Brad Brinegar
Partner, Chairman and CEO
McKinney
Brad has been head of McKinney since 2002. An Anthropology major at Dartmouth College with a Finance MBA from Columbia University, Brad spent two decades at Leo Burnett in Chicago where he rose from trainee to CEO of Leo Burnett, USA.
McKinney fitted Brad’s brief as an agency poised to lead the revolution in how brands go to market. During his tenure, McKinney has helped lead the convergence of offline and online (today, 35 percent of the agency’s revenue is interactive and 88 percent of staff is actively engaged in the digital space). The result is rich, engaging conversations including Audi’s Art of the Heist; Travelocity’s Roaming Gnome; Coldwell Banker’s “Founders”; the Polaris CEO Duel; and the Sony Bravia LCD TV.
In 2005, Brad moved McKinney from Raleigh to Durham and took over 60,000 square feet of vintage factory space, turning it into one of the most collaborative work environments in the industry. In June of this year, Brad led his management team to acquire 100 percent interest in the agency from Havas.
In addition to his duties at McKinney, Brad is a member of the 4A’s Board of Directors, founding chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Agency Advisory Board and a regular speaker for these organizations, as well as the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). He has lectured at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC/Chapel Hill, Dartmouth College, the Stanford Graduate School of Business and SAS.
Laura Desmond
CEO
Starcom MediaVest Group
One of the youngest CEOs to lead a marketing services company, Laura Desmond commands a staff of nearly 6,000 team members across 110 offices around the world since becoming SMG's global CEO in June 2008. In addition to her SMG role, she also sits on the VivaKi Board of Directors.
Prior to her appointment to global CEO, Laura was CEO of SMG-The Americas where she managed a network spanning the United States, Canada and Latin America since 2007. Responsible for leading media agency brands Starcom, MediaVest and Spark, Laura also tapped into the need to reach multicultural consumers by launched SMG Multicultural and the creation of 42 Degrees at MediaVest to operate alongside Tapestry. The two units combined represent 20% of all multicultural spending in the US. Digital leadership has also been a calling card for Laura and under her leadership SMG Performance Marketing was launched to marshal the response practices of Halogen, SMG Directory marketing and SMG Search to create cross-channel customer acquisitions solution for clients.
From 2003 to 2007, Laura held the title of CEO of MediaVest where she tallied up new business wins from Coca-Cola, Masterfoods, P&G, Wal-Mart and Wendy's among many others, ultimately earning her the title of Media Executive of the Year from Mediaweek as well as Adweek Agency of the Year. In 2000, she was tapped as CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Latin America. Not only did Laura help double the region's revenue, she landed new business assignments from P&G, Kraft and other iconic brands. While she has spent her entire career within SMG (and previously Leo Burnett) Laura has worn many hats including filling in for the client as the Media Services Director for General Motors and moving overseas to serve as International Media Director on major brands like Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola.
In addition to major accolades including a profile in The Wall Street Journal's Creative Leadership Series (2007) and the "Women to Watch" issue (2006), Laura was awarded the Advertising Age Media Maven honor (2005) and Mediaweek's Executive of the Year (2004) and induction into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement (2005). She was named one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes (2008) and serves as a member of the AAAA Board of Directors.
Nina DiSesa
Chairman
McCann Erickson NY
Nina started her advertising career as a writer in Richmond, VA, and then migrated to New York in 1983, where she worked at Y&R and then McCann Erickson in 1987.
In 1991 she became EVP and executive creative director of JWT/Chicago, her first job running the entire creative department of an ad agency.
In 1994, Nina returned to McCann’s New York office as EVP, executive creative director, where she lead one of the most successful new business teams in McCann history, bringing in an unprecedented $2.5 billion in billing over a four-year period. In 1998, Nina was made Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann New York. She was the first woman and the first creative director to be made Chairman in the McCann global network. In 1999, Nina was chosen by Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business.
In 2004, after 10 years, Nina turned over the creative responsibilities of the New York office to Joyce King Thomas, and remains as Chairman. Currently, her responsibilities are centered on the global businesses of McCann Worldgroup.
Her first book, the autobiographical “Seducing the Boys Club,” was published in January of 2008 by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House. She has just finished writing her second book—her first novel.
Christine Fruechte
President and CEO
Colle+McVoy
Christine’s passion for the power of strategic insight and innovative ideas is infectious. Her visionary leadership has attracted some of the greatest talent in the industry, driven the growth of many of the nation’s most respected brands, and made Colle+McVoy a growing force within the advertising industry.
