Chris Altchek, co-founder and CEO, Mic
Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Mic, a media company for the millennial generation. Each month, more than 30 million readers and viewers rely on Mic’s unique sensibility to stay informed and make sense of the world. With sections focused on news, policy, world, identities, connections, connections, technology, science and art, Mic offers insightful stories and compelling perspectives on the issues that matter.
Tess Alps, chair, Thinkbox
Tess is the chair of Thinkbox, the body owned by the UK broadcasters whose role is to help advertisers get the best out of today’s diverse, multi-platform TV. Immediately prior to this she was the Chairman of the PHD Group in the UK. In her 13 years with PHD she played a variety of roles. She left in 2006 to set up Thinkbox as its first CEO.
Ana Andjelic, senior vice president, global strategy director, Havas Media LuxHub
Ana is senior vice president, global strategy director at Havas Media LuxHub, a global strategic consultancy working with the top luxury, fashion and lifestyle brands. An experienced strategist with a passion for new things, she earned her doctorate in Sociology at Columbia University and worked at the world’s top advertising agencies. Known for her future-facing approach to strategy, she led design of digital brand experiences and business solutions for global fashion brands like Tom Ford, Topshop, Canali, PUMA, Replay, DeBeers, The Macallan, Bloomberg Media, Knoll and The Peninsula Hotels.
Timothy Armoo, founder, Fanbytes
Timothy is the founder of Fanbytes, the largest social video platform in the UK helping brands such as Nickelodeon, Disney, Go Pro and Adidas engage with millennials through social video creators. Starting just over 11 months ago, Fanbytes now has the largest network of social influencers across YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Vine and been featured in Huffington Post, Guardian and Forbes.
Sam Baker, co-founder and CEO, The Pool
A magazine journalist for over 20 years Sam edited some of the UK’s biggest magazines including Cosmopolitan and Red. Her passion has always been the emotional relationship a magazine can have with its reader and how to develop that across channels. When social media exploded, it presented an unmissable opportunity to have a conversation with the audience. Almost three years ago, she left Red with the germ of an idea that became The Pool after she teamed up with broadcaster Lauren Laverne to launch an entirely new way of speaking to women.
David Beebe, vice president, global creative and content marketing, Marriott International
David is a digital media executive, global marketing leader and producer. A military veteran, he has a proven track record of building and leading industry disruptive content studios, creative marketing organisations, and industry first platforms for media companies, global brands and startups.
He’s been called a “branded content master who makes it OK to love marketing” by Adweek and the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences has honoured him for his creative achievements in leading two Emmy award winning projects – the Oscar Digital Experience and Full Episode Player on ABC.com.
Blake Cahill, global head of digital and social marketing, Philips
A senior executive with more than 20 years of business development experience, Blake is helping to lead the Dutch company’s international rebranding and expansion into new technologies and markets. With a strong background in executing highly complex and results-oriented strategies, Blake has led a series of marketing, creative, client management, product innovation and thought leadership projects for both Fortune 500 organisations and digital start-ups. In each case, he has demonstrated a great ability to acquire and retain customers through innovative engagement techniques and product development programmes.
Dominic Carter, managing director, News UK Commercial
Dominic joined News International in 1991 and held various roles across The Sun and Times Newspapers Limited before leaving in 2000 to join Mirror Group Newspapers as group advertising director. In 2006 he returned to News International as trading director across The Times and Sunday Times and expanded his role in 2008 to include The Sun. Dominic was appointed commercial director of News UK in September 2011 following a restructure of the Commercial team. He stepped up to become managing director in July 2015.
Rory Cellan-Jones, technology correspondent, BBC News
Rory has been a reporter for the BBC for more than 25 years, covering business and technology stories for much of that time. After working on everything from Breakfast Time to Newsnight, the Ten O’Clock News and the Money Programme he was appointed technology correspondent in 2007 with a brief to expand the BBC’s coverage of the impact of the internet on business and society.
He now covers technology for television, radio and the BBC website, and has a popular blog. In 2012 he was voted Tech Personality of The Year by readers of T3 magazine.
Amy Cole, head of brand development, EMEA, Instagram
Amy leads Instagram brand development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In her role she works closely with marketeers across brands, agencies and other organisations to help inspire and advise on their Instagram strategies, helping them deliver against their business and campaign objectives.
Amy was the sixth member of the Instagram team. During her time at Instagram, Amy has held the role of head of business operations, helping to develop and launch Instagram’s advertising platform and has led market operations for Instagram’s international business expansion.
Kevin J. Delaney, editor-in-chief and president, Quartz
Kevin is editor-in-chief and president of Quartz. He was a reporter at The Wall Street Journal for a decade, with that time split between hardship postings in Paris and San Francisco. While covering internet companies such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook for the Journal, he became convinced that newspapers could do much more to ensure that good journalism thrives in the digital age.
