MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS ACCELERATOR (MEA) : Advisory Committee 2026

the EARLY MOVER rate ends on Oct. 6

2026 ADVISORY COMMITTEE BIOS

Karen Chisholm – Product Lead, Marketing Effectiveness AI Startup

Karen Chisholm is Product Lead for a Marketing Effectiveness AI startup focused on helping organizations unlock growth through next-generation analytics and intelligent decisioning. Previously, Karen was Director of Analytics Transformation at Pernod Ricard USA, a global leader in wines and spirits with iconic brands such as Jameson and Absolut. In that role, she led marketing effectiveness initiatives, driving advanced analytics programs and embedding actionable insights across marketing, finance, and sales. Karen brings deep expertise in measuring and optimizing marketing performance, spanning traditional marketing mix modeling, machine learning, and agent-based modeling. She has held analytical leadership roles at Kraft Foods, Diageo, and Accenture. She is passionate about leading digital transformations that deliver step-change improvements in business performance.

Brian Cross – Director of Global Data Intellligence, Publicis Groupe

Brian Cross is Director of Global Data Intelligence at Publicis Groupe, where he supports a global network of agencies by providing strategic thought leadership, education, and consulting in the areas of marketing effectiveness measurement and analytics. In partnership with client leads, he helps brands throughout the world improve marketing ROI measurement, strengthen decision quality, and build scalable global analytics capabilities. Brian has 30 years of experience in marketing analytics, research, and forecasting, with a particular focus on marketing mix models. His career includes leadership positions at Kantar, Nielsen, HAVI, Ipsos MMA, and BASES, where he advised marketers across a wide variety of industries. He has also held client-side roles at Discover Financial Services and United Airlines, supporting enterprise-level decision making through marketing analytics. Brian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, with concentrations in Marketing, Analytics, Strategy, and Economics. He is also a member of the ARF Analytics Council.

Paul Donato - Chief Research Officer, 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. Upon leaving Nielsen, Paul founded Jatopond, a media and market research firm. He also has led business units at Simmons, and at Audits and Surveys Worldwide. He currently sits on the Future State Committee of the National Air and Space Museum. In addition to leading the research team, Paul will also play an active role in overall ARF leadership, helping to guide future direction.

Ross Link – CEO, Marketing Attribution LLC

“Ross-boy” Link specializes in marketing measurement and optimization. He developed media scheduling and trade promotion optimization systems at Procter & Gamble and Booz Allen before founding Marketing Analytics Inc. in 1991, one of the pioneers of marketing mix modeling. After Marketing Analytics was acquired by Nielsen in 2011, Ross ran Nielsen’s global marketing mix modeling practice, the largest in the world, as well as their emerging multi-touch attribution practice. He founded Marketing Attribution LLC in 2017 to help organizations measure and optimize marketing effectiveness in a changing data and privacy environment. Ross received his B.S. in Operations Research from Cornell and his MBA from the University of Chicago.

Jay Mattlin - VP, Research & Director, Councils Program, 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 (academic journals, a Chinese advertising trade publication, a British advertising industry journal, and The Philadelphia Inquirer). He is a co-inventor on three issued US patents for methods of media exposure.

Scott McDonald, Ph.D. - CEO & President, ARF

Scott 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. Throughout his career, he has kept a foot in both the academic and business worlds, teaching for 5 years at NYU and for 18 years at Columbia Business School. He serves as an adviser to the Social Science Matrix Program at UC Berkeley and is on the Board of the Population Reference Bureau. An avid art lover, he also is on the board of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He holds an A.B. degree from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Carl Mela – Austin Finch Foundation Professor of Marketing Duke University

Carl Mela is the Austin Finch Foundation Professor of Marketing at Duke University and past Executive Director of the Marketing Science Institute. He holds an engineering degree from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Marketing from Columbia University. Prior to his Ph.D., he held management positions at Hewlett-Packard, Hughes Space and Communications, and Proxima Corporation. Prof. Mela applies economic and statistical models to generate insights regarding the long-term effects of marketing activity on brand equity and the effect of digital marketing technology on consumer and firm behavior. Articles along these lines appear in the Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Harvard Business Review, and the Journal of Consumer Research and have received or been a finalist for forty best paper awards including the INFORMS John D.C. Little and Long-Term Impact Awards and the American Marketing Association’s William O’Dell and Paul Green Awards. Prof. Mela serves or has served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Marketing Research, and Quantitative Marketing and Economics and is or has been on the editorial boards of the Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing and Marketing Letters. Professional boards include the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Unilever, Information Resources, Incorporated, the Marketing Science Institute, and the Advertising Research Foundation.