Christine believes in creating a culture of creativity--a place where everyone is inspired to produce their best work. Since joining Minneapolis-based Colle+McVoy in 2004, the agency has significantly expanded its client roster, experienced tremendous growth, and received numerous industry accolades. A member of the MDC network, Colle+McVoy is driven by a passion to significantly impact each client with ideas that activate their brands and interact with people through smart, fresh, relevant ways.
Her insights and collaborative management style have brought success to high-profile brands, including: Aveda; Coca-Cola; General Mills; Johnson & Johnson; McDonald’s; Nestlé Purina; Manhattan Toy Company; Piper Jaffray; Red Wing Shoes; Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation; Starwood Hotels; Taco John’s;and Timex.
Prior to joining Colle+McVoy, Christine was founder and general manager of Campbell Mithun’s Youth Marketing Division, principal and evp at Kerker, and spent time in Hawaii as director of client services at MVNP, a DDB affiliate. She has been recognized with numerous Effie and Emmy awards, named among the top 25 innovators by Minnesota Monthly, and included among Women Leaders to Watch by the Business Journal.
On a personal note: Being the daughter of a psychic entertainer has taught Christine many things, most importantly; you can predict the future by creating it. She spends her free time volunteering at her son’s school and serving on Boards for Free Arts Minnesota and Cultural Jambalaya.
Bob Greenberg
Chairman/CEO/Global Creative Officer
R/GA
Bob has been a pioneer in the advertising and communications industry for over three decades. He leads the vision for R/GA, an agency that serves as the digital partner for Fortune 500 companies and world-renowned brands. R/GA embodies Bob’s philosophy by emphasizing the importance of integrated strategies, creative excellence and innovative technology.
Under Bob, R/GA has received the industry’s top honors. It was selected as Creativity’s Interactive Agency of the Year for 2007, Adweek’s Interactive Agency of the Year for 2006, and was named on Advertising Age’s Agency Top 10 “A-List” in 2006. Likewise, Bob has won almost every industry award including the Academy Award, Clios, Cannes Lions and the D&AD Black Pencil. Other awards include: the “Made in NY” Award in 2008; BDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007; Clio Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006; the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Communications in 2003; and the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design.
Bob is on the board of the Art Directors Club and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dean’s Council Advisory Board of Tisch School of the Arts, ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program), Parsons School, the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, and VCU Adcenter.
Thom Gruhler
Executive Vice President, Global Account Director
McCann Worldgroup
As executive vice president, Worldgroup Global account director, Thom Gruhler leads McCann Worldgroup’s largest US account―the $1.9 billion Verizon account. He directs an integrated multidisciplinary team of lead agencies and teams spanning all communications platforms.
Since his involvement with Verizon in 2001, Thom has led the relationship across IPG agencies, helping to build the account as one of the world’s strongest brands. He has led the way for one of the industry’s most successful integrated cross-platform teams, including: advertising; direct marketing; multicultural; internal/employee; experiential; digital; packaging; brand architecture/identity; youth; and employment.
Those he works with appreciate Thom’s “team-first” commitment, and the industry has benefited from his passion for developing talent around him. As the director of account management for McCann Erickson in NY, his focus was developing and mentoring talent, which led to his appointment as chair of the 4A’s Account Management Committee. In that capacity, Thom will host a national conference this year around the transformation of the role of Account Management and the implications for its practitioners.
Finding time to give back is a significant priority for Thom. He is currently the senior vice president of the NY AD Club, where he will serve as president next year. He is on the advisory board for the Good Deed Foundation, helping that philanthropic organization to develop its offerings and partnerships with global brands. Thom has also played an active role with PENCIL in NYC, developing a partnership with McCann Erickson and the NYC Public Schools to give high school students exposure to the advertising industry.
Thom is a Midwest boy who married a Rhode Island girl in 2007. Together he and his wife Catherine travel as much as they can to see their families and enjoy their shared love of art. He is committed to his yoga practice, which he says keeps him balanced in his career and offsets his love of cooking and wine collecting.
On November 18, 2008, Thom will proudly receive the distinguished Advertising Hall of Achievement Award and the Jack Avrett Volunteer Spirit Award from the American Advertising Federation.
Nancy Hill
President and CEO
American Association of Advertising Agencies
Nancy Hill was named president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Advertising Agencies on February 1, 2008. Previously, she served as chief executive officer at Lowe New York.
A veteran of AAAA member agencies on both east and west coasts, Ms. Hill has served as executive vice president and managing director at BBDO New York, where she oversaw several of the agency’s largest accounts.
