How much do marketers (& their agencies) need to know about technology? Advertisers and brand marketers are entering a brave new world -- one where code is on par with content. "Consumers" are now "users." So should "marketers" be "developers"? Enter the hybrid marketer. More and more agencies are finding they need to educate and cultivate a new breed of people who understand tech from a marketing and brand perspective, and who have a consumer mindset. At the same time, agencies are adopting practices--agile development, continuous deployment--learned from the tech world. But should they really try this stuff at home? Should "marketers" be worrying about, say, the video capability of the latest iPhone, or pushing the envelope with HTML5? Or should they just stick to their core competencies and work with established software companies / dev shops to realize their ideas? How else is technology affecting the agency model and the creative process?
Allison Mooney is Head of Trends & Insights, Marketing at Google. She works to explore the changing face of media, mobile and consumer behavior, drive new thinking internally, and communicate Google’s visionary concepts to wider audiences.
Allison has a diverse background in publishing, trend reporting, observative research and mobile marketing. She was named to Mobile Marketer's "Mobile Women to Watch 2010" list and has been quoted in a number of publications including New York Times, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and Advertising Age.
Prior to joining Google, she was Vice President, Emerging Trends with MobileBehavior, an Omnicom mobile consultancy that became part of Tribal DDB. In 2010, she co-founded IRL Productions, an events company with a focus on social media and interactive experiences.
I'm the Director of Strategy at Google Creative Lab, New York. In a previous life I was the Executive Director of Innovation at BBH New York, & one of the two founders of BBH Labs.
I am a member of the Board of Directors at Boulder Digital Works. I am also a Fellow with Futures of Entertainment, a network of thought leaders from academia, the media industries, & marketing who explore the current state / future of entertainment & mass communication.
Matt Galligan, 26, is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of SimpleGeo, based out of San Francisco, CA that provides tools and services that make it easy for developers to add location functionality to their apps. He previously founded Socialthing, a company that was chosen to be part of the inaugural year of TechStars. Socialthing.com went into private beta in March, 2008 at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The company was acquired five months later by AOL. Socialthing was later rebranded as AOL Lifestream.
His background is in graphic design and user experience, working for Network Solutions, based out of St. Louis, MO. He got his start in the internet and design while working for a disaster restoration company out of Illinois before he turned 16.
Matt currently resides in San Francisco, CA and is an active member of the startup community there.
Robert Rasmussen, Tribal DDB’s Chief Creative Officer, has worked in the most creative traditional and digital agencies on his path from designer to art director, to creative leadership including W+K, BBH, R/GA, and JWT. Rob’s major client credits include Nike, Jetblue, ESPN, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Miller Brewing, GMAC/Ally Bank, NFL, Budweiser, and Reebok.
Throughout his career, Rob has won every top creative and effectiveness award in the industry. Rob’s notable contributions to the evolution of digital creative excellence includes the “Beta-7” campaign for Sega, created while at Weiden + Kennedy, which was recently named in the “Book of Tens: Best Non-TV Campaigns of the Decade” by Advertising Age. Rob was also featured as one of the digital gurus responsible for changing the new media landscape in the NY Times Magazine article "Multiscreen Mad Men".
As a vivacious and frequent public speaker, Rob has presented at many events including Ad Week -talks, The VCU Masters Program, and the 4a's. Rob has also been honored to serve as Juror for CLIOs Television, CLIOs Content and Contact, The One Show Interactive, The London International Award, the New York Festivals, Cannes Lions Cyber Jury and The Andy Awards.