Sable Mi – Advertising Advisor and Strategist 

Sable Mi has more than 20 years of experience in advertising and has spent the last decade focusing on data, identity, and measurement, adept at leveraging data integrity, audience insights, and cross-platform measurement to drive revenue growth and optimize business performance. She is a recognized industry thought leader with published works and leadership roles in major analytics organizations. As an established strategic analytics and research executive, Sable is known for challenging the status quo: asking tough questions, and rigorously analyzing and interpreting complex data and methodologies. She has spoken at numerous industry conferences, published multiple white papers and bylines, and led several industry groups, including CIMM Identity & Data Collaboration, ARF Analytics Council, I-COM MMM & Attribution Council, and previously IAB Measurement Committee and ARF Identity Resolution Group.  Sable’s professional career includes a deep background in advertising that spans full service agencies, university professor, and leading MarTech companies. She is a recipient of the 2013 and 2018 IAB Service Excellence Awards. Sable has an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a M.A. in Mass Communication from Towson University. She currently resides in San Francisco, California. 

Robert Moakler – Research Scientist, Meta

Robert Moakler is a Research Scientist at Meta, where he works on projects related to ads, causal inference methodologies, and the impact of cross-channel marketing campaigns. He received his Ph.D. in Information Systems from the NYU Stern School of Business in 2017. While attending NYU, Robert worked at Integral Ad Science, where he conducted applied data science research that developed methods for causal inference using large-scale digital data with a focus on advertising.

Keith Smith, Ph.D. – Managing Director, MSI

Keith Smith is currently Managing Director of the Marketing Science Institute. He joined the organization in 2023 as Research Director, responsible for addressing the needs and priorities of corporate members through relevant and valuable academic research, and for developing and maintaining MSI’s community of marketing scientists and academics. Prior to joining MSI, Keith was an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Northeastern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a marketing and technology consultant for Fortune 500 companies, identifying needs and solving problems through research and analysis. He has a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in psychology from Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. in psychology and sociology from Miami University. Keith has published highly cited articles on research methodology, digital marketing, brand communities, and video game marketing in a range of academic marketing journals including Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Marketing Letters. He is on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

Jim Spaeth – Partner, Sequent Partners

Jim Spaeth co-founded Sequent Partners over 13 years ago. During that time, he has consulted on media and brand metrics for many of the country’s foremost media, associations and marketers. Jim also founded USA TouchPoints, the cross-platform, consumer journey measurement system developed by Sequent Partners. Prior to co-founding Sequent Partners, Jim served as President of ARF, The Advertising Research Foundation, for seven years. Under Jim's leadership, ARF expanded its scope to incorporate all aspects of market research practice on a global basis, including marketing and media ROI, CRM, brand valuation, digital marketing and the transformation of the research function to a business discipline focused on value creation. Prior to his leadership role at ARF, Jim spent over a decade developing new research tools to improve clients' business performance at PEAC ViewFacts, ScanAmerica and ASI. He has also led the media research and planning function at General Foods and Young & Rubicam. Jim was inducted into the inducted into the Market Research Council (MRC) Hall of Fame in 2016. He was honored by the Advertising Research Foundation in 2017 when he received the Erwin Ephron Demystification Award. He is the co-author of Market Research Matters and numerous articles, as well as a frequent conference speaker. He has served on the boards of a number of industry associations. Jim holds a B.A. in Mathematics, an M.S. in Econometrics and a Ph.D. in Economics.

Alice Sylvester – Partner, Sequent Partners

Alice Sylvester has been a partner at Sequent Partners for over eight 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, Alice held a variety of positions in research and planning at major advertising agencies. Most recently, she was Senior Vice President, Account Planning Director at DraftFCB. She has also worked at Young & Rubicam Inc., (Director of Brand Insights) Leo Burnett, (Director of Brand Economics) J. Walter Thompson (Media Research Director) and Tatham-Laird & Kudner (now Havas). Ms. Sylvester has a diverse interdisciplinary background in media research, brand research and account planning. Alice is a past Chairman of the Board of the Advertising Research Foundation and a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Advertising Research. She has chaired the "David Ogilvy Awards for Research Excellence" and the "Emotional Response to Advertising” initiative. Alice is co-author of Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer, published in 2000 by Allen & Unwin and Kogan Page. In her spare time, she is pianist and triathlete and raises money for recently returning veterans. She is the mother of two and a new grandmother (a fact she finds surprisingly awesome). Alice lives in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with her husband, Michael Stepanek, a commercial illustrator.

