Crystal Lowe is a Director of Strategic Sourcing at BMO, with responsibility spanning Marketing, Human Resources and Back Office categories. She works closely with Marketing leaders and agency partners across complex, high-visibility initiatives, bringing together commercial strategy, supplier management and business priorities. Crystal is particularly interested in how sourcing can help Marketing navigate a rapidly evolving landscape, including AI, new agency models and changing expectations around speed, value and innovation.
Monday November 9, 2026
9:30 AM Panel: Beyond The Brief: Procurement's Role in Modern Brand Partnerships — Sponsorships, Activations, and The Creator Economy
Sponsorship, activation, and influencer marketing used to be separate budget lines managed by separate teams. They're not anymore. This session explores how marketing procurement can build the frameworks, contracts, and measurement approaches needed to manage modern brand partnerships as an integrated category, and why getting this right is one of the most significant commercial opportunities procurement hasn't fully claimed yet.
- Establish measurement approaches that capture value across the full partnership ecosystem rather than isolated channel metrics
- Negotiate rights packages that account for live activation and creator amplification from the outset
- Claim procurement's seat at the table early enough in the brand partnership process to actually influence commercial outcomes
Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Crystal.
Download The Latest Agenda