Mark Evans, marketing director, Direct Line
Mark studied at Nottingham University for a BA in Economics and an MA in Corporate Strategy & Governance. He started his career in Mars and for 10 years worked on a number of their global brands across sectors and geographies. Subsequent to Mars Mark worked at 118118 and then HSBC. He joined Direct Line Group in 2012 in the build up to an IPO process and in the past three years has overseen the transformation of DLGs brands and marketing approach. He is in the 2015 Marketing Power 100 and the 2015 Marketing Week Vision 100.
Mel Exon, managing director of BBH London and co-founder of BBH Labs
Mel joined BBH early in her career in 1997. Since then, she has led the development of award-winning, effective work for clients as diverse as Levi’s, British Airways, Boddingtons, Yeo Valley and Johnnie Walker. Her clients currently include Tesco, Clarks and Boden. In 2008, she set up BBH Labs, the agency’s marketing R&D arm, to ensure that the company is as smart as possible and embraces emerging platforms, processes and partners. She writes about this and more at bbh-labs.com and @bbhlabs and @melex.
Maria Garrido, global head of data and consumer insights, Havas Media Group
Maria is an international marketing executive with over 18 years of experience in North America, Latin America and Europe on both client and agency side. She recently joined Havas Media Group as global head of data & consumer insights where she is responsible for developing strategic analytical products, leading their meaningful brands practice, and ROI solutions, all designed to help boost client KPI’s through media strategy.
Rags Gupta, general manager, EMEA, Ooyala
Rags is Ooyala’s general manager for EMEA. He came to Ooyala from Videoplaza, where as chief commercial officer he built out the company’s sales, marketing and client relations teams. Rags has been in digital media since 1999; he was part of Brightcove’s founding management team and earlier was chief operating officer for the internet radio network, Live 365.
Cory Haik, executive director for emerging news products, The Washington Post
With a journalism career solely in digital, Cory has a passion for the creative development of cutting-edge storytelling. She has been at The Post for the last four years, leading innovative initiatives – such as the new Kindle Fire app – and pushing the envelope on mobile and places to grow new audiences.
She cut her teeth following the storms of the Gulf Coast at NOLA.com, site of the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, where she was the managing editor. She shared in two Pulitzer Prizes with The Times-Picayune for the staff coverage of Hurricane Katrina, for breaking news and public service in 2006.
Mary Hamilton, executive editor, audience, Guardian News & Media
Mary is the Guardian’s executive editor for audience, overseeing the Guardian’s approach to reach, loyalty and participation around the world. She has previously worked as audience editor in the New York and Sydney offices. She started out as a local reporter before discovering that the internet is really, really interesting.
Sir John Hegarty, worldwide creative director and founder, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH)
John has been central to the global advertising scene over six decades working with brands such as Levi’s, Audi, Boddingtons, Lynx, British Airways and Johnnie Walker. He founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1982 with John Bartle and Nigel Bogle, which became one of the most famous and awarded global advertising agencies ever.
His creative awards are numerous. He has been given the D&AD President’s Award for outstanding achievement and in 2014 was admitted to the US AAF Hall of Fame. He was awarded a Knighthood by the Queen in 2007 and was the recipient of the first Lion of St Mark award at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2011.
Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder and CEO, TransferWise
Taavet is co-founder and CEO of TransferWise, the international money transfer platform. TransferWise is the low cost and fair way of transferring money internationally. Using peer-to-peer technology and without any hidden fees, it makes sending money abroad up to ten times cheaper compared to using a bank. TransferWise customers send £500m every month using the platform, and it’s attracted $91m from investors such as world’s largest VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, Sir Richard Branson, Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, the co-founders of PayPal.
Shelina Janmohamed, vice president, Ogilvy Noor
Shelina is vice president of Ogilvy Noor, the world’s first bespoke consultancy for building brands with Muslim audiences, part of Ogilvy & Mather. She has been named one of the UK’s 100 most influential Muslim women by The Times newspaper and the EHRC, as well as one of the future British female leaders of advertising by the Institute of Practitioners in advertising (IPA). She is the author of the upcoming book Generation M, the rise of the modern Muslim faithful and why they matter.
David Joseph, chairman and CEO, Universal Music UK
David Joseph is the chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK, the UK’s leading music company, overseeing the labels Island, Polydor, Capitol, Decca and Virgin EMI alongside the world’s most famous recording studios, Abbey Road. In 2005 he became a member of the BPI Council and for three years was chairman of the Brits Committee, which oversees the Brit Awards. In August 2013 he was appointed a member of the council of Arts Council England. He is executive producer of Amy, the documentary about Amy Winehouse directed by Asif Kapadia.
