DPAA Adds Five Advertising and Media Industry Thought Leaders to Advisory Board
NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2016 – The Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA) announced today it has added five senior advertising and media executives to its advisory board. Joining are Bonnie Barest, EVP Group Account Director, Havas; Marshall Cohen, Founder and President, Marshall Cohen Associates, LLC; Michael Donahue, former EVP, American Association of Advertising Agencies; Greg Kahn, CEO, GKDigitalMedia and President & CEO, Internet of Things Consortium; and Alan Smith, Chief Digital Officer, Assembly.
DPAA advisory board members advocate the positive aspects of digital place based (DPB) media within their organizations, participate in quarterly board meetings with DPAA members, contribute their expertise and thought leadership on behalf of the DPB industry, collaborate with committees and task forces on industry-wide initiatives and provide thought leadership and support.
“The cumulative experience and strategic expertise of these five esteemed individuals will be of immeasurable value to our organization as we continue our mission of growing digital place based media’s share of the ad spending pie,” said Barry Frey, president & CEO, DPAA. “They recognize the value that DPB media brings to the video ecosystem and we appreciate the fact that they are enthusiastic about supporting our efforts.”
Barest is an ad agency leader who joined Havas Media in 2010 after serving as EVP, Managing Director at Optimedia and Publicis. She started in the industry at Benton & Bowles. At Havas Media, Barest oversees planning responsibilities for many of the firm’s New York clients. She has a keen understanding of all facets of the advertising business, from creative, digital and media to strategy, marketing, buying and business development. She challenges and inspires others to seek media innovation and develop holistic business-building opportunities. Barest has significant experience working with leading marketers in the luxury goods, fashion and beauty, retail, financial services, travel, CPG and pharmaceutical categories. Under her leadership, her teams won numerous awards including two Bronze Lions at the 2012 Cannes Festival for Evian, the first Titanium Lion for BMW in 2003 and a Gold Effie for British Airways in 2001.
Cohen is an established marketing and brand strategist with an extensive track record in both interactive and traditional media, marketing research, strategy, and consulting and advisory services. He also serves as an advisor or board member to a wide variety of media and Internet companies and has long been a partner at New York City based Private Equity firm, Pilot Group. He founded Marshall Cohen Associates, an entertainment, media and market research company, in 1992. It provides consulting and advisory services to numerous media companies, national brands and start-ups. Cohen also helped launch numerous cable networks and consulted with many start-up companies including ESPN 2, TV Land, CNET, About.com, DailyCandy, Bluefin Labs and others. He has served as an EVP at MTV Networks, America Online, AOL Time Warner and Univision Communications.
Donahue has held senior management positions in the communications business over the last several decades. He was EVP, 4As from 1994-2015, where he oversaw the organization’s strategic partnerships and annual Transformation conference, as well as media services and other initiatives including talent diversity and member relations. He was also closely involved in the development of Ad-ID, the advertising identification code. Before joining the 4As, Donahue held account management positions at Saatchi & Saatchi and was lead agency executive on several major accounts. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of both agencies. Today, Donahue runs his own consulting firm, Connect the Dots, which consults for the Association of National Advertisers in a variety of areas, including digital.
Kahn has more than 20 years experience in the media industry, having worked at well-established content and advertising technology companies such as Viacom, Publicis Groupe, Meredith and Omnicom. Today, he advises a diverse group of companies on wearable technology, home automation, virtual reality, 3D printing, connected retail, connected cars and emerging content models. Kahn recently was named incoming President & CEO of the Internet of Things Consortium. of In his most recent full-time corporate role, Kahn served as Chief Business Development Officer for Meredith Corporation’s content marketing unit–MXM, where he was responsible for all new business development and marketing initiatives. Prior to MXM, Kahn worked at Publicis Groupe’s Optimedia International for six years, most recently serving as EVP, Business Development Director. During his tenure, the agency was named #1 by RECMA in the new business results and client retention category. In 2010, Kahn received both Advertising Age’s Media Maven and Mediaweek’s All-Star awards. He is a regular speaker at numerous industry events including South by Southwest (SXSW), VidCon and the Consumer Electronics Show.
Smith is a digital marketing leader who has delivered best-in-class digital media solutions including SEM, SEO, display, mobile, content, native, video and programmatic for brands such as Google, Audible, Expedia, Timberland, eBay, AMC and Fox Sports. He has been recognized with a Cannes Lion, Effies and numerous other awards. Smith joined Assembly in January 2015 as Chief Digital Officer, responsible for providing expert digital input and support for an integrated media planning process; driving creativity in media across all clients including collaboration with creative agencies and content providers; building an in-house programmatic capability including a fully operational team, custom technology, data stack and creative integration; and managing a product group focusing on technology and data infrastructure including building custom audience data segments, developing a DMP and operational integration across all media, including offline. Before joining Assembly, Smith provided freelance strategy and marketing consulting services to Droga5 and other companies in North America and the U.K. From 2006-13 he held a variety of positions at Essence, a global digital agency, including Head of Media Investment & Head of Programmatic; Head of Media, North America; Planning Director, North America; Director, Team Google-North America; Director, Team eBay; and or Account Manager.
About DPAA (www.videoeverywhere.com)
Founded in 2006, the Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA) represents leading digital placed based networks by promoting their integral role in the “video everywhere” ecosystem. On behalf of its members, DPAA fosters collaboration between agencies and digital place based networks; provides standards, best practices and industry-wide research; and promotes the effectiveness of digital place based advertising. Digital place based media is defined as networked digital video screens containing programming and advertising, reaching consumers on their daily journeys in places where they dwell. The DPAA is a Video Everywhere AssociationTM.
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