BIC Board

Brooklyn-based Douglas Davis enjoys being one of the variety of voices needed in front of and behind the concept, marketing plan or digital strategy. His approach to creativity combines right-brained creative problem solving with left-brained strategic thinking. The unique mix of creative strategy, integrated marketing and art direction is what Douglas brings into the classroom. He is a former adjunct professor at New York University in the M.S. in Integrated Marketing program and current HOW Design university contributor.

 

Since 1999 Douglas Davis has been a Freelance Art & Creative Director specializing in multi-channel solutions. Douglas began his interactive advertising career as a digital designer for various media properties and agencies including CondeNet, ESSENCE Magazine, JWT/Brouillard, Tribal DDB, Deutsch, Greater Than One and G2 Direct & Digital. While Associate Creative Director at JWT/Brouillard, he was responsible for founding and co-directing the company's Interactive division. In 2011 Douglas founded The Davis Group LLC and continues to offer strategic solutions to client branding, digital and design problems.

 

Douglas holds a B.A. in Graphic Design from Hampton University, an M.S. in Communications Design from Pratt Institute and a M.S. in Integrated Marketing from New York University.
 Douglas has been an Adjunct Professor in the Integrated Marketing Department at New York University and is currently Associate Professor of Advertising and Graphic Design within the City University of New York.

 

In addition to client work and giving back in the classroom, Douglas was appointed to serve on the advisory board for New York City's High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media (IAM). His advertising and academic experience aided him in authoring the 4-year curriculum for the only public advertising high school in the country.

 

Clients Served: Campbell's, Aetna, Magic Johnson Enterprises, Liberty Mutual, Aveeno, HSBC, Constant Contact, Ruby Tuesday, Deutche Asset Management, DWS Scudder, Scholastic, Genentech, Essence & Essence.com, Epicurious.com, Style.com, Concierge.com, Brides.com, The ACE Group, Illy, Subway, RREEF, Bounty, Chrysler, Entertainment Benefits Group, Perka, Council for Economic Education, Brooklyn Watercolor Society and The Economist.

 

Michael is the founder of The [blank] Project, an eight year old brand strategy and research consultancy that helps clients and agencies unearth actionable insights and solve business problems. Michael began his career at Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners in account management but quickly fell into brand planning. 

 

He’s worked at JWT, Publics, as well as KB+P where he was co-head of brand strategy department. Michael has worked with over one hundred brands, interviewed thousands of people and uncovered a few insights he’s pretty proud of too. He has won awards for creativity, effectiveness, planning and research. 

 

Michael has been invited to lecture at University of Colorado, Columbia University, NYU and SCAD. His work for Foster Adoption has been used to teach others at the Columbia School of Business as well as in a few textbooks. He has been a proud portfolio judge for the past four years at BIC. 

 

 

As co-founding CEO of Elias Arts, the world’s largest, most-awarded audio communication agency, Scott’s pioneering efforts reshaped the practice of audio communication, branding, and strategy. Garnering a reputation for alternative growth strategies that are innovative, effective and emotionally robust, Elias Arts helped launch, grow, and reposition nearly 40% of the top 1,000 global brands, including, Apple, Nike, Adidas, eBay, Columbia, Universal, Yahoo, Visa, Verizon Wireless, Coke, Pepsi, Budweiser, eTrade, and Exxon.

 

Recipient of over 750 awards for 7500 commercial projects – including two Emmy’s and dozens of Clios, London Internationals and Cannes Lions, Elias Arts became a global leader in audio communications, branding, psychoacoustics, environmental and embedded product audio. As a serial entrepreneur, Scott is a striking blend of head and heart. Always looking to understand what sustains people-emotionally, physically, and intellectually, he then grows a business from there. His latest baby, LivingWorks, is a venture accelerator that helps firms of all sizes discover and practice their “IT,” the source for growing sustainably stellar companies that are Designed for Love by all stakeholders.  

 

 

Prior to founding Farmer & Company in 1992, Michael Farmer was a strategy consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and a Director of Bain & Company.  He headed (in turn) Bain’s Munich, Paris and London offices during Bain’s decade of European expansion in the 1980s.  He has been committed to bringing Bain-like analytical and strategic disciplines to the advertising industry.

 

Michael lived and worked abroad in Brazil, Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, France and UK for more than 20 years.  He now leads Farmer & Company from New York City.

