The day was dominated by Dentsu and IPG.

Dentsu West is the agency network outside of the Far East. They have a dot in Africa – Mozambique. But otherwise they are everywhere and growing fast.

IPG of course has several networks including McCann, Draft FCB and Lowe as well as their media agencies, PR networks and specialists like RG/A and HUGE.

Michael Roth, IPG CEO, and ( in my view) one of the smoothest and smartest men in advertising, spoke to 40 search consultants with respect and confidence.  He attributes the success of his group’s turnaround to his top team. A man from Brooklyn, he talks and walks diversity. He in fact is probably the only holding company CEO to embrace this. Refreshing and stimulating.

Advertising Age gave us some early results of their 2011 survey on client agency relationships which we will share with our IAS subscribers in November.

A fabulous week. Business is good and if Michael Roth says there will be no double-dip, I believe him. And why not?

Day 4 has been an interesting day. First stop was Lowe & Partners. They are rejuvenating themselves. Impressive work presented and enjoyed by all. Draft FCB was next. A highlight is their work for Nivea for which they are justifiably proud. We then met Sid Lee. Canadian born agency, global micro network. Excellent work for adidas, Dell and Cirque du Soleil. An agency to watch. Last night we met with Sapient Nitro and had a superb evening. Tonight is the Ad Forum dinner and all of the agencies have come to meet us at Bell, Book & Candle. Excellent restaurant. All of this would not be possible without the precise organising skills of Wendy Kleinman who has been organising this Summit for Ad Forum for many years. Wendy – you rock! Johanna

An excellent morning with McCann Worldgroup. We met with the McCann group leaders as well the individual agencies. MRM, Momentum and McCann Humancare (healthcare).

The group has some fantastic clients whose relationships with the agency date back many years.

They have reinvented themselves and have remembered their history of reinvention which is part of McCann DNA.

Time off for good behaviour this pm. Off to Sapient Nitro for an evening meeting followed by dinner at Per Se, New York’s finest restaurant.

NEW YORK: Five agencies, one workshop and an update on mobile marketing made day two, Tuesday, 11 October 2011, a hectic one this week. A highlight was Johannes Leonardo, a conceptual agency – new style and intriguing. Delighted that the one partner, Jan Jacobs, is a South African. It is the first start-up ever to be backed by the legendary Sir Martin Sorrell.

Brooklyn Brothers another highlight. Big thinkers, highly strategic and creative. Some brilliant case studies demonstrating integration across all media types and disciplines.

We seem to be seeing the emergence of hybrid shops which can conceptualise at top level and then supply content across all types of channels and networks. The leaders of these agencies sit and collaborate at the boardroom tables of Fortune 500 CEOs and their companies. And then they advise and implement.

Our questions as consultants revolve around the growth of these hybrids and their long-term sustainability.

But it is all fascinating in terms of industry growth and development and where we want to see agencies as key influencers.

Ended the long day with Euro RSCG launching its book of Creative Business Ideas at the Grammercy Hotel.

NEW YORK: Monday, 10 October 2011: a mixed day of new, reinvented and old-style agencies. A great start to the week, although we did not pace ourselves, thanks to the spectacular dinner organised by JWT.

Fabulous venue, great presentations, wonderful food and stimulating conversation. We will all be too tired for day two.

Day one agencies:

• DDB specialist youth market agency Uproar impressed with its knowledge of youth and all things young, games, trends etc.
• 72&Sunny – a big ideas integrated agency. Offices in LA and Amsterdam. An agency to watch.
• Possible Worldwide – born digital, merger of several WPP sub brands. Interesting case studies.
• JWT delighted us with its work and its style. A brilliant end to a packed first day.

This year programm includes meetings with worldwide CEOs of several networks including: John Partilla, COO of Dentsu West; Baron Conway of Possible Worldwide; Bob Jeffrey, chairman and CEO of JWT Worldwide : Nick Brien, chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup; Jacki Kelley, global CEO of Universal McCann; Marc Landsberg, CEO of MRM Worldwide; Chris Weil, chairman and CEO of Momentum Worldwide; Michael Wall, CEO of Lowe and Partners; Laurence Boschetto, CEO of Draftfcb, Gaston Legorburu of Sapient Nitro and Michael Roth, CEO of Interpublic.

