Hear from the experts: Award-winning CPG campaigns

Thursday, February 13, 6 to 8 p.m.
Edelman, 150 Bloor Street West, Suite 300

Following a successful launch earlier this year, we’re continuing the IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards case study series with our second in-person session hosted in partnership with Edelman. At this event, we will highlight three award-winning case studies, with experts sharing insights on the campaigns they delivered, the challenges they overcame, and the best practices they’ve learned.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025, the prestigious IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards have long recognized excellence in communications across the Greater Toronto Area. Last year, we saw a record-breaking number of submissions, and we’re excited to share the details of these outstanding campaigns with the broader communications community to highlight key insights and innovative strategies.

The campaigns we’ll be discussing, all focused on the theme of CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods), include:

• Brand: Knorr (Unilever Canada)
  Campaign: Knorr Yummy K’s
  Excellence Award: Social media category
  Agency: Edelman

• Brand: Barilla Canada
  Campaign: Growing differentiation through Barilla Moda
  Excellence Award: Marketing, advertising & brand communication category
  Agency: Zeno Group

• Brand: IKEA Canada
  Campaign: Scarborough, Meet(ball)
  Merit Award: Media relations category
  Agency: Edelman

The event will include networking, allowing you to connect with other attendees.

Speakers:

Shagufta Hooda (she/her), Associate Marketing Director, Unilever Canada

Shagufta, now the Associate Director in the Deodorants category but previously Associate Marketing Director for Knorr, has been at Unilever for 11 years. She joined in January 2014 as part of the Unilever Future Leaders Program and has excelled in multiple roles across the various categories in the business, from Ice Cream to Tea to Haircare, Skin Cleansing, Foods and now Deodorants! Her purpose is “To power up her & her team to unleash disruption.” And here’s what this means to her:

• To create a vision for her team, empower them to achieve it and serve to remove roadblocks
• To create disruptive growth & marketing, the kind that shocks people
• To know her consumers and what makes them tick
• To experiment, learn, win (and sometimes fail)
• And ideally, do all of this while doing something good

Naïla Rose Bassin (she/her), Associate Director of Marketing for Global Brands, Barilla Canada Inc.

Naïla is a strategic marketer with over 15 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry. As the Associate Director of Marketing at Barilla, she has elevated the brand to iconic status in Canada, enhancing market share, profit, and volume through strategic initiatives and award-winning campaigns.

Naïla excels in leveraging data and insights to make strategic decisions and bring to life complex projects. Her roles at Nestlé, Beiersdorf, LVMH, and as a freelance consultant highlight her ability to drive growth and innovation across diverse markets and categories. Naïla is a role model for her peers, known for her leadership, passion and collaborative spirit.

Beyond her professional achievements, she is fluent in four languages, is a Certified Sommelier and is passionate about travel, animal rescue, and community service.

Lisa Huie (she/her), Communication Operations Manager, IKEA Canada

Passionate about life, home, community, and the power of effective stories that bring strategy to life, Lisa is a trusted communicator who’s worked on the narratives of global brands for more than 20 years. She is currently the Communication Operations Manager for IKEA Canada responsible for leading, steering and ensuring the implementation of the brand’s integrated communication agenda. Lisa’s portfolio includes internal and external communications, and she manages a resource pool of six communicators who deliver compelling initiatives supporting the brand’s omnichannel growth and brand positioning priorities.

Before joining IKEA, Lisa shared the stories of world-class brands both inside and outside of their organizations, collaborating with teammates and business leads to nurture affinity, navigate crises, and inspire transformational change at The Body Shop Canada, SKECHERS Footwear, Indigo Books & Music Inc. and A&C – a boutique sponsorship and communications agency in Toronto.

Moderator:

Rasha Fawakhiri (she/her), Principal, RF Communications and VP, Professional Development and Networking, IABC Toronto

Rasha Fawakhiri is currently a Principal at RF Communications, based in Toronto. Her practice leverages over 10 years of experience in fast-paced global technology companies — more than half of her 20+ year career — from working at founder-led multinationals to leading global-first product communications initiatives. She also serves on the IABC’s Toronto chapter board as VP of Professional Development and Networking.

Before becoming an independent communicator, she was the Regional Head of Communications at X (formerly Twitter) in one of its top five global markets: the Middle East and North Africa. There, she profiled senior leaders, including the founder, Jack Dorsey, and was a spokesperson for some of the world’s most trusted broadcasters and news agencies. She has conceptualized and led several award-winning campaigns and DEI narratives, including Cannes Lions.

Rasha holds a bachelor’s degree in media from the University of Sussex, U.K.

Capacity is limited.

Fees:

• Free: IABC members
• $35: Non-members ($39.55 with HST)

Register here