 

Previously, Michael served as Associate Dean for Policy and Resources at the Harvard School of Public Health.  He spent 5 years in the U.S. Navy as a Weapons Officer on destroyers and as Professor of Naval Science at Iowa State University.

 

Michael is an honors graduate of Princeton University (A.B. in English literature) and of Harvard Business School, where he graduated with an M.B.A degree with highest honors as a Baker Scholar.

 

He is the author of Madison Avenue Manslaughter: An Inside View of Fee-Cutting Clients, Profit-Hungry Owners and Declining Ad Agencies, due to be published in June 2015 by LID Publishing.

 

 

Belle Frank, EVP, Director of Strategy & Research, directs communications strategies across most of Y&R's clients, oversees pharmaceutical communications programs for Pfizer and manages the Brand Planning Department.

 

In her years with Y&R, Belle has had many gigs. She was part of the team that developed Y&R's BrandAsset® Valuator (BAV) model. Belle co-authored several pieces for Admap, including "Reinventing Qualitative Research" and "Brand Strategies for an Economic Downturn" and is working on a book about advertising talent for the new world. She received a 2007 AWNY, Trailblazing Working Mother of the Year award and has lectured at conferences, at Tufts and NYU as well as Wharton and Columbia business schools.

 

In her years with Y&R, Belle has had many gigs. She was part of the team that developed Y&R's BrandAsset® Valuator (BAV) model. Belle co-authored several pieces for Admap, including "Reinventing Qualitative Research" and "Brand Strategies for an Economic Downturn" and is working on a book about advertising talent for the new world. She received a 2007 AWNY, Trailblazing Working Mother of the Year award and has lectured at conferences, at Tufts and NYU as well as Wharton and Columbia business schools.

 

Belle is a self-professed quant-wannabe who tweets and teaches professional development for the City College of New York Media and Communication Arts program. Belle has a BA in French from Tufts University and holds a Master's from Harvard in Education, in human psychological development and the effects of communication.

 

 

Vann Graves was appointed Chief Creative Officer of J. Walter Thompson Atlanta in 2016. He brings 20+ years of creative and executive leadership experience to the company, formerly serving as EVP, Global Executive Creative Director at McCann New York; VP, Creative Director at BBDO New York; and Founder, CCO at FL+G, a full-service agency he started in Chattanooga, Tenn. Having worked with some of the world’s leading global brands, he brings together creative and business expertise to produce work that translates multi-platform messaging into successful creative campaigns. A strong team leader, Vann puts a high value on collaboration and commitment to support innovation and high-quality creative work. Vann’s work has been recognized with numerous industry awards including Cannes Lions, Grand London International Awards, a Grand Clio, the D&AD Graphite Pencil, a GRANDY, numerous One Show pencils, two Project Isaac Awards, The Gravity Award and many more. 

 

On top of creative and executive leadership experience, Vann is a decorated Army combat veteran – experience that translates perfectly to the United States Marine Corps’ agency of record for 70 years. 

 

Speaking about BIC: "As technology and innovation become vital tools in brand messaging, students must be prepared for the ever evolving nature of communications and business. You cannot stay relevant without the proper kills and experience. The vision of BIC is to educate and prepare students to meet this challenge."

 

 

As former Senior Vice President, Strategic Communications, Michael V. Marinello drove Turner’s corporate communications efforts, including brand reputation; messaging across all external owned, digital and social media platforms; media relations; thought leadership; and the overall coordinated communications strategy. He was also a key partner to Turner’s corporate executive team and the global technology organization.

 

Michael was previously global head of communications, technology, brand and sustainability for Bloomberg LP where he developed a cross-platform positioning and reputation effort for the Technology, Innovation and Design organization. He was also part of a core team responsible for the development, unveiling and management of their first ever Silicon Valley R&D Office. Additionally, he created and led Bloomberg’s Branded Entertainment Group, working closely with major television productions, including HBO’s The Newsroom and Silicon Valley, Showtime’s Billions and several major motion pictures, including The Big Short, Money Monster and Equity.

 

Previously, he ran the global Core and Financial Products communications team responsible for the Bloomberg “Terminal” and Enterprise businesses.Michael has held prior roles at Bloomberg Philanthropies, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and Microsoft Office. He has also served in the U.S. Senate for Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY) and Robert Kerrey (NE); The GCI Group; and Becton, Dickinson and Company.

