Monday, January 6th, 2020

1 - 2 PM

Session I, C-Space at CES

Aria Resort & Casino, Level 3, Juniper 4

AR/VR/XR as a Branding Strategy

The advertising and VR/AR/XR industry was a partnership waiting to happen. The immersive experience on all platforms, from smartphones to the vast array of major brand XR experiences may be the best relationship between brand and consumer ever devised.

Ashley Crowder, CEO, Co-Founder, VNTANA

John Canning, Executive Producer, VR/AR Interactive, Digital Domain

Ariella Lehrer, Ph.D., President, HitPoint Studios

Elizabeth Kiehner, Market Maker, IBM Design Principal, IBMiX

Alasdair Lennox, Executive Creative Director, FITCH

Steve Carbone, Chief Digital & Investment Officer, MediaCom

Mike Vorhaus, CEO, Vorhaus Advisors, Moderator

Elizabeth Kiehner is the Global Design Services Director and Chief of Staff at IBM. Elizabeth Kiehner is a design thinking evangelist who believes in harnessing the power of creativity to solve global business challenges. By unearthing human insights, Liz co-creates customer-centric experiences that have the power to transform the enterprise. Elizabeth Kiehner’s day ranges from identifying and mentoring the newest crop of talent to capturing the pulse

of an ever-changing innovation and technology landscape. Her passion and creativity have inspired some of the world’s most recognized brands with enterprise engagements and design thinking workshops with the C-suite. Elizabeth Kiehner is also a founding partner of Thornberg & Forester, an award-winning, full service design agency in the heart of Union Square in NYC.

John Canning, is the Executive Producer – New Media & Experiential at Digital Domain. While their name might not be commonly known, you definitely know Digital Domain’s work - they create visual effects for feature films, including the recent Avengers Infinity War movie. They also create visuals for advertising, games, training, and immersive content, including their own original content. Prior to Digital Domain, John was the VP of Interactive Experiences for NBCUniversal, creating VR and other digital experiences for The Voice, Million Second Quiz, The Blacklist, and others. In the past, he’s also spent several years at both Microsoft and Disney. On the side, he’s the Chairman of the New Media Council at the Producers Guild of America. He’s also an independent producer, cinematographer, and photographer for good causes.

Ariella Lehrer, Ph.D., President, HitPoint Studios: A well-known game industry veteran, Ariella has dedicated her career to creating unique interactive experiences that seek to expand the market for new technologies. Her growing portfolio of products has consistently engaged new customers, in particular women and children, for more than three decades. Lehrer currently serves as President of HitPoint Studios, a talented team of 25 engineers, designers, and artists in Western Massachusetts. HitPoint works with clients such as Microsoft, Google, Disney and Electronic Arts to build engaging apps, solve complex technical problems, and maximize the potential of new technologies such as Augmented Reality. Lehrer has a PhD. in Cognitive Psychology from Claremont Graduate University and writes about interactive design and technology on her blog, www.ariellalehrer.com.

Ashley Crowder is the co-founder and CEO of VNTANA, an industry leading platform that automates the conversion of physical products into 3D Web, AR, VR & hologram e-commerce experiences. She has worked in the mixed-reality space for over 7 years helping Fortune 1000 brands including Adidas, Lexus, AT&T and more launch mixed reality applications to increase conversions. Prior to co-founding VNTANA she graduated from USC with a bachelors and masters in engineering and gained valuable engineering experience at Gulfstream, Northrop Grumman and BP. She leverages her engineering background to guide VNTANA’s overall direction and technology development to shape the future of e-commerce by making it easy to create a 3D version of every product in the world. Ashley was featured as one of USC’s leading engineering CEOs of 2016 and is a part of the Microsoft Early Developer Program. Ashley has given talks on the future of mixed reality and how to incorporate it in enterprises today at SXSW, Digital Summit, Internet Summit, Augmented World Expo, TEDx Venice, the World Economic Forum’s Global Growth Companies & Technology Pioneers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, The Montgomery Summit, Siemer Summit, Digital LA, and others. Co-founder/CEO of VNTANA. Over 7 years experience in Mixed Reality helping the Fortune 1000 launch mixed reality applications to increase conversions. Bachelors and masters in engineering.

