Monday, January 7th, 2019

1 - 2 PM

Session I

LVCC, North Hall, N258

AR/VR/MR as a Branding Strategy

The advertising and VR/AR/MR industry was a partnership waiting to happen. The immersive experience on all platforms, from smartphones and tablets to headsets and the vast array of major brand XR experiences may be the best relationship between brand and consumer ever devised.

Alexander Nick, Global AR/VR Ads Go-to-Market Lead, Google

Marie Sornin, VP, Brand Partnerships, NextVR

Fabian Birgfeld, founder and partner, W12 Studios

Natascha French, Chief Marketing Officer, VNTANA

Derek Fridman, Chief Design Officer, Huge

Dan Rutstein, President, Laduma

Moderator - Mike Vorhaus, CEO, Vorhaus Advisors

Marie Sornin, VP Brand Partnerships, NextVR: Marie Sornin brings a spirit for adventure as she redefines content monetization in the digital landscape. In 2017, she joined NextVR as VP, brand partnerships to spearhead the connection of brands to fan through immersive virtual reality experiences. Prior to making the leap to VR, Marie was head of international development, global content partnerships at Twitter. During her tenure, she led business development in new geographies and across industries.  Marie has assumed leadership roles as a digital and social media strategist at Zenith Optimedia, IPG Mediabrands, and Fairfax Media, Australia’s leading news conglomerate. At those agencies, she developed programing for clientele including Microsoft, Qantas Airlines, L’Oreal, 20th Century Fox, and Unilever. Her start-up spirit ignited as founding partner of eclosion.net, a digital marketing agency in her native Paris. Beyond work, Marie is an established artist, dedicated conservationist, and avid surfer searching for the next great wave.

Alexander Nick, Global AR/VR Ads Go-to-Market Lead, Google: As the Global AR/VR Go-To-Market lead at Google, Alexander develops the strategy and application of AR, VR and Visual Search technology for advertising and marketing purposes. Alexander’s journey with Google began more than eight years ago, where he commercialized Google's video and display ad offering in Europe. In his time at Google, Alexander has worked with countless brands and agencies, helping them to harness the power of digital. Alexander completed his Masters in Business and Economics at the Norwegian School of Economics and CEIBS in Shanghai. Throughout his career Alex has lived in seven countries across 4 continents, and is now based in San Francisco.

Fabian Birgfeld, founder and partner, W12 Studios: Fabian Birgfeld is founder and partner of W12 Studios. The agency was founded in 2012 in London with a strong focus on media and technology. W12 Studios has developed comprehensive design systems for the big screen, delivering content across the device ecosystem and has helped shape entirely new digital content formats for markets across the globe. W12 Studios' clients include Intel, Microsoft, NOS, Red Bull, Vodafone, BBC, Samsung, WatchWith, Beamly, Shazam, Verizon, and Okko among others.  Beforehand Fabian worked at frog design, Method and the BBC where he led the design teams for iPlayer, BBC News, BBC Sport and 2012 Olympics. Fabian has taught design and theory at Princeton University, Syracuse University and NJIT. His art and designs have been frequently exhibited in the US and Europe and won numerous awards. Born and raised in Germany, Fabian holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University and a graduate degree in Architecture from Princeton University.

Natascha French, Chief Marketing Officer, VNTANA: Natascha French is the Chief Marketing Officer of VNTANA, an industry leading augmented reality platform that allows brands to easily create interactive hologram experiences to engage consumers and generate leads. It has been used by major brands including Microsoft, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Pepsi and Nike to name a few. Natascha oversees the company’s marketing, sales and communications strategy. Prior to working at VNTANA, Natascha began her career has a journalist for CNN, and worked for various marketing and communications agencies globally, including Allison+Partners, where she focused on building the startup technology division. She has a successful track record of identifying and sourcing strategic partnerships, and scaling startups through a variety of tools that embraced the latest technology. Natascha has a bachelor’s degree from Emory University in Political Science and Journalism, having prior studied at the University of California, Berkeley. She serves on the leadership council for Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and CHLA’s Digital Marketing Committee.

