2021 Board of Curators
Vassilis Bakopoulos – SVP, Head Industry Research, Mobile Marketing Association
In his current role, Vas is responsible for defining the organization’s learning agenda and conduct research to tackle marketing´s most important unanswered questions. Before joining the MMA, Vas held senior Research and Strategy roles at Digitas/Publicis and Kantar in New York and Europe. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing.
Nanette Burns – Managing Editor, JAR
Nanette Burns is managing editor responsible for practitioner articles and all editorial planning for the Journal print publication, and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written, and edited for both digital and print media, having held senior editorial roles at Dow Jones, Time Inc., and Knight-Ridder.
Meghan Cahill – SVP, Client Experience, ListenFirst
Meghan is the SVP of Client Experience at ListenFirst, where she has spent the past eight years partnering with ListenFirst’s customers across Media & Entertainment, Retail & Fashion, CPG, Healthcare and Financial Services to solve one of today’s biggest marketing challenges for Fortune 500 companies: how to drive business ROI using Social Marketing and Analytics. Meghan has been recognized as a Cynopsis Top Women in Media.
Alie Cirgenski – VP, Business Development & Head of Growth, YouGov Signal, YouGov
Alie is Head of Growth for YouGov Signal and Safe, YouGov’s online diagnostic tools. As Head of Growth, Alie manages all new business, client services, custom data science projects, custom insights teams, and overall growth for Signal. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written, and edited for both digital and print media, having held senior editorial roles at Dow Jones, Time Inc., and Knight-Ridder.
Jane Clarke – CEO, Managing Director, Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM)
As the CEO and Managing Director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), Jane is responsible for developing CIMM’s strategy and vision and overseeing all day-to-day operations. CIMM is an R&D coalition of companies in the TV/premium video ecosystem. It was formed to spur innovation and collaboration in cross-platform media measurement and bringing more granular measurement to TV.
Heather Coghill – Senior Director, Audience Insights, Effectv (Comcast)
Heather Coghill is the Sr. Director of Audience Insights for Comcast Spotlight. She joined Comcast Spotlight in January 2018. In her role, she builds narratives around Comcast’s internal viewing data to educate internal and external stakeholders and develops thought leadership pieces and POVs on marketplace trends. Prior to joining Comcast Spotlight, Heather spent nearly ten years working at ESPN as Director of Media Intelligence at ESPN, overseeing strategic research surrounding specific audience segments, including Gen Z, Millennials, Women and Multicultural.
Andrew Covato – Global Head of Measurement Product & Insights, Snap Inc.
and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written, and edited for both digital and print media, having held senior editorial roles at Dow Jones, Time Inc., and Knight-Ridder.
Bio coming soon.
Paul Donato – CRO, ARF
Paul Donato joined the ARF as Chief Research Officer in October 2017. Paul is a highly regarded leader in media and advertising research with more than two decades of industry experience. Earlier in his career he co-founded WPP’s Media Research Business Unit, served as CEO of Kantar Media, and Technical Director of IBOPE Latin America. He was the EVP and CRO for The Nielsen Company for more than a decade, overseeing Nielsen retail, consumer, mobile, and media measurement methodologies.
Seth Duncan – Chief Data Officer, Real Chemistry
Seth Duncan has led research and analytics teams for over 10 years in both academic and business settings. His research expertise spans advanced statistics, social, digital, and Web analytics, as well as traditional media and primary research. Since 2007, Seth has focused on using digital and social media data to provide marketing, communications, and strategy insights to a range of clients, including Warner Bros., General Mills, Procter & Gamble, IBM, HP, Medtronic, Genentech, Amgen, and Abbott Laboratories.
Kat Dykeman – Global Head of Client Measurement, Amazon
Kat Dykeman recently joined Amazon with the mission of building out a Global Client Measurement team to help advertisers drive measurable outcomes. Before Amazon she helped build Facebook’s Marketing Science team to help clients understand and improve the effectiveness of their cross-media investment.
Andy Fisher – Head of Merkury Advanced TV, Merkle
As the Head of Merkury Advanced TV, Andy’s primary responsibility is driving person based marketing and big data adoption in all areas of Television including Linear, Addressable, Connected, Programmatic and X-channel planning and Measurement. Andy has held several positions at Merkle including Chief Analytics Officer and he ran the Merkle data business. Prior to joining Merkle, Andy was the EVP, Global Data & Analytics Director at Starcom MediaVest Group where he led the SMG global analytics practice.
Mike Follett – Managing Director, Lumen Research
Mike Follett started his career in advertising at DDB, working in London, New York and Mumbai, before starting Lumen in 2013. Lumen has become a leading ‘attention technology’ company, using eye tracking to quantify and optimize attention to advertising across channels. Mike holds degrees from Oxford University and Imperial College London.