Sequent Accelerator Award - OPEN FOR ENTRIES THROUGH MAY 30

The Sequent Accelerator Award celebrates technical advances in key aspects of marketing analytics – spanning the modeling processes, metrics, data acquisition, AI applications, insight dissemination and organizational adoption.

In keeping with the spirit of the Marketing Effectiveness Accelerator (The Accelerator), this Award recognizes innovative solutions that deliver meaningful brand impact and advance the discipline of marketing analytics. It celebrates approaches that inspire progress and accelerate measurable effectiveness on brands and across the industry.

All marketing performance analytics innovations from the past five years are eligible.

The winner will be selected based on the strength of their innovative solution, proof of adoption, and impact of the new analytic approach, and will be recognized at the Marketing Effectiveness Accelerator event on November 10.

Download the award template here and send in your nomination through the portal by May 30.

For any questions about content submissions or award nominations, please contact Events Director Sara Serpe at sara@thearf.org.

Speakers

2025 Advisory Committee

We express our gratitude to our Advisory Committee members. This esteemed group of practitioners and academics combined their collective knowledge and curiosity to generate the topics for this year’s MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS ACCELERATOR (MEA) Call for Content.

Agenda

8:00 – 9:00am	Breakfast & Registration
9:00 – 9:10am	Opening Remarks Scott McDonald, Ph.D. – President & CEO, ARF
	New Tools and Data Sources Using advanced attribution, clean rooms, and next-gen MMM tools to improve marketing performance and revenue results.
9:10-9:30am	Advancing MMM Best Practices for Strategic Budget Allocation Traditional MMM methodologies are challenged under the weight of media complexity, demanding ROI proof, and privacy changes. The industry requires new approaches based on open-source transparency, advanced causal inference, and richer data signals. Google will share perspectives on this necessary methodological evolution, highlighting progress in actionability, calibration, and media-specific challenges. The session culminates in a fireside chat with TransUnion focused on advanced data utilization and the path to optimal budget allocation to unlock confident, strategic investment decisions. Mike Finnerty – SVP Marketing Solutions Services, TransUnion Harikesh Nair – Senior Director, Data Science & Engineering, Google
9:30 – 9:50am	From Fragmented Analytics to Unified Revenue Decisions: Large Causal Models for Enterprise Growth Discover how POEM365—a Large Causal Model trained on $5 trillion in transaction data across 15,000 brands—delivered a unified revenue growth decision-making platform for one of the world’s largest advertisers. Learn how counterfactual causal reasoning, rather than correlation-based attribution, enables the Decision AI framework to simultaneously predict, prescribe, and optimize across all revenue drivers in one integrated model—solving the fundamental limitation of siloed MMM approaches and enabling enterprise-wide revenue optimization at scale. Bharath Gaddam – CEO & Founder, DATA POEM
9:50 – 10:10am	Intelligent Digital Attribution Intelligent Digital Attribution (IDA) is an automated, rapid-turnaround measurement system that delivers ROI within five weeks of a campaign’s conclusion. Unlike typical MMM, it provides highly granular insights by platform, format, audience, objectives, placements, and creative themes—helping to enhance Kenvue’s media efficiency and effectiveness continuously. Ross Link – CEO, Marketing Attribution LLC Aleks Petkovski – Senior Director – Data Science and AI, Kenvue
10:10 – 10:30am	Unlocking $100M Revenue Potential: Alaska Airlines with Google Meridian MMM This case study examines Adswerve’s three-month implementation of Google’s open-source Meridian marketing mix model (MMM) for Alaska Airlines. Using advanced analytics and granular data (including GQV), the model projected an 11% increase in addressable advertising revenue (about $100M) and a 3% ROI improvement. The study highlights how modern MMMs can be applied to quantify business outcomes and inform media strategy in complex data environments. Luka Cempre – Head of Data Modernization and Cloud Strategy, Adswerve Owen Bickford – Paid Search Program Manager, Alaska Airlines
10:30 – 11:00am	Morning Break
