Industry Thought Leaders Added 2 @DPAAorg Advisory Board

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

The Digital Place-Based Advertising Association, New York, announced today it has added five senior advertising and media executives to its advisory board: Bonnie Barest, executive vice-president group account director, Havas; Marshall Cohen, founder and president, Marshall Cohen Associates LLC; Michael Donahue, former executive vice-president, American Association of Advertising Agencies; Greg Kahn, CEO, GK Digital Media and president and CEO, Internet of Things Consortium; and Alan Smith, chief digital officer, Assembly.

Greg Kahn, president & CEO, Internet of Things Consortium

Greg Kahn, president & CEO, Internet of Things Consortium

DPAA advisory board members advocate the positive aspects of digital place-based 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,” says Barry Frey, president and 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 executive vice-president, managing director at Optimedia and Publicis. She started in the industry at Benton & Bowles.

Cohen founded Marshall Cohen Associates, an entertainment, media and market research company, in 1992. He 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.

Donahue was executive vice-president of the 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. His previous background was with Saatchi & Saatchi He now 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 worked at Viacom, Publicis Groupe’s Optimedia International, Meredith and Omnicom and was recently chief business development officer for Meredith Corporation’s content marketing unit—MXM. 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. He was recently named incoming president & CEO of the Internet of Things Consortium.

Smith, who joined Assembly in January, 2015, 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. Among his previous roles, he held a variety of senior positions at Essence, a global digital agency.


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