Over Twenty Leading Agency Executives Participate in New Forum
New York, NY (November 20, 2003) Building a bridge between the interactive publishing community and advertising agencies, the IAB has established a new advisory committee comprised of over twenty-one senior executives from the top advertising agencies in the U.S. The new Agency Advisory Board creates a direct communication channel between the two communities and the Board will work in a variety of capacities to improve the environment for interactive advertising and marketing.
The Board is chaired by Matt Freeman, CEO, Tribal DDB Worldwide and its first meeting was held in late October. The group will meet quarterly. The Board will work in tandem with the IAB to identify issues and initiatives that will simplify, prove and promote the role of interactive in the marketing mix. In addition, the Board will function in an advisory capacity, providing insight and the agency perspective on current business practices and potential areas for improvement.
Interactive advertising has proven its value to marketers, and the advertising agencies are leading the charge in harnessing this power by delivering the best value and product to our clients. Due to the newness of the medium, there are still kinks that must be worked out and this Board affords leading agencies a forum to address these issues. This ultimately benefits all our clients by making interactive easier to participate in, said Freeman.
Im thrilled to have such first-rate agency experts as our partners on this Board. With the more entrenched media vehicles, forcing change with any facet of the buying or planning process seems nearly impossible. With interactive, we are seizing a viable window of opportunity to transform aspects of the industry for the benefit of all, said Greg Stuart, President and CEO, IAB.
The full Board membership includes a cross-section of some most respected and experienced executives in the advertising business from the media, creative, account and research fields. Board members include:
Jonathan Adams, Senior Partner, Group Media Director, mOne Worldwide; Ingrid Bernstein, SVP, Creative Director, iDeutsch; David Cohen; SVP, Interactive Media Director, Universal McCann; David Ernst, EVP, Director Futures and Technologies, Initiative Media; Sarah Fay, President, Carat Interactive; Kevin Flatt, Executive Creative Director, Fallon Interactive; George Gallate, CEO, Euro RSCG Interaction; Adam Gerber, SVP/Group Director, Innovation & Strategy, MediaVest; Larry Harris, SVP, Executive Producer & Digital Creative Honcho, FCBi; Kevin Howard, Media Director, Avenue A/NYC; Norman Lehoullier, Managing Director, Grey Interactive Worldwide; Dave Lynch, Managing Director, Modem Media; Stacey Nachtaler, Regional President, i-traffic; Amanda Richman, VP, Account Director, Zentropy Partners; Alan Schanzer, Managing Partner, The Digital Edge; Kathleen Sheridan, SVP Media Director, Digitas; Ingrid Sletten, VP, Integrated Planning, Beyond Interactive; David Song, Vice President, MPG/Media Contacts; Rishad Tobaccowala, President, Starcom IP; Eric Wheeler, Senior Partner Executive Director, Ogilvy Interactive.
About the IAB:
Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) represents the leading companies in the interactive space. Membership includes companies that are actively engaged in, and support the sale of interactive advertising in addition to being responsible for selling over 75% of online advertising in the United States. IAB members include AOL, CNET Networks, DoubleClick, MSN, Google, Overture, The Walt Disney Internet Group, Yahoo! and over 150 others. On behalf of its members, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research and educates the advertising industry regarding the use of interactive advertising. For more information on the IAB please visit www.iab.net.