In addition, consultants will meet with several independent agency and networks  such as: Gyro; Sid Lee,  72&Sunny and Brooklyn Brothers. Euro RSCG will be hosting a dinner and book launch of its business ideas, and so too JWT will be hosting a dinner, as well as SapientNitro.

LONDON: Thursday, 14 April 2011, was a mixed day of traditional, digital and social media agencies, plus some in-depth discussion on the role of consultants/intermediaries, code of conduct etc. Six pitching principles have been established and agreed in the UK by the various key organisations and these will be adopted across most markets it is expected.

Razorfish and Digitas both presented compelling pictures of the future of agencies and We are Social showed us how consumer purchasing behaviour is inextricably linked to social networks.

Razorfish showed us the next five technology trends for 2011 and pointed out that most of them are already happening – more on this when I am back in South Africa.

TBWA Europe Network talked to us about their network and how it is changing, with the Tequila\ brand being eliminated and some new micro networks being established.

Dinner and question-time was with Sir Martin Sorrell, who spoke with great clarity (as we would expect) and enthralled us for more than an hour at Nobu at the Metropolitan. All of the agency “tribes” of WPP were there, with lots of their own news to impart.

Another busy day today, starting at 8.30am with a walk to BBH for breakfast and more presentations and discussions.

Kate Robinson, U.K. Group Chairman, Euro RSCG Worldwide, gave the AdForum consultants a beautiful and emotional speech during the Euro RSCG diner at Westminster palace

LONDON: Yesterday, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 saw R/GA update us all through its special seven hours of digital integration, where we learned about what has happened in the last 15 or so years as analogue has transformed into the new digital age.

We learned about the Ten Contexts of the Digital Era and then what will be happening in mobile and in social media over the next 12 months.

We certainly have a lot to share in terms of what is happening and it was very reassuring to be in the hands of arguably the best integrated digital agency in the world, which, this year saw it become the largest agency of any kind in New York City, surpassing traditional agencies such as Ogilvy.

Later, Euro RSCG took us all to the Houses of Parliament, where we had the special treat, from Lord St John of Bletso, a South African, and viewed the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the Royal chambers within the Parliament buildings.

There is no free dinner, so Euro RSCG asked the consultants to judge its Creative Business Awards and then we enjoyed a delicious, and lively, dinner until late.

What a day, what a place.

Fabulous.

More tomorrow! We will be meeting with five agencies, listening to a guru on social shopping and then spending the evening with Martin Sorrell and CEOs of WPP at a dinner hosted by WPP.

The pace of these AdForum Summits is not for the faint-hearted!

Here it comes again! Tomorrow will start the AdForum European Summit in London gathering as always the creme de la creme of Search Consultants from all around the world. These 3 exiting days will start with a full day of coaching through the mystery of digital communication conducted by RG/A. It will be followed by a mysterious diner hosted by Havas. The following day will involved more than 10 agencies and networks including: TBWA, GYRO, IRIS, SENSE, We are social, Sense, Digitas, Razorfish, and BBH. Thursday evening, Sir Martin Sorell himself will update its host about WPP’s latest development.
We will try to keep you updated every day on this blog as always… Stay connected.

Pictured here are:Paul Philips, AAR (UK); Avi Dan, Avidan Strategies (US); Herve de Clerck, AdForum; Philippe Paget, AdForum; Loula Zaklama, Rada (Egypt) and Bernard Petit, Scan International (France)

This week’s activities in New York underscore two distinct trends now occurring at the core of the advertising business.

1. Advertising agencies — whether global networks, creative boutiques, or specialist shops for digital strategy or media solutions — are indeed changing the way they think about marketing in a recently re-set economic world where our digital age has re-shaped consumer behavior.
2. Agency Search Consultants now play a greater role in influencing how global marketers allocate their budgets across an expanding mosaic of agency services.

The 9th Annual CEO Summit is taking place this week throughout New York City, organized by AdForum, the online marketing resource company that serves the creative information needs of advertisers and agencies around the globe. Ad leaders from Madison Avenue to Downtown Manhattan and from New York’s far Westside to the up-and-coming streets of Brooklyn are hosting 30+ agency management and search companies from four continents. These consultants represent more than 530 agency searches each year or the equivalent of $9 billion in billings from marketers around the globe looking to find agencies with the right chemistry for their needs.

