For Planners & Strategists
APG Noisy Thinking
An exuberant and often provocative chance to debate the questions that Planners are asking, it’s a way of bringing people together and helping us all work where we stand on the issues that vex, stimulate and inspire. These events are often held in person as more people are back in the office.
2026’s Noisiest Thinking
Thursday 19th November | 6pm-8pm GMT | Live at VML, London
We round off the Noisy Thinking year with the 10 noisiest and most innovative strategies of 2026 pitched by 10 top planners; live and against the clock.
Not your common or garden strategies, worthy of a special mention in a client presentation. The brief is proper, singing, dancing, blow-your-socks-off, every-flavour-of-strategy highlights that have really cut through this year. And not just in the marketing world. We’re interested in the strategic ideas that lit a fuse in culture, politics and the arts as well.
There will be a stage full of speakers, with just 3 minutes MAX each to convince us that their chosen strategy is the most noisily notable with a lot we can learn from.
Inspiring and useful is the brief.
And it can’t be their own work.
This is Xmas. It’s all about giving.
So come along on 19th November and hear from…
Kate Nettleton | Host and Head of Strategy at VML
Jo Arden | APG Co-chair and CSO at AMV BBDO
Kat Arnull | UK Group CSO at Golin Ketchum
Ruairi Curran | Executive Strategy Director at Gravity Road
John deGraft-Johnson | Strategy Partner at Ark Agency
Emily Fairhead-Keen | Strategist at The LEGO Group
Emily Harlock | CSO and Partner at Special London
Max Keane | CSO at VCCP
Rachel Porter | Head of Influence Strategy at Ogilvy
Matt Waksman | Head of Strategy at Droga5
Event Details:
Date: Thursday 19th November 2026
Time: 6pm-8pm GMT
Location: VML, Sea Containers House, 18 Upper Ground, London SE1 9GL
Tickets*:
APG Members = £7.50+vat
Non-members = £40+vat
*tickets are non-refundable
What people thought of our latest Noisy Thinking events:
“This was the best noisy thinking session I have been to. I think provoking more of a debate between disciplines and from people who are at the very sharp tip of it was very valuable.”
"Very high quality speakers and interesting content."
"Absolutely brilliant - both inspiring and useful."
“I thought it was excellent. As a media person, it was the perfect event for me. Provocative, spicy, friendly and useful.”
“I really loved the conversation of media vs. creative. Really great points. Thanks as always for hosting and getting such cool people together in a room.”
“This was my first experience of a Noisy Thinking event and I was really impressed; both by the set up of the event and the quality of the speakers.”
Where do great ideas come from? (with Bruce Daisley)
24th September 2026
Speakers: Bruce Daisley, hosted by Lola Neves and David Wilding
Click through to read the write-up or go here to watch the video
Reasons to be Cheerful in 2026
4th February 2026
Speakers: Jo Arden, Martin Beverley, Lilli English, Sammy King, Pete Buckley and Kate Nettleton (host)
Click through to read the event write-up
APG & MPG: Media or creative? Who holds the key to killer comms planning?
28th July 2026
Speakers: Lola Neves, Greg Newman, Sabina Usher, Fran Blair and Will Grundy (host)
Click through to read the event write-up
New Strategy Alchemy: How can we combine the unique power of human strategists and AI to make us better, not worse?
28th April 2026
Speakers: Oli Feldwick, Nick Hisrt, Saskia Jones, Shaun Barton and Clare Phayer (host)
Click through to read the write-up
What should we be measuring in 2026 and why?
11th November 2025
Speakers: Tom Roach, Joy Talbot, Sarah Cornish, Jared Tanna and Josh Bullmore
Click through to read the event write-up
Is Fame a Strategy?
16th May 2025
Speakers: Richard Huntington, Alison Phillips and Dan Deeks-Osburn
Click through to read the event write-up
If Planning didn’t exist, how would you reinvent it?