Ms. Hill joined BBDO from Hill | Holliday, where she was first president of its San Francisco office, and later served as executive vice president and managing director for New York. In San Francisco, she was named one of the “75 Most Influential Women in Business” in both 2001 and 2002 by the San Francisco Business Times. Her background is steeped in technology experience from clients such as Cisco, Microsoft, LucasArts, Sybase, Sony, and Verizon.
Ms. Hill began her career in the recording industry. Later, she spent 11 years at Doner in Baltimore and TBWA\Chiat\Day before moving to San Francisco to lead Goldberg Moser O’Neill, which became Hill Holliday in 2001.
Ms. Hill has served on the Board of Directors of the Miami Ad School and led the launch of its New York campus. In addition to many teaching engagements throughout the country, she is actively involved in a community and education program in Ecuador where she has a home.
Carl Johnson
Founder and Partner
Anomaly Communications
Carl is one of the founders of Anomaly, a difficult-to-define, but stimulating-to-work-at, company that is striving to create a new approach to marketing, communications and innovation.
With its eclectic range of talent, Anomaly is a harsh critic of the “siloed” approach found at the traditional agencies and places collaboration above competition. As an advocate of the power and value of ideas, Anomaly’s mission is to create a portfolio of equity interests in IP as much as a roster of clients. In consequence it operates a completely different business model.
Prior to Anomaly, Carl was the COO of TBWA\Worldwide, a top-10 advertising agency network. He also served as the CEO of the New York office of TBWA/Chiat/Day and was a founder of Simons Palmer Clemmow Johnson in the UK, one of the most awarded and respected advertising agencies of the 90s. His success there as the company’s CEO led to him being named one of the UK’s top young business executives in Business Age Magazines’ “40 under 40” issue.
Carl is a director and president-elect of The American Marketing Association, the organizers of The Effies.
Shelly Lazarus
Chairman and CEO
Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Shelly has been working, as she would say it, “in the business I love,” for more than three decades, almost all of that time at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Shelly started at Ogilvy when the agency’s legendary founder, David Ogilvy, still walked the halls and preached that the purpose of advertising is to build great brands.
After rising through the ranks of account management and playing a pivotal role on many of the agency’s signature accounts, Shelly left the general agency to become the general manager for Ogilvy’s direct marketing unit in the United States. Her success there led to positions of increasing responsibility in the worldwide company, and she was named CEO in 1996.
Most importantly for Ogilvy, working in both advertising and direct marketing cemented her belief that building brands requires an integrated communication approach driven by a big core idea. This philosophy has been at the heart of Ogilvy’s business practice called 360 Degree Brand Stewardship®, and has guided successful campaigns for most of the largest brands that Ogilvy handles, including IBM, Dove, Kodak and American Express.
Shelly has been a frequent industry honoree. Advertising Women of New York selected her as “Woman of the Year” in 1994. She was honored by Women in Communications with their Matrix Award in 1995, was named “Business Woman of the Year” by the Partnership for New York City in 1996, and “Woman of the Year” in 2002 by the Direct Marketing Association. She has appeared in Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of “America’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business” since the list’s inception in 1998. Shelly was also the first woman to receive the Columbia Business School Distinguished Leadership in Business Award.
Shelly serves on the boards of several corporate, philanthropic and academic institutions: General Electric, Merck, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, American Museum of Natural History, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, World Wildlife Fund, and the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, where she received her MBA in 1970. She recently served for five years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Smith College, her alma mater. She is a member of Advertising Women of New York; The Committee of 200; Council on Foreign Relations; The Business Council; Women’s Forum, Inc.; and Deloitte & Touche Council for the Advancement of Women. She has also served as Chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
Shelly is the wife of Dr. George Lazarus, a New York pediatrician, and mother to their three grown children.
Greg Stern
CEO
Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners
Greg Stern is the CEO and one of the founders of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. Greg has over 26 years of advertising and marketing experience in the US and abroad. He began his career at Ogilvy & Mather in New York. He then moved with O&M, first to Hong Kong and later to Indonesia, where, as managing director, he grew that office substantially and established divisions in direct marketing, public relations and promotions for clients including Unilever, Nestle, Toyota and Pepsi. Greg returned to the United States to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners where he met his partners, John Butler and Mike Shine. In 1993, they started Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners.
As CEO Greg is responsible for corporate strategy including service integration, acquisitions and client strategy, and management. BSSP clients include MINI, Epson, Priceline, Greyhound, LucasArts, Take Care Health and Columbia Sportswear. Greg has been featured as an industry expert in media including ABC and NBC News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford and UC Berkeley business schools.