Lauren Laverne, co-founder and broadcast Director, The Pool
A lifelong music lover, Lauren formed the indie band Kenickie when she was still at school. After the band split, she moved into broadcasting where she has made her name as a DJ on BBC 6Music and on screen, presenting TV shows including The Culture Show and 10 o’clock Live. She has had columns in Grazia, Red and The Observer and this year presented Woman’s Hour. Earlier this year she and journalist Sam Baker launched The Pool, a new digital platform for women.
Rose Lewis, co-founder, Collider
Rose tirelessly champions the London marketing and advertising tech scene through the accelerator she launched, Collider. Collider is a vehicle for industry experts and entrepreneurs to share their wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts with those who are just beginning their journey. Leading the charge is Rose, with her indomitable spirit, energy and commitment to seeing the UK emerge as the world’s leading destination for marketing and advertising tech.
Amanda Mackenzie OBE, CMO, Aviva
Amanda was a member of Aviva’s group executive for seven years as CCMO and joined Aviva to change the name from Norwich Union and to set up a global marketing and communications function. She has over 25 years of commercial experience, including director roles at British Airways Airmiles, BT and British Gas.
She was awarded an OBE in the 2014 New Year honours list for services to marketing. She is on loan from Aviva as executive advisor to Richard Curtis and team for Project Everyone, which is a campaign to make the UN’s sustainable development goals reach as many people in the world as possible.
Helen McRae, CEO, UK and chair of western Europe, Mindshare
Helen has been newly appointed to the role of UK CEO. She will combine her UK CEO role with her role as chair of Mindshare western Europe, representing Europe on the GroupM Europe board. She came to Mindshare in 2004 to lead the global Unilever account, before assuming joint responsibility for Mindshare EMEA. She has worked on every continent bar Antarctica and has an equally diverse career background covering banking, education, logistics, and of course, media. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in the US but still holds her Aussie passport dear to her heart.
Nicola Mendelsohn, vice president, Facebook EMEA
Nicola joined Facebook in June 2013 as vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, overseeing Facebook’s business activities for the EMEA region.
Previously she was executive chairman at the advertising agency Karmarama. She is the co-chair of the Creative Industries Council a joint forum between the creative industries and Government. This year, Nicola was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition for her services to the creative industry.
Prior to Karmarama, Nicola was the Deputy Chairman of Grey London and a Board Director at BBH.
Lindsay Pattison, CEO, Maxus Worldwide
Lindsay has been described as a positive force of nature. As UK CEO she transformed the UK media agency Maxus, growing revenue, staff base and profit sevenfold in just over four years. She then expanded this drive across the rest of the Maxus network as global chief strategy officer (CSO), looking after planning, effectiveness, product development and new business. In October 2014 Lindsay continued her growth within GroupM and was appointed CEO of Maxus Worldwide.
David Pemsel, CEO, Guardian Media Group
Appointed chief executive officer of Guardian Media Group in July 2015. David joined Guardian News & Media (GNM) in 2011 as chief marketing officer, before being appointed chief commercial officer in 2012. A year later David assumed the newly-created role of deputy chief executive, taking on increased accountability for the GNM business. He was previously marketing director of ITV and in 2000 launched Shine Entertainment. He is a fellow of the Marketing Society, council member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain and a Voting Member of BAFTA.
Mike Perlis, president and CEO, Forbes Media
Mike is a media industry CEO with deep experience managing a wide range of content and multimedia brands. He joined Forbes Media in 2010 from SoftBank Capital, where he served as a general partner for 10 years and continues to be special partner. Before joining SoftBank, he served as president and CEO of Ziff-Davis Publishing, publisher of GQ, president of Playboy Publishing, president of TVSM, publisher of Runner’s World and Men’s Health, chairman and CEO of IDG Peterborough and co-founder of New England Publications. He served on the board of Buzzfeed and was a board member and chairman of Associated Content. Previous board observer positions include GSI Commerce, The Huffington Post and KickApps. He is on the Board of Advisors of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and is a trustee of Outward Bound International.
David Prasher, managing director, Haymarket Consumer Media
As managing director of the consumer media division, David is responsible for a portfolio that contains some of the best known and widely read specialist consumer multi-platform brands in the UK and overseas, including WhatCar?, FourFourTwo, PistonHeads, Stuff and Autocar. Since his appointment as managing director in 2010, he’s been responsible for continuing to plot and drive the transition of a traditional print business to a modern, profitable digital media business.