Derek Fridman, Chief Design Officer, Huge: As Chief Design Officer at Huge, Derek Fridman oversees the agency’s design and user experience teams. With more than two decades of experience in conceptual and interactive design focusing on UX, usability, mobile, and emerging media, Derek specializes helping the world’s largest companies design systems that span touch, audio, mobile, and web interfaces as well as physical and retail environments. An influential voice on the impact of design and technology, Derek is a regular public speaker at conferences and festivals including TEDx, SXSW, Creative Mornings, OMMA, and Digiday. Prior to joining Huge, Derek led the emerging experience group at SapientNitro as Creative Director of UX and Digital Innovation where his work included award winning touchscreen retail and mobile entertainment applications for The Coca-Cola Company, Disney, Adobe, MetLife, Marks & Spencer, Samsung, WWE, AutoTrader UK, and New Balance. Before Sapient, Derek founded a design studio in Atlanta providing both creative and user-centric design services to clients across a variety of industries including Adidas, Atlantic Records, CBS, The CW, Disney, Lucasfilm, MTV Networks, NFL, Pepsi, Proximo Spirits / 1800 Tequila, Verizon Wireless, and Warner Brothers. Born in Puerto Rico, Derek holds a degree in Visual Communications from the Art Institute of Atlanta. He lives in Atlanta with his family.

Dan Rutstein is the President of Laduma, an immersive tech consultancy and content creator with offices in the UK, US and South Africa. They have worked with clients including HSBC, the NBA, Boston Scientific and Samsung. They help clients understand and maximize the opportunities in VR and AR, working on everything from content production to the latest innovations in VR including 360 dome viewing and projection mapping. Before Laduma, Dan was a Diplomat with the British Government, serving in Germany and the US with the Department of International Trade as well as for the Departments for Transport and Business and Innovation in the UK. He's also host of whisky podcast United States of Dramerica and the President of the Los Angeles chapter of the British American Business Council. In his first career he was a sports journalist, working in the north of England and Bermuda.

Mike Vorhaus founded Vorhaus Advisors in November 2018.  Previously, Mike worked at Magid for 25 years.  His final role was President, Magid Advisors. Mike founded the Magid Internet practice in 1995 and began the Magid Gaming Practice in 2001. The Magid Internet and  Gaming practices worked with many of the top digital and gaming companies in the U.S. and abroad. Mike provides consulting services focused on strategy, investment opportunities, product development, and marketing to a number of leading digital and gaming companies. He has also provided advice to venture capital and private equity firms in regard to investments in the media and tech spaces. Mike has also been very involved with many start-ups in the digital media and technology industries. Mike focuses on strategic and tactical consulting, including the launch of new services and programming, as well as development and implementation of online and offline programs. Mike has provided many companies with assistance on their early-stage fundraising, as well as business development introductions and advice. Mike is a member of the Board of Directors of Perion (Nasdaq: PERI) and Chairs the Nominations Committee, as well as serving on the Compensation and Audit committees.  Perion is based in Israel and trades on the US Nasdaq, as well as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Mike has appeared regularly on MSNBC, CNBC, CNBC Asia, NPR, and Fox Business.  Mike has regularly been quoted in various newspapers and Websites, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, MarketWatch, TheStreet, and others.  Mike previously wrote a monthly column  for Ad Age. Mike holds a B.S. in psychology and sociology, cum laude,  from Wesleyan University and has worked as a fundraiser and transfer of technology officer at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Mike also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives, The U.S. Senate, and as a part-time Advance Man in the Carter and Clinton White Houses. Mike has also consulted on a number of film projects such as You’ve Got Mail and The Matrix. Mike also appeared in Eddie Murphy's movie, Imagine That, and is an active SAG member.