While all agencies take new business very seriously, they now recognize the importance of communicating how they have adopted new strategies. For example, Miles Young, CEO of Ogilvy Worldwide shared how marketers today “don’t want to just see creative work; they want data capability.” This was critical to Ogilvy’s recent UPS win, which resulted in the “Logistics” campaign. According to Young, “UPS was as delighted with the live, real time UPS dashboard as they were with the creative work. These statistics were like giving them the Holy Grail.”

David Droga, Creative Chairman of Droga 5, the award-winning independent agency, shared how today it was important to be “creatively led, strategically driven, tech-friendly and humanity-obsessed.” He added that now it is “about points of excellence, not points of difference. We simply have to make a client’s business better.”

Jim Heekin, the CEO of Grey Global Group, shared how the company’s new concept of being “famously effective” catapulted the agency to a new level of winning creativity with accounts like E*Trade, Pantene, Cialis and Captain Morgan.

Despite the popularity of TV’s Madmen that glorifies the beginnings of advertising in a simpler — if not more elegant — consumer era, today’s agencies are unquestionably finding new ways to hone their best skills and drive results for clients. Yet many global marketers are finding that their best insurance in making the right agency decisions in today’s complex and specialized world is working with consultants who help them navigate the choices. AdForum’s CEO Summit continues through Thursday in an effort to share more visions, discover new strategies and uncover the next future trends.

Annual AdForum CEO Summit occurring this week throughout New York is providing an extraordinary overview of agency thinking as nearly two dozen agencies — ;from global networks to independents and specialists — present their views of a changing marketplace and how their companies are responding with better client solutions. Designed to help agency management consultants from all corners of the world better recognize the expanded roles agencies now play for marketers, the week offers a dizzying array of ideas and new thinking.

Two particular themes are becoming clear: 1. New levels of collaboration are often becoming a driving force behind a brand’s success today and 2. Sophisticated problem-solving tools are increasingly at the heart of differentiation in a modern marketing world.

WPP’s Team Detroit, an aggressive concept on the team process initiated by Ford, is transforming today’s agency model. In fact, it may be a 21st century equivalent of an original full-service agency concept. With one leader and one global P&L, Team Detroit views some of the top brands in advertising as its “shareholders:’ JWT, Y&R, Ogilvy, Wunderman, Mindshare and MEC. In addition to picking up two Effies for Ford this year (after a 12-year drought), Team Detroit has now extended beyond Ford as sole client to win Johnson Controls, Ohio Arts, Compuware, Scott’s Miracle Gro, and Sport Authority.

WPP’s work with clients like Kimberly Clark (North America) and Colgate (global) are also demonstrating new levels of team collaboration with single P&Ls that are transforming the WPP culture. Not only does a brand-focused approach create deeper relationships at the client level, but it builds sales. According to Carol Hartman, Global Client Leader of Kimberly Clark, “the science of Shopper Marketing may not be as hot as digital.”

Another view of collaboration is embodied by MDC Partners — now ranked as the industry’s #5 holding company. Just a year-and-a-half old, MDC is comprised of 50 mid-sized agencies doing business with global clients. Almost half of its revenues come from the digital space.

Pictured here are: Herve de Clerck, AdForum and organizer of the Annual Agency CEO Summit; Faris Yakob, Chief Innovation Officer, MDC Partners and David Porzio, Chief of Staff, MDC Partners

Day five of the Adforum CEO Summit in NYC started taking about value and ended talking about costs. It demonstrates the huge gap that still exists between procurement, marketers and agencies, if not on an intellectual level, certainly an emotional one.

The morning was meeting with agencies Creative Realities International and Arnold. Though as one of the new generation, I am not sure CRI would consider itself an agency, with an approach to using design and technology to create compelling customer experiences. This is in contract to Arnold, an agency of more than more than six decades’ experience, which creates great work that works. Both talk different paths and approaches to the same destination, delivering results and creating value for their clients.