16th September 2025
Speakers: Jim Carroll, Imali Hettiarachchi, Ayo Fagbemi, Ashley Biack, and Kit Altin
Click through to read the event write-up
Strategy Departments Need to Represent the Nation they Advertise to
18th March 2025
Speakers: Marco Angelides, Steve Lacey, Josh Bullmore, Omar El-Gammal and Jenika Tanqueray
Click through to read the event write-up
Who owns effectiveness, really?
8th July 2025
Speakers: Shekhar Deshpande, Dom Boyd, Tom Roach, Bridget Angear, Sam Fowler and Will Grundy
5 Things to Stop Doing Today (And still not get fired)
19th September 2024
Speakers: Jo Arden and Richard Huntington
Is Pre-testing Helping or Hindering Creativity?
19th March 2024
Speakers: Sarah Carter, Jon Evans, Craig Inglis and Martin Beverley
Fact vs Fiction: Do we actually need insights?
30th July 2024
Speakers: Mel Arrow, Ran Stallard, Matthew Waksman and Nick Hirst
What is ‘reputation’? Is it different from ‘brand’?
21st March 2024
Speakers: Daniel Deeks-Osburn, Gen Kobayashi, Jo Juber and Emily Harlock
New Challenger Strategies: The Big Themes and How to Apply them to your Brands
29 January 2020
Speaker: Adam Morgan
How do you Plan?
23 January 2019
Speakers: Raquel Chicourel, Craig Mawdsley and Milla McPhee
Planners' Cannes
19 June 2019
Speakers: Jo Arden, Kevin Chesters, Vicki Holgate & Cat Wiles
How do you plan faster and more effectively?
27 March 2019
Speakers: Amelia Torode, Sera Miller, Dom Boyd and Lucy Jameson
The Right to Disconnect
24 September 2019
Speakers: Charlie Wells, Vicki Holgate, Helen Andrews, Matt Tanter & Chetan Murthy.
How do you keep strategy interesting?
22 May 2019
Speakers: Rob Campbell, Sophie Lewis and Nick Hirst
Is it possible to think long term any more?
12 November 2019
Speakers: Tom Roach, Elly Fenlon, Kieran Bradshaw, Richard Storey and Paul Cowper
The Art of Persuasion - How do you get your idea over the line?
15 February 2018
Speakers: Jim Carroll, Marie Oldham, Laura Jordan Bombach and Martin Beverley
Alastair Campbell on what’s happening to political brands?
19 June 2018
Speaker: Alastair Campbell
If the structure of our industry is broken, what do strategists do next?
13 March 2018
Speakers: Ian Leslie, Sally Weavers, Stuart Smith and Guy Murphy
'How Not To Plan' Planning Surgery
21 November 2018
Speakers: Sarah Carter & Les Binet
How best to make sense of the world now? 20 Strategic Tools
26 April 2018
Speakers: Chris Arning, Alex Steer, Dr. Adam Gill, George Webster and Lucas Galan
Why aren't strategists impacting client's bottom line?
8 March 2017
Speakers: Pete Markey, Martin Hayward and Bridget Angear
Does Brand Purpose have a point?
21 September 2017
Speakers: Richard Shotton, Ian Leslie, Daianna Karaian and Marie Maurer
Do we need target audiences any more?
26 April 2017
Speakers: Andy Davidson, Frank Durden, Verra Budimlija, Will Whalley and Lucy Jameson
Which bits of your job are going to be taken over by robots, and what are you going to do about it?
6 November 2017
Speakers: Amelia Torode, Oli Feldwick, Ronnie Crosbie & Russell Davies
In a disruptive world, what skills do strategists really need to survive?
15 June 2017
Speakers: Shekhar Deshpande, Fern Miller, Vicki Holgate and Lisa Bowcott
What inspires you?
6 December 2017
Speakers: Simon Wassef, Kate Waters, Clare Hutchinson, Pete Buckley, Chris Baker and Clare Phillips
What is a Brand Nowadays?
1 February 2016
Speakers: Dom Boyd, David Wilding, Mark Bell, Nick Kendall and Jane Buck
Brand Lessons from Brexit - Why did we stop listening?