11:00 – 11:20am	From Audience to Impact: Nielsen’s Framework for Modern Measurement In this session, Nielsen shares their outcome measurement principles: 1) Audience and outcome measurements should be connected and seamless, with measurement and outcomes linked to planning as an end-to-end capability; 2) Collaboration is essential, and no one provider has all the answers; 3) Context is key. How does the use of AI with normative data enable outcome measurements to be estimated where measurement is unavailable or unaffordable? 4) Independent and consistent measurement of outcomes benefits both the buy and sell sides, and independent measurement is crucial for transparency and comparability; 5) Methodology matters. The data and methods used should be transparent, validated, and consistently applied. An assessment of the likely margin of error should also be available. Additionally, measurement continues to evolve with techniques such as Bayesian modeling, data pooling, and synthetic data models. Pete Doe – Chief Research Officer, Nielsen Shweta Shah – VP of Data Science, Nielsen
	Journey-Driven Media Optimization Integrating user journey signals to inform media planning decisions.
11:20 – 11:40am	Unmixed Signals: Connecting Brand Equity and Long-Term Sales First of its kind, global research by Circana and Meta reveals the link between brand equity and long-term sales, providing regional and vertical insights to inform smarter brand investments. It also provides marketers the confidence to make cross-channel budget optimizations based on validated brand equity KPIs. Matthew Sharp – Marketing Science Partner, Meta Tsvetan “T.” Tsvetkov – SVP, Head of Global MMM Consulting, Circana
11:40am – 12:00pm	Beyond Legacy MTA: Using AI-Transformer Based Intelligence to Drive Marketing Prioritization Traditional multi-touch attribution models struggle with dependencies among sequences of touchpoints and fail to integrate marketing channel attribution with on-site clickstream behavior. MTAi™, developed for Memorial Sloan Kettering, integrates marketing channel attribution with on-site behavior, capturing sequential touchpoint dependencies that legacy models miss. The approach enables unified insights to optimize spend, site experience, and conversions. Grant West, Ph.D. – Senior Director, Marketing Science Client Services, in4mation insights Adam Graves – Senior Director, Marketing Measurement, Analytics & Insights, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
12:00 – 12:20pm	Positivity Performs: Ad Environments’ Critical Role in Media Planning Historically, little attention has been paid to how customers feel on a platform. This research marks the next step in the industry’s evolving considerations of ad environments, moving beyond avoiding negative environments to exploring what brands should actively seek out in ad environments to drive better outcomes. This research–using survey-based impact analysis, neuroscience testing and marketing mix modelling–explored links between a range of ad environment attributes and brand outcomes. The findings show positive environments are a measurable driver of brand favorability, preference, and purchase intent. Aligning media placements with positive, emotionally resonant and cognitively optimal environments can significantly enhance consumer engagement and sales outcomes-without altering creative or increasing spend. Jenna Landi – Director of Global Brand Research, Pinterest Jonathan Jusczyk – SVP, Science & Engineering Intelligence Solutions, MAGNA
12:20 – 1:20pm	Lunch
	New Approaches for Traditional Channels Maximizing growth beyond traditional media signals in particular channels.
1:20 – 1:40pm	Digitas + KitchenAid: Creative Optimization For KitchenAid Smalls, Digitas combined creative analysis, MMM, and sentiment testing to separate media and creative impact. By assessing 2024 media for wear-out across themes like Durability, Performance, and Café Anarchy, the project pinpointed when creative stopped driving incremental lift—helping optimize spend, refresh timing, and messaging strategy. Mitch Cooper – Brand Manager, KitchenAid Smalls; Whirlpool Corporation Meghan Dimas – Director of Data & Analysis, Digitas Brett Rustin – VP/Group Director of Data & Analysis, Digitas
1:40 – 2:00pm	Optimizing Price Floors and Audiences to Maximize Monetization in Commerce Media McKinsey projects that Commerce Media spending will quickly increase from $40 billion in 2023 to $100 billion in 2027, accounting for nearly a quarter of all ad expenditure. One of McKinsey’s main recommendations is for commerce media ad networks to “use data-driven strategies to maximize ad revenue across different types of inventory.” This project fits within this area by applying auction theory and advertiser data to help retailers set optimal price floors and monetize first-party audiences across display and search inventory, supporting efficiency in a rapidly expanding commerce media landscape. Carl Mela, Ph.D. – Professor, Duke University Jason Pratt – General Manager, Koddi