Kate Russell, technology reporter, BBC Click
Kate Russell has been writing and talking about technology, gaming and the Internet since 1995. Best known for weekly appearances on BBC technologyprogramme Click, she is also a regular on the sofa at ITV’s Daybreak and other TV and radio stations and writes columns for several magazines. She published her first book (about the internet, of course), in 2013, and after a successful crowd funding campaign her second book - a sci-fi novel based on the game Elite, which was her childhood inspiration to learn about technology – was published in June.
Kerensa Samanidis, head of digital projects, BFI
Kerensa is responsible for digital products at the BFI and leads product strategy and development across all platforms including web, mobile and TV. Since joining two years ago, she launched BFI’s award winning video-on-demand service, BFI Player, which includes a rich range of free archive and premium feature films. Prior to joining the BFI, Kerensa held senior business and product development roles across the spectrum of the media and entertainment industry including Sony PlayStation, Turner Broadcasting, HMV and Hearst.
Jay Stevens, general manager, international, Rubicon Project
Charged with spearheading the company’s international expansion efforts, Jay brings more than fifteen years of interactive marketing and international business experience to his role. He has been responsible for building the company’s presence from the ground up across the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Australia.
Farrah Storr, editor, Cosmopolitan
Farrah was made editor of Cosmopolitan in July 2015 and immediately led the magazine through a dramatic new look. She joined from Women’s Health magazine where she was launch editor. Under her tenure, Women’s Health has become the most successful women’s magazine launch of the last decade, recording six consecutive increases in its ABC circulation figures. Prior to that she was features director of Marie Claire in Australia and deputy features editor of Glamour UK. She began her career as features assistant at Woman & Home, followed by features writer at Good Housekeeping. She regularly contributes to broadsheet newspapers and television about a wide range of women’s issues.
Theo Theodorou, head of EMEA, xAd
Theo is tasked with bringing together buyers and sellers with ad targeting solutions focused on driving in-store traffic and sales within the region. Prior to xAd, he served as the senior vice president, EMEA at Videology where he worked with advertisers and publishers building cross device opportunities in online video. He has a detailed understanding of the challenges facing both advertisers and publishers in the new multi-screen digital world. He is also a Mobile Marketing Association and Internet Advertising Bureau’s board member.
Suki Thompson, CEO, Oystercatchers
Suki is CEO and founder of Oystercatchers, a consultancy that accelerates marketing performance providing a wide range of specialist consultancy services including marketing models, client/agency partnerships, pitches, training and ways of working in the UK, Europe, Asia and USA. She has worked in agencies; Rapp, Publicis and TBWA before turning serial entrepreneur, launching Kendall Tarrant headhunting in Asia and founding Haystack UK – a framework for the modern pitch intermediary.
Mimi Turner, marketing director, The Lad Bible
Mimi is marketing director of The Lad Bible, the social and mobile publisher followed by 49% of the entire UK 18-24 male population. Described by the Financial Times as “a journalistic Jagerbomb,” The Lad Bible has set about redefining the way young people consume content in the digital age.
Stephen van Rooyen, chief marketing and Digital Officer, Sky UK
Stephen was appointed chief marketing and digital officer in July 2014 following three years as managing director, sales and marketing. He is responsible for Sky’s UK & ROI Consumer businesses which includes all brand, advertising, marketing, customer acquisition and retention as well as all Sky’s products across TV, entertainment and communications.
Anna Watkins, managing director, Guardian Labs
After graduating in modern history from Oxford University, Anna began her career at the newly formed M&C Saatchi in 1995. Key clients included The Mirror Group, BSkyB, Scottish Courage and Sainsbury’s.
In 2005 she joined the digital agency, Grand Union, to launch Hubbub, their content and social media agency as managing director, winning P&G, HSBC and Boots as founding clients. After three years she was promoted to managing director of Grand Union Group where she oversaw the sale to FullSIX as well as the resultant merger with Six&Co.
In 2012 she was appointed managing director of the media agency, Initiative, and was appointed to the IPG Mediabrands UK board in 2013.
She joined The Guardian in October 2013 to launch Guardian Labs.
Keith Weed, CMO, Unilever
As chief marketing and communications officer, Keith is a member of the Unilever executive and responsible for the marketing, communications and sustainable business functions. His responsibilities are aligned to support Unilever’s vision: to double the size of the business while reducing its environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact. Keith sees sustainability as a driver of consumer-led profitable growth. He led the creation of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and has also pioneered new ways of integrating sustainability into the business.
Alan Wolk, senior analyst, The Diffusion Group
Currently a senior analyst at The Diffusion Group, Wolk serves as chairman of the 2nd Screen Society and as expert-in-residence at BRaVe Ventures. He also provides strategic and marketing-based advisory services for clients in the media and entertainment industries through his own venture, Toad Stool Consultants, where he is able to put his ideas into practice. You can find him on Twitter @awolk