In the afternoon the focus turned to the increasing role of procurement in the marketing category. Usually when people think of procurement, the focus is on cost reduction, and this is certainly a key focus with a recent ANA Survey showing that 68% of procurement respondents report to finance, accounting, sourcing or supply chain management.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Report also showed that, while 73% of marketers and 74% of agencies felt that procurement met or exceeded expectations in cost savings, only 54% of marketers and 23% of agencies felt the same about their role in process improvement.

With regards to seeing marketing as an expense to be reduced or an investment to be optimised, while 97% of procurement believe they see marketing and an investment, only 56% of marketers and only 26% of agencies agree with them.

The issue is not the role of procurement in marketing, as that is a given. The issue is the way all parties work together. Earlier this week the comment was made at WPP that efficiency and effectiveness should go hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other. Procurement is focused on delivering efficiency and agencies are focused on effectiveness. In between are the marketers who will never want efficiency without effectiveness and that is where the balance lies.

For more, continue to check back on this blog or check out #adforumceosummit on Twitter for frequent updates.

If the agencies are right, 2010 will be a year when agencies re-establish their capabilities and influence across all parts of the marketing mix. With the established agency networks heavily investing in specialist disciplines, especially retail activation to cover the “last 10 yards” or specialist segments such as marketing to children, multicultural segments such as the Hispanic and Islamic communities or vertically up into product/service innovation and down into all aspect of digital production.

The great variable is the approach the various agencies are taking.

While the emphasis on the IDEA is common to all, the interpretation of what is the IDEA varies. As quoted by one agency, who maintained it is not an agency, “Most agencies will say they are in the ideas business, but they are really in the communications business”.

With Hakuhodo Tokyo’s Gold Lion this year for K’s Japan “Smash”, a guitar that is designed to be destroyed, clearly agency ideas are moving beyond communications to products to position brands.

Meanwhile, the established networks and agencies have developed approaches to streamline the marketing communications process through collaboration and management of their various areas, divisions and specialist companies.

There was even a company which was established purely to develop and produce creative technology ideas for brands, other agencies and of course the consumer.

But the sum of all these investments, developments and efforts is that the industry is looking to provide marketers with more of what they want in the way that they want it.

The question is, are the marketers ready to pay for it as we come out of the financial crisis of the past two years?

For more, continue to check back on this blog or check out #adforumceosummit on Twitter for frequent updates.

Two particular themes are becoming clear:  1. New levels of collaboration are often becoming a driving force behind a brand’s success today and 2. Sophisticated problem-solving tools are increasingly at the heart of differentiation in a modern marketing world.

WPP’s Team Detroit, an aggressive concept on the team process initiated by Ford, is transforming today’s agency model.  In fact, it may be a 21^st century equivalent of an original full-service agency concept.  With one leader and one global P&L, Team Detroit views some of the top brands in advertising as its “shareholders:” JWT, Y&R, Ogilvy, Wunderman, Mindshare and MEC.  In addition to picking up two Effies for Ford this year (after a 12-year drought), Team Detroit has now extended beyond Ford as sole client to win Johnson Controls, Ohio Arts, Compuware, Scott’s Miracle Gro, and Sport Authority.

WPP’s work with clients like Kimberly Clark (North America) and Colgate (global) are also demonstrating new levels of team collaboration with single P&Ls that are transforming the WPP culture.  Not only does a brand-focused approach create deeper relationships at the client level, but it builds sales. According to Carol Hartman, Global Client Leader of Kimberly Clark, “the science of Shopper Marketing may not be as hot as digital.”

Another view of collaboration is embodied by MDC Partners– now ranked as the industry’s #5 holding company.  Just a year-and-a-half old, MDC is comprised of 50 mid-sized agencies doing business with global clients. Almost half of its revenues come from the digital space.

MORE

MDC says that its concept is built for today’s marketplace where clients are demanding more digital expertise and the kind of great talent that still has the founder’s name on the door.  Its agencies focus on collaboration with other shops; it is their way of solving problems in a world they don’t believe that “big” is a benefit.  Among some of its headline agencies are Crispin Porter + Bogusky and the Media Kitchen.

