Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Track I: Ahmanson Hall, Live Webcast

The Future of Brand Partnerships and Influencer Marketing

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder, BrainTrust

Sybil Grieb, US Head of Influencer Strategy, Edelman

Lisa Bilgrei, Head of Branded Content, Google/YouTube

Twitter, speaker to be announced

Kyle Cushman, VP of Strategy, Fullscreen

Simon Kelly, Co-CEO and Chief Enthusiasm Officer, Story Worldwide

Moderator - Mark Kapczynski, President, Storymill

Sybil Grieb, US Head of Influencer Marketing at Edelman: Edelman is the largest privately owned Communications Marketing Firm in the world, with 65 offices around the globe. Drawing on over 12 years of experience as a digital media executive, Sybil serves as Head of Influencer Strategy and Programming at Edelman. She oversees the influencer teams, creating top quality integrated influencer programs for clients, leveraging all tiers of talent, from micro-influencers to top-tier creators, and has built collaborations across teams to amplify influencer content across owned, earned and paid media. Prior to joining Edelman, Sybil was Head of Digital Influencer and Brand Integrations at William Morris Endeavor, creating custom campaigns for brands and agencies

across social media. Sybil launched her digital career at ZAM Network (now Tencent) from 2005-2010 where she built and ran both the Ad Sales and Ad Operations teams, increasing advertising revenue 400% globally. At OTTER Media’s Crunchyroll Network, she was Head of Ad Sales and Ad Operations, more than doubling direct sales revenue in her tenure. Her clients have included Starbucks, Barilla, Kellogg’s, Activision Blizzard, NBC, Lionsgate, Dell, AMD, Square Enix, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Nickelodeon, and many more.

Lisa Siskind Bilgrei currently works at Google as a branded content expert focusing on executing premium video experiences for brands on YouTube.  Having been at Google for 11+ years, her roles have included Media and Entertainment Sales, IPG Hold Co Lead and Head of Branded content for Sponsorship & Media Packages Team. Prior to Google Lisa worked in Account Management at a myriad of advertising agencies including Rapp Collins, Y&R, Wunderman and Ogilvy.   Clients included DirecTV, Harrah’s Entertainment, IBM, SAP and American Red Cross. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Josh and three kids Dylan (6 yrs), Alexis (4 yrs) and Maya (14 months).

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder, BrainTrust: For almost two decades, Kendra Bracken-Ferguson has helped define and navigate the digital space as a creative force for brands and influencers, becoming a recognized and sought after innovative leader, visionary and transformative brand builder. Most recently Kendra was the Chief Digital Officer of CAA-GBG, the largest brand management agency in the world with 24 offices in over 20 countries. BrainTrust, the social media agency that Kendra founded in 2016, joined CAA-GBG which is a joint venture between Global Brands Group Holding Limited (“Global Brands”), and Creative Artists Agency (“CAA”) in 2017. In April of 2019, Kendra bought back BrainTrust and the agency is now independent refocused on Brand Strategy and Social Media for brands, institutions and tastemakers. Prior to BrainTrust gaining notoriety and success, Kendra saw an opening in the market for digital, social and influencer marketing and she co-founded Digital Brand Architects. DBA grew quickly from an idea at a kitchen table into the go-to firm for influencer management and was recently acquired by United Talent Agency (UTA). Before launching DBA, Kendra created the social media footprint for fashion behemoth, Ralph Lauren, where she was the company’s first Director of Digital Media. Kendra's work during and since her time at Ralph Lauren was informed by her years as Vice President, Digital at Fleishman-Hillard, New York, where she led the digital consumer team in developing social media strategies for clients including AT&T, DKNY, and P&G.  A compelling and charismatic keynote speaker and industry leader, Kendra has been awarded the Emerging Voice Award by her alma mater Purdue University, named one of the "Most Influential African American Women" by Essence Magazine, Cayton Children’s Museum board member and noted by Mobile Marketer as a "Mobile Women to Watch” amongst other industry accolades. Kendra is also on the Forbes Agency Council and serves on the Advisory Board of Influencer Marketing Association. Working ahead of trends and predicting opportunities, Carpe diem is not just a saying to Kendra - it is a way of life.

Simon Kelly, Co-CEO Story Worldwide: Simon Kelly has been recognized as a pioneer of the branded content industry and is credited with introducing the first integrated approach for custom content providers in the US. Since then Kelly and his partners at Story Worldwide have evolved that audience-first approach to create a brand narrative practice that he believes will replace traditional advertising. Kelly began his career with IDG, then went on to co-found TPD, one of the leading independent custom publishers in the UK at the time. In 1995, Kelly moved to Seattle to launch the company’s US operation with the launch of Microsoft Magazine – incidentally its companion web-site also marked the launch of one of the world’s first web-zines. In 1997 he spearheaded the launch of the Custom Publishing Council and in 1999 he was named in the Folio: 40 for his work integrating print and web content. Kelly was the first recipient of the John Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the content marketing industry. In 2001 TPD became part of Interpublic. In 2005 Kelly and his partners bought it back and rebranded the company Story Worldwide. (www.storyworldwide.com). Since then, they have transformed a custom content company into a global, multi-channel content advertising and branding agency. Story Worldwide’s signature approaches, storyfinding and making, help turn their clients’ brands into engaging media channels. Today, with over 100 employees and offices in New York and Seattle, Story is leading the post-advertising revolution. Story’s clients include FX Network, Lexus, Unilever, USVI, RCI, Pernod Ricard, Criteo and SEI. Most recently Story led the world record-breaking twitter marathon for every Simpsons episode ever.  Simon regularly addresses marketing, advertising and media professionals about the rapidly-changing advertising landscape and why it is that brands that tell the best stories will win in the post-advertising age.

Kyle Cushman serves as the VP of Strategy at Fullscreen overseeing the strategy and development of branded content programs within Entertainment, Gaming, Tech, and Toy verticals. In this capacity Kyle runs strategy for Hot Wheels, Mattel Action Figures and Barbie overseeing media, social, content and influencer strategy. Since Kyle joined Fullscreen in 2013, she has been instrumental in shaping industry standards and best practices for brands in the rapidly evolving influencer marketing landscape. Kyle came to Fullscreen after 8 years on the agency side working at Carat and Deutsch LA.

Mark Kapczynski has a successful track record as a serial entrepreneur, chief executive, and cross-industry expert.  He serves as an Executive Director of the UCLA Venture Capital Fund, helping to foster innovation connected to the university.  Programs include early stage investing, mentoring, and access to Intellectual Property from university patents. Mr. Kapczynski advises startup businesses as part of the LA Chamber of Commerce’s Bixel Exchange.  In this role, Mr. Kapczynski assists technology startups in Southern California to design their businesses, build out their teams and raise capital to fuel their growth. He also serves as a Venture Partner for Arrowroot Capital in Santa Monica, CA. At Arrowroot, Mr. Kapczynski focuses on investments in the SaaS market in need of growth capital to further develop their businesses.  The areas that Mr. Kapczynski addresses are Big Data & Analytics, Financial Services, and Consumer Internet. Mr. Kapczynski last served as VP of Corporate Development and Strategy for Experian's consumer businesses which include leading consumer brands: Experian, FreeCreditReport.com, and ProtectMyID. Through executing on over 8 M&A transactions, Mr. Kapczynski helped to facilitate Experian’s under-lying growth and profitability. Mr. Kapczynski graduated from UCLA film school and continues to be active in multiple industry associations that span media, mobile telecom, technology, and consumer internet.  He has 12 patents to his name and an additional 40 patents pending.