board Chair of the Canadian Marketing Association and likes to give back to his community – having worked on new models of philanthropy through Social Venture Partner Toronto and fundraising for Covenant House.

Bianca Barbucci is a senior marketer with over 30 years of experience. She leads a team dedicated to managing the firm's brand, as well as all marketing and communications initiatives across all channels, and across the entire firm. This includes brand positioning and brand touch points, customer engagement, content amplification, media relations, advertising and PR, directories, awards and rankings and marketing-related analytics.

Before joining the firm, Bianca had her own marketing and business development consulting practice. In previous positions, she led the shopper marketing division of a large TV network and worked in the advertising and marketing agency business, in Vice-President and Managing Director roles, for numerous years.

For more than 25 years, Paul Tedesco has dedicated himself to following the customer on their journey along the path to purchase and lifelong brand loyalty. This passion has helped him forge a leadership standing in the CRM, data and analytics field.

As the CRM, Data and Analytics lead for TrackDDB in North America, Paul brings the science to ‘creative science’. He is focused on making our clients’ programs more effective, more engaging and more efficient – delivering more customers, more often, at a higher ROI.

In addition, Paul teaches Data and Analytics at the DeGroote School of Business as part of the faculty for their EMBA and MBA program.

Reza Ramezani is an internationally acclaimed award-winning creative leader who is never afraid to challenge norms and standards to make meaningful results happen. He started his career in southern Germany, crafting striking direct advertising. He moved to Jung von Matt, Hamburg, where he became one of the youngest Creative Directors, at 26.

After a stint at Ogilvy Paris, Reza decided to return to his roots and pursue his main vision – to harness and unite the power of creativity with the beauty of technology and detailed data. This he is doing with passion as Chief Creative Officer at TRACK Germany.

Jennifer Dyer is a Smartmail Marketing Business Development Manager for Central Ontario with Canada Post.

With more than 10 years in media sales with companies like Rogers Media and Annex Media, Jennifer has developed an understanding of marketing in a variety of mediums. She has developed and fostered effective integrated print, digital and TV campaigns that created winning results for customers like Unilever, Walmart, Air Canada and Royal Bank.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts/Theatre from Ryerson University and is always looking for creative solutions to help clients surpass their objectives. She and her husband, Carey, live in Toronto with their three children.

Chantal Tougas is the Smartmail Marketing Business Development Manager for Eastern Canada at Canada Post. She specializes in supporting clients and implementing 360-degree marketing campaigns.

Chantal is an expert on industry trends, including data optimization and relationship marketing.