Tracy Adams, PhD
Senior Director of Research & Insights
ARF

Tracy Adams, PhD, is Senior Director of Research & Insights at the ARF, where she leads the organization’s research agenda and advances industry-wide initiatives in advertising and marketing. With a background in sociology and cultural studies, she brings a critical, interdisciplinary lens to research in advertising and marketing.

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Steve Keller
Sonic Strategy Director at Studio Resonate
SiriusXM Media

Steve Keller is Sonic Strategy Director at Studio Resonate, SiriusXM Media’s in-house audio-first creative agency, offering support to brands that advertise on the Pandora, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, SiriusXM Podcast Network, Soundcloud, and YouTube Audio platforms. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on sonic strategy and identity, blending art and science into award winning creative content and sonic experiences for a variety of global agencies and brands. With degrees in psychology and business and over 35 years of experience in the music and advertising industries, Steve’s research explores the ways music, sound, and voice influence perception and behavior, and is regularly published in academic journals and trade publications.

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Bjorn Thorleifsson
Head of Research & Insights
amp (part of WPP)

Bjorn Thorleifsson is Director of Research & Insights at amp sound branding (a WPP company). A consumer behaviorist with background in psychology and sound engineering, he specializes in how music and sound shape attention, emotion, memory, and decision-making, and how brands can apply those effects responsibly and measurably. At amp, Bjorn built and leads the research team, developed proprietary methodologies for evaluating sonic effectiveness, and oversees insight work across a global client portfolio. He is also responsible for amp’s annual Best Audio Brands ranking, a first-of-its-kind study benchmarking how effectively brands use sound across communications. Alongside industry work, Bjorn lectures on sonic branding and consumer psychology and maintains academic partnerships to strengthen evidence-led practice.

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