Monday, January 7th, 2019

9 - 10 AM

Session II

LVCC, North Hall, N253

The Power of Influence: Accelerating Brand Value

Some “Influencers” are specialists in food, beauty, travel, games or entertainment and through social media, have 10K followers, some might have 250,000 followers and some might be superstars with millions. Welcome to the new world of media, brand marketing and advertising.

Dan Gardner, CEO & Co-Founder, Code and Theory

Sybil Grieb, US Head of Influencer Strategy, Edelman

Ian Greenblatt, Managing Director & Technology/Media/Telecom Practice Leader, J.D. Power

Jenny Wiener, VP of Integrated Marketing, Fullscreen Media

Spencer McClung, Principal, Advisory Firm Three

Jade Sherman, Vice President, Digital Media, Abrams Artists Agency

Moderator - Tom Flanagan, Chief Content and Innovation Officer, Big Block

Sybil Grieb, US Head of Influencer Marketing at Edelman: Edelman is the largest privately owned Communications Marketing Firm in the world, with 65 offices around the globe. Drawing on over 12 years of experience as a digital media executive, Sybil serves as Head of Influencer Strategy and Programming at Edelman. She oversees the influencer teams, creating top quality integrated influencer programs for clients, leveraging all tiers of talent, from micro-influencers to top-tier creators, and has built collaborations across teams to amplify influencer content across owned, earned and paid media. Prior to joining Edelman, Sybil was Head of Digital Influencer and Brand Integrations at William Morris Endeavor, creating custom campaigns for brands and agencies across social media. Sybil launched her digital career at ZAM Network (now Tencent) from 2005-2010 where she built and ran both the Ad Sales and Ad Operations teams, increasing advertising revenue 400% globally. At OTTER Media’s Crunchyroll Network, she was Head of Ad Sales and Ad Operations, more than doubling direct sales revenue in her tenure. Her clients have included Starbucks, Barilla, Kellogg’s, Activision Blizzard, NBC, Lionsgate, Dell, AMD, Square Enix, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Nickelodeon, and many more.

Jennifer Wiener is the Vice President of Strategic Brand Partnerships at Fullscreen, where she works across all the company’s business units to lead the development of multi-platform, story-led marketing solutions for key Fortune 500 brand clients.  With a deep content marketing and client services background, Jennifer works to establish and strengthen Fullscreen’s brand partner relationships. Prior to joining Fullscreen, she worked at Dentsu Aegis, where Jennifer and her team led award winning branded content efforts for Microsoft and focused on business development for the agency.  Jennifer began her career in Talent and Motion Picture Packaging at the Endeavor agency, now known as WME  She is a proud University of Southern California Trojan and lives with her husband and two-year-old daughter in Los Angeles.

Dan Gardner, CEO & Co-Founder, Code and Theory: With more than a decade of experience designing cross-platform products and brand experiences for clients in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Dan has led Code and Theory to become one of the most respected and highly regarded strategic and creative agencies in the United States. Since founding the company in 2001, it has grown to over 400 employees, with offices in New York City, San Francisco, London, Manila and Atlanta. From pioneering the modern digital landscape with 58 major media launches for publishers such as Bloomberg, Vogue and the Los Angeles Times, to defining a new standard for how brands like Maybelline New York and Burger King communicate their stories, to reimagining the digital space between government and citizenry through sites like NY.gov, Dan has helped to radically redraw the map of challenges a creative agency can confront in today’s digital world. Code and Theory’s work reshaping the way that publishers showcase and deliver their content to their readers is incredibly unique in the agency space and would add a great deal of insight on how to effectively refine messaging and personalize content.

Ian Greenblatt leads J.D. Power’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice, including a new IoT sub-practice. With in-depth industry expertise, Ian drives market strategy across the rapidly converging landscape, which encompasses the entire communication sector. He is a champion for the voice of the customer with industry players of all sizes and his goal is to deliver actionable insights to clients, so they can delight their customers at every opportunity. Ian comes to J.D. Power from his own consulting practice, where he provided strategy and board of directors’ guidance to public companies. Prior to that, he served as VP, Strategy & Business Development at ARRIS and was responsible for content strategy and business development at Motorola Mobility, a division of Google. As a serial entrepreneur, he has launched two start-ups, including Zattoo and Broadbus. Ian earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law.

Spencer McClung, Principal, Advisory Firm Three: Spencer McClung is an entrepreneur and executive in digital media and technology. He has experience in general management, strategic planning, business development, sales/marketing, financial analysis, production - operations, capital raising, M&A and change management. As EVP, Media and Partnerships at ipsy, Spencer is responsible for managing the company’s Media business, which includes ipsy’s Programming, Sales, BD, Creator Community, and live events businesses. Prior to joining ipsy as EVP, Media and Partnerships, Spencer was Chief Operating Officer at Kin Community and was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the company’s Programming, Talent Network, Sales, BD, Finance, Strategic Planning, HR and Legal teams. Prior to joining Kin as COO, Spencer was head of Corporate Development and a Board Member of CERECONS, a cloud-based healthcare IT platform, acquired by HCSC in 2013. Prior to CERECONS, Spencer held leadership positions in Business Development, Advertising Sales and Finance at Yahoo, Launch Media and Disney. Spencer and his wife have two children and live in Los Angeles. Spencer holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA in Finance with honors from Texas A&M University. Specialties: Digital/social media, strategic planning, business development, advertising, programming, branded content, influencer marketing, financial analysis, capital raising, M&A, change management, technology.

Jade Sherman is the Vice President of the Alternative Programming, Digital Media, Licensing and Branding division at Abrams Artists Agency. Jade has worked with a multitude of social media influencers who have been significant in creating enormous tracking with fans and brands. Her experience in new business development, client relations and deal negotiations on behalf of clients in areas of hosting, brand ambassadorship and digital advertising campaigns has been instrumental in her talent’s exponential growth. Jade began her career at MVP Sports Group, specializing in digital media and marketing for Major League Baseball players.

Tom Flanagan, Chief Content and Innovation Officer, Big Block: As Chief Content and Innovation Officer, Tom works with global clients to ensure that content of all kinds is created with a strategy, purpose, and competitive advantage. In the rush to simply create more content to fill more distribution channels and serve more platforms, Tom believes that the pressure to create “more” often means less effort is being put into the creative product and the insight, data, and strategy that should inform that creative. So while anyone with a phone can make content, not everyone can create quality, contextual, and targeted content that informs or entertains the exact audience that it was intended for. Prior to Big Block, Tom served as a content strategy consultant and was an EVP/Managing Director for Leo Burnett where he helped launch and lead new agency operations. As Managing Director, he worked with industry leading brands that included Chobani, Samsung, Bacardi, Viacom, and others. Tom has a long history with entertainment industry initiatives, developing brand and celebrity relationships in music, film, sports, and fashion. Tom’s co-workers have helped him win numerous industry awards for his work in advertising, branding, social media, innovation, entertainment and public relations, including at Cannes, the Clio Awards, The One Show, The Telly’s, Addys, and other silly sounding organizations.