The team at Ogilvy NY did not disappoint by getting us to Rethink Ogilvy and inviting us into our breakfast meeting dressed as a smoky nightclub or cabaret complete with tuxedo waiters and a jazz band. But the message was clear and reinforced here and in the following meetings at Droga5 and Grey Global Group.

The industry has come to grips with integrating and having digital as the foundation and platform for brand communication, so now the focus is on creativity and the ideas that drive change and results. But that this is no longer about global head offices developing campaigns that are pumped out into the various markets.

The new paradigm is a focus on delivering customised messages to consumers based on their geographic and cultural needs.

This was demonstrated with live links to their four main growth markets in India, Brazil, Russia and China, which in five years have quadrupled their contribution to the agency’s total revenue.

Each region provided an update of their region and the work. But it was TB Song and Mickey Chak from Ogilvy Beijing who impressed with examples of virtual reality and geo-mobile campaigns for Tsingtao and The North Face respectively.

The fact that China had 380 million internet users, which they claimed will rise to 700 million in the next 5 years, and already had 730 million mobile phone users, were the huge numbers that impressed the consultants from the US and Europe, reinforcing China’s importance in the global market.

To follow the progress during the week look for this blog or check out on Twitter #adforumceosummit for minute-by-minute updates.

Day three of the Adforum CEO Summit in NYC was a day of contrasts, with further evidence that digital is now mass media according to the team at Y&R; Publicis proving that the promises of change are now delivered; Sapient Nitro mastering the relationship between people and technology and the effect technology has on people; CHI&Partners providing three agency models for delivering their client’s evolving needs; and Euro RSCG asking the pitch consultants “Who wants to be a Euro Millionaire”.

Y&R had implemented a back-to-the-future strategy, discovering and evolving the original Young & Rubicam approach to “Resist the usual” through creative revolution of appointing 42 new ECDs globally and replacing every ECD in Asia.

Publicis demonstrated on the promises made in past years, with digital revenue on the way to being 30% of the total by 2015, through a successful online and iPhone application for DePaul UK, the Coca-Cola Village social media campaign in Israel and online gaming for British Army recruitment.

Sapient Nitro demonstrated its expertise in the technology space with the Streets Ice Cream “Share Happy” vending machine that recognises smiling faces and a Sneakerpedia for sneaker lovers and Foot Locker.

CHI changed the pace, providing a different view to the ways agencies can be structured to meet clients’ changing needs, since as Johnny Hornby said, it has not changed since the Mad Men days.

And the day finished with Euro RSCG’s David Jones as game show host as consultants competed in answering questions designed to demonstrate Euro’s achievements.

Certainly a day of contrasts.

For more, continue to check back on this blog or check out #adforumceosummit on Twitter for frequent updates.

The AdForum CEO Summit kicked off last night, Sunday, 3 October 2010, with 26 pitch consultants from all around the world gathering for a cocktail party at the Cooper Square Hotel in New York City. In the room were consultants from Egypt, South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, Denmark, France, Spain, UK and, of course, the USA.

Collectively, they represent many billions of dollars in agency billings in media, digital, creative and a full range of marketing services.

Looking around the room, I was pondering the collective noun for pitch consultants. There is a murder of crows, a school of sharks, but what could describe a collection of consultants who manage the pitch process on behalf of the clients’ across the globe? Suggestions invited.

We reviewed the week ahead and the agencies we are meeting are Ogilvy Worldwide, Droga5, Grey Global Group, Y&R Brands, Publicis Worldwide, Sapient Nitro, CHI & Partners, Havas & Euro RSCG, WPP, Saatchi & Saatchi, MDC Partners, Creative Realities International, Arnold Worldwide, McCann WorldGroup, Digitas Worldwide and R/GA.

It all kicks off at 8am Monday morning, NY time. To follow the progress during the week, look for this blog or check out on Twitter (#adforumceosummit) for minute by minute updates.

A 20-year advertising veteran, she began her career in 1984 in New York working at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample on the General Mills business. She then moved to Boston to join Della Femina McNamee and three years later joined start-up Houston Herstek Favat, helping to propel the agency with account wins like Fidelity, NEC and Castrol Motor Oil. As President of Houston, she engineered its successful sale to Arnold in 1998 and became a Managing Partner at Arnold. In 2001, she took a two-year hiatus from the agency to take on the post of President at The Boston Ad Club.