19 September 2016
Speakers: Alex Batchelor, Helen Job and Matthew Taylor
Is big data making strategy irrelevant?
18 April 2016
Speakers: Les Binet, Lazar Dzamic, Shorful Islam and Leo Rayman
Why did we stop thinking beyond next week?
18 October 2016
Speakers: Richard Shotton, Dr. Guido Orgs and Bogdana Butnar
Collaboration in practice and how it can lead to great strategy and great work
6 June 2016
Award-winning teams told us how working together made the difference on Sainsbury's and This Girl Can
What transformed your thinking in 2016?
29 November 2016
Speakers: Lilli English, Stuart Bowden, James Caig, Kevin Chesters and Fern Miller
21st Century Strategy
11 March 2015
Speakers: Agathe Guerrier, Neil Perkin and Giles Rhys Jones
How do you get noticed and influence people?
7 July 2015
Speakers: Faris Yakob
The future is bright, the future is....
14 April 2015
Speakers: Pippa Morris, Enni-Kukka Tuomala, Thomas Griffiths, Hannah Mackenzie, Sam Reid and Melanie
How does Advertising work in the 21st Century?
22 September 2015
Speakers: Paul Feldwick and Giles Hedger
Reasons to be Grumpy
9 June 2015
Speakers: Jon Steel
Planning in a Post-Capitalist World
17 November 2015
Speakers: Kirsty Fuller, Fern Miller and Tracey Follows
What is an insight?
4 February 2014
Speakers: Tracey Follows, Andy Davidson, Nick Hirst, David Wilding, Caitlin Ryan and John Griffiths
Planners' Cannes
14 July 2014
Speakers: Matthew Heath, Patrick Collister and Rachel Hatton
What makes a good brief?
18 March 2014
Speakers: Thiago de Moraes, David Hackworthy, Craig Mawdsley and Nathan Guerra
Whatever happened to brand building?
16 September 2014
Speakers: David Wilding, Alex Dunsdon and Mark Given
Why do women feel alienated by advertising?
20 May 2014
Speakers: Jane Cunningham, Kate Smither, Rachel Pashley and Richard Huntington
What makes an idea influential?
24 November 2014
Speakers: Dom Boyd, Chris Gallery and Tracey Follows
"I wouldn't let a planner near my boardroom"
5 February 2013
Speakers: Paul Feldwick & Simon Gulliford
Content is King
5 November 2013
Speakers: Kirsty Saddler, Nathan Guerra and Nick Price
What is an idea?
24 April 2013
Speakers: Tracey Follows, Richard Storey, and Jim Carroll
When did Planning get so small? Is new 'tech' crowding out big thinking?
27 November 2013
Speakers: Tracey Follows, David Hackworthy and Alex Dunsdon
Planners get the research they deserve
25 June 2013
Speakers: Wendy Gordon, John Griffiths and Kirsty Fuller
When I'm CSO
10 December 2013
Speakers: Lucian Trestler, Vinay Chaudhri, Stuart Harrison, Simin Radmanesh, Hamish Cameron, Max Keane & Mel Arrow
What is the Future of Planning?
8 March 2012
Speakers: Adam Morgan, Richard Huntington and Cameron Saunders
Whoever 'owns' the data owns the conversation
3 September 2012
Speakers: Andy Nairn, Sue Unerman and Rory Sutherland
Business Bites Back
9 May 2012
Speakers: Andy Fennell, Mark Lund, Alison Hardy and Doctor Foster
Planning 3.0 - Planning without a roadmap
8 October 2012
Speakers: Tracey Follows, David Hackworthy and Alex Dunsdon
Noisy Thinking Goes Global
26 June 2012
Speakers: Guy Murphy, John Shaw and Jackie Hughes
Drinking from the well of inspiration
26 November 2012
Speakers: Craig Mawdsley, Richard Huntington, Rachel Hatton, Russell Davies and Malcolm White