Huw Griffiths – Global Chief Product Officer, UM
As Global Chief Product Officer for UM, Huw has over 25 years of experience in advertising research, where he is responsible for overseeing research, analytics and tools capabilities across the network. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom
Anshu Gupta – Senior Director, Global Market Research, Eli Lilly & Co
Anshu has over 18 years of pharmaceutical marketing experience across the various stages of brand development for different therapeutic classes. As Senior Director of Global Market Research at Eli Lilly & Co, she leads teams of research professionals in the craft of customer insights to impact critical business decisions across the company. Anshu is originally from Chicago and has a degree in biology and an MBA in marketing.
Susan Hogan – SVP, Research & Measurement, IAB
Sue’s 30 years of experience spans integrated media strategy, consumer insights, advertising/media measurement and team building. While the majority of Sue’s career has been creating, supporting and measuring advertising initiatives for content providers like Viacom and Martha Stewart Omnimedia, she also spent two years agency-side to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the advertising space. She is a graduate of Iona College (NY).
Barbara Kahn – Patty and Jay H Baker Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School
Barbara Kahn is Baker Professor of Marketing at Wharton at UPenn. She was Dean at University of Miami’s School of Business and is Executive Director of Marketing Science Institute. She has a PhD and MBA from Columbia University. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in
Max Kalehoff – VP, Marketing & Growth, Realeyes
Max is VP, Marketing, Growth at Realeyes – Emotional Intelligence. He is a veteran in the marketing analytics and technology industries, with over 15 years of leadership experience in growth, product marketing and operations roles with high-growth firms. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing.
Helen Katz – EVP, Research, Publicis Media
Helen Katz is EVP, Research at Publicis Media. She is a trusted industry expert on data quality, reliable measurement, and advanced TV. Helen is on the Board of Trustees of the Advertising Research Foundation. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism
Alexandra Klausner – Senior Product Marketing Manager, Conviva
Alex is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Conviva where she is leading the go to market strategy for Conviva’s new set of solutions built for streaming advertising. A self-described “ad nerd”, her career has taken her across the advertising ecosystem including working in account management and sales at WarnerMedia and product marketing at Comcast’s Freewheel. She has a bachelor’s in Management from Tulane University
Christian Kugel – VP, Executive Director, Research & Insights, R/GA
Christian is currently VP, Executive Director of Research & Insights of R/GA. Most recently, he was SVP, Strategic Insights & Analytics of NBC Universal Media. Prior to that, Christian has overseen the market research and sales research teams at AOL and was responsible for infusing the voice of the consumer into the organization and developing new advertising ROI solutions.
David Marans – Media Research Consultant, ARF
David is a media research veteran, now serving in a consultant role at the ARF. Prior to this, he served as EVP of Media at the ARF and SVP of Consumer Research & Insights at A&E. David has also held senior positions at Nielsen IAG, Mindshare, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written, and edited for both digital and print media
Megan Margraff – VP, Applied Data Science, Oracle Data Cloud
Megan is an experienced senior leader of highly-skilled analytic and data science teams, with a passion for driving results for her clients and her business. At ODC, Megan leads Applied Data Science, a function that partners heavily with Product and Go-to-Market teams, and provides strategic value through applied research, innovative proofs-of-concept, client-facing insights, and sales enablement, all backed by solid data science.
Jay Mattlin – Council Director, ARF
Jay is a market researcher with extensive experience in designing and managing market research studies, data analysis, and drawing out valuable insights from market research data. His career spans blue chip client companies (Time Inc. NBC, and AOL), industry-leading market research suppliers (Gallup, Knowledge Networks and GfK MRI), and an academic research institute. He has been published in a wide variety of publications and is a co-inventor on three issued US patents for methods of media exposure.
Scott McDonald, Ph.D. – President & CEO, ARF
Scott McDonald became the CEO and President of the Advertising Research Foundation in March 2017. Prior to joining the ARF, he held senior research positions at leading global media companies, including 18 years at Time Warner, and 14 years at Conde Nast, covering both the consumer and the advertising sides of the media business. He holds an A.B. degree from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Carl F. Mela, Ph.D. – T Austin Finch Foundation Professor, Duke University
Carl F. Mela is the T. Austin Finch Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Duke University, and his research focuses on advertising. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written, and edited for both digital and print media, having held senior editorial roles at Dow Jones, Time Inc., and Knight-Ridder.
Mi hui Pak – Knowledge Center Director, ARF
Mi hui Pak is Knowledge Center Director of the ARF. Prior to this role, she was Director of Information Group at Ogilvy. Mi hui holds a BA in English from Barnard (Columbia University), and MLIS from Queen’s College, CUNY. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism
Jennifer Pelino – SVP, Omni Channel Media, IRI
Jennifer advises the world’s top CPG companies and their media agencies on how integrated data and prescriptive analytics can significantly improve campaign performance and achieve measurable sales lift. In addition to her brand strategy work she is a recognized media and CPG industry thought leader, frequent contributor to top advertising publications and a sought-after speaker for key industry organizations, including ANA and ARF. Jennifer has an MBA in Marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Joanna Piacenza – Associate VP, Morning Consult
Joanna’s writing and research interests lie at the very messy and wonderful intersection of business, media, politics, and occasionally religion—always with a data angle. She currently serves as the associate vice president of industry analysis for Morning Consult. Joanna’s work has been cited in The New York Times, BBC, the Nieman Journalism Lab, The Atlantic, and Princeton University, among others. She holds an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Karina Piedrahita – Head of Agency Brand Measurement, Google
Karina serves as Google’s Head of Agency Brand Measurement where she partners with the largest US advertising agencies to help advance their measurement goals and drive business growth with Google media. Karina joined Google from Turner Broadcasting (now WarnerMedia) where she was Senior Director of Analytics and Measurement. She holds a bachelor’s in Communications from The University of Pennsylvania and a master’s of science in Social Research from Hunter College.