A New York native, Lisa received her undergraduate degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and went on to graduate from the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.

Over Lynn’s 20+ year career, she worked at McCann, BBDO and O&M, among others, and is thankful every day for the entrepreneurial, idea-driven culture of Arnold.

She is originally from Chicago and moved to New York City thinking it was just a short-term stop. That was 15 years ago. Now Lynn lives in Manhattan with her husband Bill (yes, he is also in the business) and her crazy kids. Life is good.

At 29, Pete moved to Boston to become Creative Director and Partner of Houston Herstek Favat, where he and his teams put Converse sneakers on the map with award-winning campaigns, created the most successful state anti-tobacco campaign “It’s Time We Made Smoking History,” and grew HHF to $200 million and 150 brilliant people. In 1999, Pete was approached by Ed Eskandarian to “talk about the future.” HHF was acquired by Arnold. At Arnold, Pete launched the truth campaign – the most successful national anti-tobacco program ever. He led teams that won Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, lines, Progressive Insurance, Timberland, ESPN and Volvo, and created TAG body spray for Gillette. In 2006, Arnold appointed Pete Chief Creative Officer.

Pete’s awards include Gold Lions at Cannes, Gold Pencils at the One Show, Communication Arts honors, ANDYs, CLIOs, British D&AD, Grand Effies and one Emmy award for truth®.

In addition to advertising, Pete has always shown great interest in directing film. He is credited with directing one of MTVs most highly acclaimed documentaries, “I Can’t Breathe.” And he designed and built an LEED certified home on This Old House

In 2001 he moved to London, where he joined D’Arcy to lead the award-winning Fiat account and work on various government advertising projects. He then joined HHCL, where he ran the Captain Birdseye frozen food business, overseeing it during a number of significant new product launches. While at HHCL Nick led winning pitches for Bhs, DirectGov and SkyActive.

In 2005 he joined Euro RSCG Fuel, where he led the Jaguar and Volvo businesses. In 2008 Nick was appointed Managing Director of Euro RSCG Luxe, a newly formed agency focusing on the luxury sector, with Jaguar as a founding client. Ovrt the past four years the agency has played a significant role in the renaissance of Jaguar, successfully repositioning it from an old-fashioned British brand to a modern international luxury brand. In recognition of this success, the brand won the inaugural 2007 Ford Global Marketing Excellence Award and the agency was awarded Jaguar’s global website business.

Nick joined Arnold in January of this year as Managing Partner of the global network.

He was formally the Chief Executive of Euro RSCG KLP. Phil joined the agency in the mid 90s as an Account Director and rose through the company to MD before becoming the CEO in 2001.

His time at the helm saw one of the most successful periods in the agency’s history. KLP was twice named Agency of the Year: by the MCCA in 2002 and again by the ISP in 2010. It was also the highest ranked promotional marketing agency over a five year period from 2000 to 2005 based on Marketing Week’s Annual Reputation Surveys.

Prior to joining KLP Phil worked at design and brand consultancy BGA where he led accounts including BMW and BT.
Phil has worked with many blue chip brands in his 20 years in the industry. He cites his account-leading experiences as being the most informative aspects of his career, including; BMW, ‘one of the most educational’, The Guardian, ‘one of the most fascinating’ and Pepsi, where he managed a two year programme across Latin America, as ‘definitely the most fun!’

In 2010, Phil became the CEO of Arnold KLP; a challenge that he considers the most exciting of his career.

Phil lives with his wife and two young children in Buckinghamshire.

Lisa has collaborated with a wide variety of clients across many categories. Her experience includes technology brands such as Microsoft, Samsung and Motorola; consumer brands such as Coca Cola, Campbell’s Soup, L’Oreal and healthcare brands CVS/pharmacy and Novartis.

In addition to U.S. based work, she has undertaken global research and branding assignments for several of the above clients, including Coca-Cola, Samsung and Microsoft

Since coming to Hill Holliday she worked for almost three years with Bank of America, helping them to re-launch acquired wealth management brands US Trust and Merrill Lynch, as well as working on corporate reputation and CSR initiatives for Bank of America.