 

 

Matt is CEO of Golin, a role he proudly shares with long term friends and partners, Jon Hughes and Gary Rudnick. Together they are ultimately responsible for all aspects of the agency’s direction, strategy, performance and culture. Matt leads the agency’s growth and diversity and inclusion strategies and is responsible for the management of Golin’s sister brands, The Brooklyn Brothers and VirgoHealth.

 

Matt is an international specialist having launched products and services around the world for brands like Unilever, Siemens and Diageo. He was the recent past chairman of the PRCA and currently sits on the board of the LeGrant Foundation.

 

Formerly a Londoner, Matt now lives in Manhattan where his two young daughters both have convincing American accents. Outside of work, Matt is happiest reading John Le Carré on a boat, fixing up a ’73 Aston Martin or back stage at Glastonbury. 

 

 

Ellen Oppenheim is the VP of Global Industry and Marketing Strategy at Prohaska Consulting. Her responsibilities include working with trade associations and trade press to advance digital and programmatic practices, overseeing the company’s marketing efforts and developing new business.

 

Ellen has earned a reputation as a respected media strategist buyer, seller, marketer, client, professor and consultant, based on her ad agency, publisher, trade association and consulting roles with organizations such as Y&R, FCB, Time Inc. and MPA. At Oppenheim Media Consulting, she helped companies in the marketing-media industry grow revenue, as digital technology altered the landscape.

 

Ellen has worked with digital and analog media, spanning almost every ad category and with both branding and direct response clients. She has judged Mediapost’s Creative Media Awards, participating on AWNY’s (Advertising Women of NY) Foundation Board and serving as an adjunct professor in Rutgers University’s Executive Education program.

 

 

William Parker is the co-founder and CMO of A7 Core, a tech company focusing on unlocking point of sale data and leveraging blockchain. Pioneering his own analytic approaching to branding, William has consulted for some of the biggest brands in the business. Proctor & Gamble, the US Marine Corps, Ford, CVS, Home Depot and LG have all benefited from his brand strategies for growth, which have fundamentally shifted consumer attitudes and behaviors. Additionally, William is a frequent adjunct professor at CCNY, teaching digital integration to give students a deeper understanding of the nuances of the digital space. 

 

 

Before becoming President of ABW Solutions, LLC, a recruitment and consulting firm, Donna spent over ten years in senior-level human resources roles with public relations agencies including Hill & Knowlton/wpp and Constituency Management Group/Interpublic Agencies.  While serving as Senior Managing Director for Hill & Knowlton, she built the first global in-house public relations recruitment role. Earlier in her career as an entrepreneur and consultant, Donna was a founding partner in market leader O’Hare & Associates, a professional recruitment firm specializing in advertising and communications.

 

Donna’s expertise on recruitment in an urban environment has been featured on the front-page of the Wall Street Journal. She’s also served as Chair of the HR Roundtable as well as Diversity Chair for the Council of Public Relations Firms. Always a trailblazer, Donna created and leads the annual trade association recruitment job fair at Howard University’s Johnson School of Communications -- the only one of its kind. Donna is an active volunteer, serving on the Board of the Mental Health Association of Westchester County, guest lectures at several colleges, and is a frequent speaker on a variety of diversity and recruitment issues.

 

A native New Yorker, Donna received her BA and MA degrees in Economics in a dual honors program from Hunter College. As a staunch supporter of CCNY and the BIC program, she’s thrilled to join the BIC family. 

 

 

Hayes Roth leads worldwide marketing and new business development for Landor, one of the world’s preeminent branding and design firms, and is senior client officer on numerous projects. 

 

With over 35 years of broad-based marketing experience, Hayes has led rebranding programs for Cleveland Clinic, Columbia University, ITT, the NYSE, Panasonic and Royal Caribbean International. More recently, he has directed branding initiatives for Altria, The Council on Foreign Relations, Hartford HealthCare, the United Negro College Fund, Concern Worldwide, City National Bank, and The World Trade Center.

 

Hayes is a member of the executive mentoring council for Cornell's Johnson School of Business, on the Advisory Committee of the College of Charleston School of Communications, a member of the Wharton School of Business 202 committee and on the Board of Advertising Educational Foundation. He frequently lectures at leading business schools across the country and regularly provides industry commentary across the spectrum of professional media.

 

Hayes is “extremely excited about the Branding + Integrated Communications program at CCNY. To me, this is course work that will be rooted in the realities of what we practitioners live every day.”

