DMFS Canada | Day 2:

Gain insight into today’s sessions so you can get the most out of your conference experience.

The CX & MarTech landscape has reached an inflection point, with thousands of solutions competing for attention while generative AI fundamentally reshapes customer expectations. Navigate the critical challenges that many organizations find themselves facing when learning how to orchestrate new technology integration effectively. Walk away with proven tactics to:  

• Understand what AI capabilities drive the greatest impact to prioritize integrating key technologies  

• Transforming from technology accumulation to ecosystem orchestration 

• Reorganizing teams around outcomes rather than tools 

Drive client impact with measurable business value. 

Uncover the benefits of embedding marketing at the strategic core of your organization to influence planning, guide decision-making, and strengthen customer and business outcomes. Dive into how top teams align insights, brand, digital, and CX to shape enterprise priorities and accelerate growth. Benchmark proven strategies to:

• Redefine marketing’s role as a core contributor to strategy, growth, and commercial performance.

• Shape culture and governance to elevate marketing’s influence and support customer-first execution.

• Embed customer insights and data into enterprise planning to drive more informed decisions.

Elevate your marketing function into a strategic engine that drives clarity, cohesion, and competitive advantage across the organization.

• Just over 10 years ago, “Robo Advisors” entered the Canadian financial landscape. The founders of Justwealth take a retrospective look at the past decade in Fintech, and where (and how) we grow from here.

• Learn what a Robo Advisor is (and why that misnomer won’t go away)

• Understand how and why this segment of the financial market in Canada continues to grow

• Examine how larger financial institutions are reacting to the relentless Robo growth

Create campaigns that appeal to the emotional pull of your customers. Utilize AI-enabled automation to deliver on brand promises. Source best practices to: 

• Balance high-impact brand campaigns that evoke aspirations with practical messaging around speed and simplicity. 

• Leverage AI-driven tools to fulfill brand promises of seamless customer experiences. 

• Engage both direct consumers and broker partners through tailored digital platforms, reinforcing a multi-channel growth strategy. 

Advance your brand’s impact by blending emotional appeal with innovative technology to drive customer loyalty and measurable business results. 

A: DATA-DRIVEN STORYTELLING: Building a Beloved Brand

Kevin Press, Editorial Director, Investment Executive

B: DOING MORE WITH LESS: Leveraging Existing Resources to Attract More Customers Today

Led by: Phillip DeSouza, Vice President, Communications & Marketing, Health Care Insurance Reciprocal of Canada

C: BRAND AS A GROWTH ENGINE: Elevating Your Strategy to Attract New Audiences, Impact Revenue, and Own the Growth Pipeline

Led By: Angelica Montagano, Head of Brand Experience, PWL Capital

D: INSURANCE MARKETING FOR THE DIGITAL AGE: Building Trust with Today’s Consumers Through Multi-Channel Strategies and Digital Enablement

Led By: Kate Brown, Chief Marketing Officer, Insurely  

E: HUMAN-CENTRIC BRANDS IN ACTION: Creating Strategies to Build Trust, Loyalty, and Engagement

Led By: Stella Ladizhinsky, Former Managing Director, Brand & Marketing, Questrade

F: AFFILIATE & PARTNER MARKETING: Leveraging Relationships to Differentiate Your Brand and Grow Your Customer Base

G: FROM PERSONALIZATION TO PREDICTION: Using Data, AI, and Behavioural Insights to Anticipate Customer Needs

H: THE MODERN FINANCIAL SERVICES CUSTOMER JOURNEY: Navigating Expectations Across Digital and Human Channels

I: MARKETING IN A REGULATED WORLD: Staying Creative While Managing Compliance and Risk

J: PERFORMANCE MARKETING REIMAGINED: Balancing Short-Term Results with Long-Term Brand Value

K: REBUILDING RELEVANCE FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES: Engaging the Next Generation of Financial Consumers

L: THE EXECUTIVE BUY-IN PLAYBOOK: Securing Support & Budget for Marketing Initiatives

M: THE NEW ERA OF SEARCH: Preparing Your Brand for AI Discovery and Conversational Search

N: THE POWER OF NICHE MARKETING: Winning Specific Audiences Through Specialized Messaging and Experiences

O: MARKETING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY: Navigating Economic Pressure, Consumer Anxiety, and Market Volatility

Financial marketing teams are under pressure to move faster, personalize better, prove ROI, and scale AI — all while operating within environments built for compliance, governance, and risk reduction.

Through an interactive customer journey exploration, attendees will examine the trade-offs shaping modern financial marketing across acquisition, personalization, conversion, and onboarding.

Key Takeaways

• Why fragmented customer journeys are limiting marketing performance
• Where AI and personalization efforts struggle to scale
• How leading institutions are balancing growth, trust, and compliance
• What it takes to create more intelligent, connected customer experiences

Examine how agile marketing enables financial institutions to respond faster, improve execution, and strengthen customer and business outcomes. Understand how leading teams apply rapid testing, flexible planning, and cross-functional alignment to stay ahead in a shifting landscape. Walk away with practical takeaways to:

• Build agile marketing teams capable of responding quickly to changing market conditions.

• Balance innovation with regulatory and compliance requirements while maintaining speed.

• Embed a culture of experimentation and learning to continuously improve strategies and customer outcomes.

Equip yourself with the tools and mindset to move fast, stay relevant, and deliver measurable impact in financial services.

Discover how Canadian financial institutions and emerging fintechs are innovating to meet evolving customer expectations and driving growth in a highly concentrated banking market. Identify opportunities, leverage technology, and collaborate across the ecosystem to stay ahead. Build a roadmap to: 

• Identify growth opportunities that respond to evolving customer needs.
• Collaborate across the ecosystem to accelerate innovation.
• Scale strategically without losing focus on customer experience or competitive priorities.

Turn market maturity into a platform for innovation, collaboration, and long-term growth.

• Recruiting and engagement: What do Gen Z and emerging marketing talent want from financial services firms? (or “Marketing your firm as an employer of choice for next generation financial marketing talent”

• Explore how content formats, platforms, and creator culture are shaping brand engagement and GenZ buying behaviours. (e.g. Does the media / social media environment match the buying behaviour?)

• Hiring in the age of “GenAI” – outlook on the impact of LLMs on hiring and training early career talent.

• Build a short action plan to future-proof marketing strategy and team culture

Achieve stronger marketing results by maximizing efficiency with your budget. Draw from real-world examples from credit unions to digital to traditional financial services and explore strategies to optimize resources through data-driven targeting, personalization, and CRM strategies. Take away actionable insights on:

• Allocating marketing budgets efficiently to deliver stronger results without increasing spend.
• Leveraging data, analytics, and CRM tools to refine targeting and enhance personalization across channels.
• Building a media mix strategy that maximizes customer engagement and drives measurable outcomes.

Discover how to make your marketing dollars work harder with smarter strategies that deliver lasting impact. 

Review the key solutions and takeaways from the conference. Source a summary of action points to implement in your work.