Lisa graduated long-ago from Princeton University with a BA in French Literature and Civilization. She completed a year of post-graduate studies at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and subsequently spent a year at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

As Global Chief Strategy Officer of Havas Worldwide, Andrew develops, communicates and executes strategic initiatives for the holding company’s agencies and clients.

Before joining Arnold Worldwide, Andrew was Co-CEO of Euro RSCG New York and Global Chief Strategy Officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide. As Co-CEO, he achieved double-digit revenue growth and was responsible for running the flagship office, managing a staff of 500 employees and billings of over $2 billion. He also co-led the seamless integration of the digital/CRM agency, resulting in one of the largest and fastest growing fully integrated agencies in North America.
Andrew joined Euro RSCG Worldwide in 2004 as Global Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for 250 strategic planners across 233 offices.

Prior to joining Euro RSCG, Andrew was EVP, Executive Director, Strategy and Innovation, at FutureBrand. He began his advertising career at McCann-Erickson in strategic planning.
Throughout his career, Andrew has received some of the industry’s most esteemed honors. He has been selected for AAF’s Advertising Hall of Achievement, honoring innovators under the age of 40 (2010), Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” (2010) and Crain’s New York Business’s “40 Under 40” (2009). Andrew is a frequent contributor to the Financial Times, Brandweek, CNBC, CNN, and speaks regularly on the topics of corporate branding and marketing innovation. He is also co-author of two marketing books, Consumed: Rethinking Business in the Era of Mindful Spending and Good for Business.

Outside of work, Andrew sits on the Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish Foundation International. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences and is married with two young sons.

Prior to joining Creative Realities, Roger was president of Digital Presence Solutions Ltd. a leading digital signage, augmented reality and technology systems integration business.

Clients included: Sony, National Geographic Stores, McDonalds and VUE Cinema. Roger has worked around the globe delivering technology enhanced experiences in France, Spain, Egypt, Monaco, USA, Bahamas and Australia

In 1997, Robin founded a New York City-based concept design firm, specializing in providing design solutions to a broad range of clients including: Jim Henson Productions, Sesame Workshop, RadioShack, the World Science Festival and Warner Bros.

As Chief Partnership Officer at DDB Worldwide, Paul oversaw the development and implementation of multiple marketing services engagements with DDB’s leading clients and its diverse array of marketing services agencies. In charge of Network Operations for DDB, he led the overhaul of DDB’s strategic planning and client service models to grow its client relationships on a multi-national basis.

Nelson has led brand and creative workshops at Virginia Commonwealth University, The APG Planning Conference and Miami Ad School as well as for clients such as AT&T and Delta Airlines.

Through the years he has received numerous EFFIE Awards and has served as a member of the judging panel for the EFFIE Awards.

Laura also chairs the POPAI Digital Signage Advocacy Committee, and is a board member of the Digital Signage Expo, the Digital Signage Federation, the Digital Content Circle and Retail TouchPoints. She also wrote the only book on in-store digital media entitled “Lighting up the Aisle: Practices and Principles for In-store Digital Media.”

Seth is a seasoned integrated marketing professional, having led a broad range of client engagements. Currently, Seth is the global relationship lead on both the Samsung and Delta accounts, and has built much of the infrastructure and operations needed to enable Digitas to manage global client business. He has led work with clients such as Nike, American Express, AOL, and Pfizer. Seth has traditional advertising, digital, direct, and partnership marketing experience.

Seth was named as one of the Top 40 Under 40 by Ad Age in July 2007.

Prior to joining Digitas, Seth spent eight years at Wunderman Worldwide. He worked with several established brands, including Diners Club, Clairol Professional, Nabisco, AstraZeneca, and Philip Morris, developing customer-centric marketing programs against acquisition, retention, cross-sell, win-back, and new product development goals.

Seth is a graduate of Syracuse University. He, his wife Laura, and their two daughters live in Rye Brook, New York.

Bolstering her experience as former president of US operations and CMO of Tribal DDB, Ross is a key player in the global growth plan of Digitas. A former key player for Modem Media, a company eventually bought by Digitas, Ross led the business development groups in San Francisco, California and Norwalk, Connecticut. Additionally Ross pioneered interactive brand-consumer relationships for clients such as General Motors, Delta, General Electric, HP, Michelin, Citibank, and IBM.

