As the role of the modern CMO expands beyond brand building into business growth, Cannes Lions brings its acclaimed leadership programme to Singapore on 15-16 October, gathering some of the industry’s most influential minds to examine what the next generation of marketing leadership demands.

For more than a decade, the Cannes CMO Accelerator has been one of the more exclusive fixtures of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Away from the festival’s main stages, it’s offered senior marketers a rare opportunity to step outside the demands of their day-to-day roles, challenge conventional thinking and have candid conversations with peers navigating many of the same decisions.

Now, Cannes Lions is coming to the Lion City.

From 15 to 16 October, Singapore will host the LIONS CMO Accelerator as part of a new international series of City Editions spanning Los Angeles, Singapore, New York, São Paulo and London. Developed in partnership with former Procter & Gamble Global Marketing Officer Jim Stengel, the two-day programme brings the Cannes Lions leadership experience closer to the markets where some of marketing’s most significant transformations are taking place.

The Singapore Edition, held in partnership with Lions Asia and sponsored by Maker Lab, will be led by Siew Ting Foo, former Global Chief Brand and Insights Officer at HP Inc. Beyond the Boardroom‘s also joins as a community partner, with Editorial Director and Co-Founder Rahat Kapur moderating a conversation bringing together leading CMOs from across Asia-Pacific to explore how marketing leaders are moving beyond the traditional boundaries of their function to influence business strategy, organisational culture and enterprise-wide growth.

A New Chapter for Asia’s Creative Economy

The arrival of the CMO Accelerator in Singapore forms part of a wider shift in Lions’ global ambitions.

In September, the organisation behind Cannes Lions announced plans to establish permanent regional platforms across North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, extending its presence beyond flagship festivals to create year-round opportunities for industry learning, research and collaboration.

For Asia-Pacific, that ambition will take shape through the evolution of Spikes Asia into Lions Asia, with the inaugural Lions Asia Festival of Creativity and Asia Lions Awards scheduled for Singapore in September 2027.

It marks a significant new chapter for a platform with nearly four decades of regional history. First established in 1986 and relaunched in 2009 as a joint venture between the organisers of Cannes Lions and Haymarket, Spikes Asia has long been a benchmark for creative excellence in the region. Its evolution into LIONS Asia signals a broader proposition, one that looks beyond celebrating creative work to understanding its contribution to business growth.

The CMO Accelerator City Editions are an early expression of that ambition. Following pilot programmes in São Paulo and London in 2025, the expanded series brings the established Cannes Lions format into five major cities, with each edition tailored to the commercial realities and leadership challenges of its market.

Crucially, the exchange is designed to work both ways. Insights gathered from marketing leaders across the City Editions will also feed back into Cannes Lions itself, creating a more continuous dialogue between global marketing thinking and the regions shaping its future.

The CMO’s Expanding Mandate

Leading the Singapore Edition is Siew Ting Foo, CEO of Soul for Profit Advisory, author of Building Brands with Soul and former Global Chief Brand and Insights Officer at HP Inc.

With more than 25 years of experience across HP, Unilever, Mars, Diageo and Fonterra, Foo has built a career at the intersection of brand transformation, commercial performance and purpose-led leadership. During her tenure at HP Asia-Pacific, she helped drive a transformation credited with generating USD 2 billion in incremental revenue, while taking HP Gaming from ninth to first position in North Asia within 18 months.

Her perspective reflects a broader shift in the region. Asia is no longer simply a growth market for international brands. Increasingly, it is where new business models, consumer behaviours and approaches to brand building are being developed and exported to the world.

Against this backdrop, the next generation of CMOs will need more than creative instincts and marketing expertise. Commercial fluency, cultural intelligence, organisational influence and the ability to translate brand value into business performance are becoming equally important measures of success.

The programme brings together an international and regional line-up of marketing leaders, including Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Business Capabilities and Innovation Officer of L’Oréal SAPMENA, Chipotle Chief Brand Officer Fernando Machado, former Telstra Australia CMO Brent Smart, Marcus Chew of UOB, Shazan Zahir of Unilever International, Jeremy Lee of POP MART and Deepak Chandran of Google. University of Michigan professor Dr Marcus Collins and human connection specialist Simone Heng will also contribute perspectives spanning culture, consumer behaviour and leadership.

Less Conference, More Conversation

Rather than following the conventional conference format, the CMO Accelerator is designed around discussion, participation and practical problem-solving.

Attendance is curated to bring together senior marketing leaders with comparable responsibilities, while participants are consulted ahead of the programme on the strategic challenges they are currently facing. These become the basis for facilitated roundtables and peer-to-peer exchanges over the two days, with the intention of turning shared experience into actionable insights.

The programme is aimed at senior executives responsible for brand building, marketing strategy and business growth, including current and aspiring CMOs, Chief Brand Officers, Chief Growth Officers and Global Brand Directors. Participants also gain access to a wider international community of marketing leaders extending beyond the Singapore Edition.

At a time when marketing leaders are expected to balance creativity with commercial accountability, technological transformation with human understanding, and short-term performance with long-term brand value, the programme offers an opportunity to examine not simply how marketing is changing, but how those leading it must evolve.

The Lions CMO Accelerator Singapore Edition takes place on 15 and 16 October 2026, with passes available through Spikes Asia.