Amy Rask – COO MediaScience
Amy is based in Austin and has been with MediaScience since its inception in 2008. She designs and supervises research conducted at all MediaScience facilities, as well as online. Amy’s background in marketing, advertising, public relations and psychology fuels her passion for scientific research. She has presented and published in a variety of areas including advertising effectiveness, cognitive processes during multitasking, media effects and advergaming.
Beth Rockwood – SVP, Ad Sales Research, WarnerMedia
Beth Rockwood is senior vice president of ad sales research at WarnerMedia. Rockwood oversees research for WarnerMedia’s portfolio of linear and digital brands, marketplace intelligence, category and client insights as well as outcome focused research for advertisers. She currently serves as a trustee for the Advertising Research Foundation, a director for CIMM, and a research board member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Ronjan Sikdar – SVP, Content Analytics, Nielsen
Ronjan Sikdar is Nielsen’s SVP of Content Analytics, a suite that ties together Gracenote and Nielsen assets to explore the relationships between content and viewers. Ronjan’s a 17-year Nielsen veteran who has held leadership roles in Data Science, Product, Technology, and Sales. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written, and edited for both digital and print media, having held senior editorial roles at Dow Jones, Time Inc., and Knight-Ridder.
Nancy Smith – President & CEO, Analytic Partners
Nancy Smith founded Analytic Partners in 2000. Previously Nancy worked at ASI and Clairol, where she managed forecasting and analytics. Nancy has an MBA from the University at Buffalo. Nancy proudly leads the largest independent global marketing analytic solution provider. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing.
Horst Stipp, Ph.D. – EVP, Research, ARF
Horst Stipp joined the ARF as EVP of Global Business Strategy in 2011. Prior to that, Horst Stipp was senior vice president, Strategic Insights & Innovation in the Research department of NBCUniversal in New York, where he oversaw strategic marketing and consumer research for NBCU’s TV networks as well as the new digital platforms. Horst received his Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University and has been involved in media research for over 30 years.
Cole Strain – Senior Director of Product, Samba TV
Cole Strain is the Senior Director of Audience Products at Samba TV, where he builds products for agencies and brands to leverage Samba’s omni screen targeting and comprehensive TV analytics. Cole is an ads measurement nerd and is currently binging 90’s sitcoms. and she oversees JAR content on the ARF’s digital channels. Nanette came on board in 2013 after more than 25 years in journalism and custom publishing. She has reported, written,
Radha Subramanyam – Chief Research & Analytics Officer, CBS
Radha Subramanyam serves as Chief Research and Analytics Officer, CBS Corporation and President, CBS Vision. She joined the company as EVP, Chief Research & Analytics Officer of the CBS Television Network in November 2017. In her current role, she oversees all research and analytics operations for CBS. Most recently, Radha served as President of Research, Insights and Data Analytics for iHeartMedia. Prior to joining iHeartMedia, she held senior executive research roles at Yahoo!, MTV Networks and Nielsen.
Alice Sylvester – Partner, Sequent Partners
Alice Sylvester has been a Partner at Sequent Partners for 10+ years. She has been involved in industry ROI initiatives, new media metrics development, and cross-media measurement through USA TouchPoints, the cross-platform, consumer journey measurement system developed by Sequent Partners. Prior to joining Sequent Partners in 2008, she held a variety of positions in research and planning at major advertising agencies.
Earl Taylor – Chief Knowledge Officer, Marketing Science Institute (MSI)
Earl is responsible for recruitment and retention of corporate MSI members and the development of funding sources for research programs. Before joining this, Earl worked at Research International, as SVP and US Leader of the Branding and Communications Practice. Taylor has written numerous articles on global branding and brand communities; and won top industry awards for these works. Earl has a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard and a B.A. in psychology and sociology from Rice University.
Michael Vinson – Chief Research Officer, Comscore
Michael Vinson represents a unique blend of expertise in mathematics, natural sciences, and computational methods applied to media measurement and advertising. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Chicago and is currently Comscore’s Chief Research Officer.
Leslie Wood – Chief Research Officer, NCSolutions
A pioneer and innovator in advertising analytics with more than 30 years of experience, Leslie leads research at NCS, shaping the methodologies and innovations that help brands advertise more effectively. She is passionate about supporting the industry with single-source analytics, reach and frequency research, optimizers, data integration and return-path data.
If you have questions, please contact Sara Serpe at sara@thearf.org