Alasdair Lennox, Executive Creative Director, FITCH: Alasdair joined FITCH 20 years ago as a junior environmental designer, and has moved his way through the ranks, evolving his spectrum of design skills, and collecting a few stamps in his passport. He directs creative output for FITCH studios in North America. He has extensive experience in both strategic and creative assignments for a wide variety of clients including Starbucks, Apple, Miele, McLaren, Target, Nespresso, adidas, M Local, BP, Tesco, and Enterprise. Alasdair has led FITCH to win its first Cannes Lions, London International Awards, World Retail Awards Store ‘Design of the Year’, and under his watch FITCH was voted a top design in 2017, for the 7th year in a row, by Design:Retail magazine readers. He has judged Cannes Design Lions, chaired the Interiors Jury at the Design Week Awards and judged at the Brandrepublic Digital Awards and D&AD New Blood. He regularly speaks at conferences, including The One Club’s Creative Week, Eurobest, EuroShop and the Retail Leaders Circle. Alasdair has written articles and contributed opinion to the BBC, Sky, Marketing Week, Contagious, Design Week, and Retail Week.

Steve Carbone, Chief Digital & Investment Officer, MediaCom: Steve joined MediaCom in 2013 as Managing Director and Chief Digital and Investment Officer. He delivers strategic digital and data leadership to clients across the agency’s portfolio, and oversees all NA digital, search, social, Investment, business science and accountability teams. Prior to MediaCom, Steve was the President and founding partner of the full-service digital agency UMarketing Digital.  Before starting UMarketing Digital, Steve was President of Nurun, a global interactive agency, and spent 20 years at Grey Global, eventually becoming president of G2 Direct & Digital (previously Grey Direct). Steve is a go-to expert on digital advertising for publications including Advertising Age, The Wall Street Journal, Adweek and MediaPost. He is also a lecturer and keynote speaker at NYU, the University of Virginia and several prestigious media and marketing associations

Mike Vorhaus founded Vorhaus Advisors in November 2018.  Previously, Mike worked at Magid for 25 years.  His final role was President, Magid Advisors. Mike founded the Magid Internet practice in 1995 and began the Magid Gaming Practice in 2001. The Magid Internet and  Gaming practices worked with many of the top digital and gaming companies in the U.S. and abroad. Mike provides consulting services focused on strategy, investment opportunities, product development, and marketing to a number of leading digital and gaming companies. He has also provided advice to venture capital and private equity firms in regard to investments in the media and tech spaces. Mike has also been very involved with many start-ups in the digital media and technology industries. Mike focuses on strategic and tactical consulting, including the launch of new services and programming, as well as development and implementation of online and offline programs. Mike has provided many companies with assistance on their early-stage fundraising, as well as business development introductions and advice. Mike is a member of the Board of Directors of Perion (Nasdaq: PERI) and Chairs the Nominations Committee, as well as serving on the Compensation and Audit committees.  Perion is based in Israel and trades on the US Nasdaq, as well as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Mike has appeared regularly on MSNBC, CNBC, CNBC Asia, NPR, and Fox Business.  Mike has regularly been quoted in various newspapers and Websites, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, MarketWatch, TheStreet, and others.  Mike previously wrote a monthly column  for Ad Age. Mike holds a B.S. in psychology and sociology, cum laude,  from Wesleyan University and has worked as a fundraiser and transfer of technology officer at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Mike also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives, The U.S. Senate, and as a part-time Advance Man in the Carter and Clinton White Houses. Mike has also consulted on a number of film projects such as You’ve Got Mail and The Matrix. Mike also appeared in Eddie Murphy's movie, Imagine That, and is an active SAG member.