 

 

Kate Rothen, Partner at SS+K, teaches the Internal Management course in the BIC MPS program, which focuses on the creation and management of communications programs in creative, design-oriented, data-rich, process-driven, and collaborative environments  (integrated communications!).  The course is a requirement for the Communications Management Track BIC students and an elective for the Creative and PR BIC students.

 

According to Kate's official SS+K bio, Kate sought refuge from a traditional PR career and found a home at SS+K.  She has helped clients tackle challenges ranging from fighting TV censorship to empowering female entrepreneurs to getting Americans to reconsider the electric car. She has engineered engagement strategies for clients including Chevrolet, Kraft, Audi, and Westin Hotels.  She has served as SS+K's first Director of Social Media and as Executive Director of the agency account management team. In 2011, the Impact Center named Kate as one of twelve Women's Leadership Institute Fellows.

 

 

SS+K was created twenty years ago as one of a small group of first-mover pioneers in true integrated marketing communications. The founding partners came from politics, public affairs, advertising, and design. The agency has resolutely remained "channel neutral" -- as they say: "SS+K was founded to provide great work for great clients and causes by defying the boundaries of communications at every turn."

 

 

Dee Salomon is Chief Marketing Officer at the strategic advisory firm MediaLink where her experience in brand marketing, digital media sales and business development has been put to use by Fortune 100's, global media companies and technology start-ups. 

 

Prior to MediaLink, Dee spent six years with Condé Nast’s digital group as SVP, Sales and Marketing, where she ran the digital media sales group, responsible for the revenue of 26 websites including Style.com, Epicurious.com, NewYorker.com, Glamour.com, and VanityFair.com.

 

Prior to Condé Nast, Salomon held high-level marketing positions across the fashion/retail industry including SVP of Creative Services and Advertising at Donna Karan International. She also contributed to the successful re-launch of Anne Klein as SVP of Marketing and Corporate Communications, resulting in the sale of the company to Jones New York.  Salomon began her career in investment banking, working for both Hambrecht and Quist in San Francisco and Ladenburg Thalmann in New York. 

 

 

Gustavo Stecher, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and graduated as a Graphic Designer from the Buenos Aires University (UBA). In 1996 he founded Menos es más, a studio where he develops image strategies for different clients in Argentina, Chile, USA, Canada and Spain. In 2002 he founded Nobrand, a company that transformed the Argentine identity into a product. Besides his work as Director of the studio, he dedicates his time to two of his passions: teaching in universities and congresses, and the development of projects of regional identity.

 

He currently manages consultancy and strategy fields for corporative clients and institutions in Buenos Aires, Miami and New York. In 2009 he won the national contest for the Argentine Bicentennial brand. In 2010 he created the first official coin ever designed by a branding studio in Argentina’s history: the current 2 pesos coin. IDARG, one of Gustavo’s two published books, was selected in 2008 by the Association of Graphic Artists, AIGA. He also created the Human Rights Icons Project, for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

 

Gustavo gives workshops and classes at Buenos Aires University, UBA, the University of Palermo (UP), Untref, DMY Berlin, Claps el Salva­dor, FIAP Bariloche, MICA, City University of New York, University of San Diego, California, among others.

 

 

In 2015, Kevin Swanepoel was named CEO of The One Club for Creativity, the world's foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design.  Previously, Kevin held the position of President of The One Club, where he led the digital direction of The One Show, the most prestigious awards show in the advertising and design industry. 

 

In 2009, Kevin established Creative Week, the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of advertising, design, digital media and the arts. In 2005, Kevin set up an office for The One Club China. One of his primary goals continues to be extending the global brand of The One Club. 

 

As such, Kevin is regularly invited to speak as an authority on current advertising trends.  He has appeared on FOX, NBC and CBS, and has been published in Adweek, Advertising Age, Creativity, AdHoc, Advertising and Design, Campaign Brief and Propaganda and Marketing.  Kevin lectures at universities and currently sits on the board of three advertising schools: The Creative Circus, The Academy of Art University and City College of New York Masters Program.  

 

Prior to The One Club, Kevin held the position of Chief Creative Officer at two advertising agencies, and founded Creative & Strategic Advertising. He spent two years at Apple Computer where he served as the PEN Manager (publishing, entertainment and new media manager).

 

Kevin has a passion for the latest technologies and all things creative, especially photography, often shooting in remote locations in the United States and around the world.