Ross was inducted into the AAF Hall of Achievement in 2008 and was named a Woman to Watch by Ad Age in January of 2008.

Before starting up SKINNY, Liron co-headed the Brand Strategy department at leading US agency kirshenbaum bond + partners. At kbp, Liron focused on using his creativity, ideas and cultural savvy to take on challenging business problems on behalf of venerable brands such as BMW, Diageo, NetJets, LVMH (Moet Hennessy), and Panasonic. Prior to kbp, he worked at Ogilvy NY on American Express and IBM. In the process he has helped create award-winning campaigns (including Effies, FWA awards, ADDYS, David Ogilvy awards and J.D. Powers accolades) that increased awareness, changed perceptions, created cultural momentum and generated sales for his clients. Liron’s work led leading US trade publication Advertising Age to name him in July 2007 as one of today’s “Notable Account Planners”.

Liron is a native of Israel, has served three years in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), holds a high honors Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Tel-Aviv’s New School of Media Studies and a Master of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. He pursues music (sub-standard drummer and a fanatic fan), writing and has what some have called an unhealthy obsession with Asian pop culture and the remarkably underperforming Nottingham Forest FC.

Under Mr. Nadal’s leadership, MDC Partners has grown into one of the world’s largest marketing communications networks whose over 35 holdings include Crispin Porter + Bogusky, kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners, Skinny, mono, Redscout, zig, Bruce Mau Design, henderson bas, Attention, Sloane & Company, Colle + McVoy, TEAM, HL Group, Adrenalina, Hello Design and Vitro Robertson.

Mr. Nadal has been involved in a number of additional businesses, including as a founder of First Asset Management Inc., Peerage Realty Partners, Artemis Investment Management and Alphascout Capital Management Inc. He also serves as a Director of Maxxcom Inc. and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Prior to joining MDC, Bob was President of Publicis NY, Lowe & Partners NA and founded and built Rotter Kantor- an integrated communications company and Hanger Network- the country’s largest green marketing platform.

Bob has helped build some of the industry’s most respected and successful companies including BMW, Coca Cola, Hasbro, L’Oreal, Novartis, P&G, Reebok, Toshiba and Unilever.

Previous Work
In 1998 Jonas founded Strobe, through which he created innovative, award winning communication concepts for Global brands such as Absolut, Adidas, BMW, Levi’s, Nissan and Vodafone and Volvo. Jonas’ work on these brands helped raise awareness in markets that would otherwise have ignored them, which in the modicum of current advertising/marketing is the pinnacle – next to changing behavior. But in ushering his clients into these spaces, Jonas effectively planted the seeds of behavioural change for customers who were previously unlikely to associate with these brands. That accomplishment is today at the core of his work at Skinny, where the goal is to bring the company’s clients into new spaces and change the behaviour of participants within them.

Education
Jonas studied design at Forsbergs School of Communication in Stockholm between 1995-1997 whilst working full time as a designer at the design agency Leo Form. As a final degree project Jonas and a friend from school, Lars Sköllerholm, invented an underground band called Headphones. Not only did the band get a record deal but the music video, record sleeve, poster design, and PR activities were all part of their graduating project, as well as a highly dynamic audio/visual performance at Arvika music festival. Jonas and Lars would later form Strobe together, before Jonas moved to the United States to work with KBSP and Skinny.

In 2000, Jonah founded Redscout, a brand development with offices in New York City and San Francisco. Jonah and his team serve as a strategic partner for some of the world’s biggest brands, helping them develop enduring brand positionings, new-to-the-world brands, product and service innovations, and useful yet imaginative design solutions. Redscout has been an integral part of the development of inventive and successful new products, services and experiences for a wide range of clients including PepsiCo, Diageo, Domino’s, Kraft, Johnson & Johnson, Hyatt, Nickelodeon, HP and Kate Spade.

Jonah is a popular industry commentator and speaker whose observations and opinions challenge assumptions and spark further conversation. He has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Billboard, and WWD. He is currently at work on his first book.