2:00 – 2:20pm	Improving Media Efficiency with Frequency-Based YouTube Modeling A Circana pilot with Google and MolsonCoors found that adjusting YouTube reach and frequency improves ROAS. Using Google’s Reach & Frequency metrics in Circana’s MMM, the study highlights a scalable, data-driven method for optimizing digital video investment. Yeimy Garcia Smith – SVP of Global Measurement, Circana Madison McDonough – Food & Beverage Analytical Lead, Big Box Retail, Google Michelle Wojnowski – Senior Manager, Marketing Analytics and Optimization, Molson Coors
	Next-Gen Statistical Modeling Applying advanced statistical methods and granular data to analyze marketing performance.
2:20 – 2:40pm	Flipping the Script: How Supply-Side Modeling Can Deepen Client Relationships Traditionally, measurement data modeling has focused on the demand side, largely due to the availability of vast datasets. But what if publishers and media companies could offer their clients a broader view of performance? How might that shift the partnerships with clients? Discover how People Inc. embarked on this journey—using advanced modeling techniques to highlight the “why” behind performance—and how it has strengthened client relationships and demonstrated greater value. Mike Lichter – Sr. Director, Campaign Insights, People Inc. Samantha Powers – VP, Measurement Innovation, People Inc.
2:40 – 3:10pm	Afternoon Break
3:10 – 3:30pm	Leveraging Large-Scale Granular Single-Source Data for TV Advertising This research introduces a novel method to estimate the causal impact of linear TV advertising using large-scale, single-source data that connect household-level TV viewing and ad exposure to daily purchasing. Results demonstrate that baseline purchase propensity and ad responsiveness vary systematically with both the frequency and recency of past purchases, yielding actionable insights for more effective behavioral targeting of TV ads. Rex Du – Professor of Marketing, University of Texas at Austin
3:30 – 3:50pm	The Future of IP Address as a Measurement Signal New research from CIMM highlights a potential canary in the coal mine for video measurement: the growing instability of IP addresses as identifiers for viewers. As the foundation for countless measurement products and platforms, this instability could signal fundamental challenges ahead for the entire video measurement ecosystem. Evan Cohen – SVP, Projects and Strategic Initiatives, CIMM Gregg Galletta – President, Truthset
3:50 – 4:10pm	Creative That Converts: A Neuroscientific Approach to Image Effectiveness Creative assets, especially images, play a critical role in driving marketing performance. But quantifying their impact has long been a challenge. This talk introduces a scalable NeuroAI framework that models how the human brain processes product images, offering a new way to predict which visuals will convert attention into action. Validated in the travel sector, the findings show that images with clear visual pathways and spatial structure drive more consumer action, while cluttered or cognitively demanding visuals suppress action. Crucially, the framework is industry-agnostic and can be applied across verticals and channels to help marketers and measurement teams better evaluate the creative elements that influence outcomes, informing attribution models, MMM inputs, and creative optimization at scale. Gijs Overgoor – Assistant Professor of Marketing, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University
4:10 – 4:30pm	Refresh to Impress: Cadence Counts When Refreshing Your Marketing Mix Model Most Marketing Mix Models refresh infrequently and are slow to adapt to changing market, competitive, and consumer conditions. OptiMine conducted research to identify the optimal refresh cadence for models and has identified the lift potential of increasing model refreshes for brands that struggle with model sluggishness. Matt Voda – CEO, OptiMine
4:30 – 4:35pm	Analytic Partners Remarks Closing reflections on commercial imperatives shaping the future of marketing measurement. Mike Menkes – Group Senior Vice President, Analytic Partners
4:35 – 4:55pm	New this year! Sequent Accelerator Award Celebrates technical advances in key aspects of marketing analytics and recognizes innovative solutions that deliver meaningful brand impact and advance the discipline of marketing analytics. View the winners.
4:55 – 5:00pm	Closing Remarks Scott McDonald, Ph.D. – President & CEO, ARF
5:00 – 6:30pm	Cocktail Reception

PRICING

IN-PERSON	Early Mover 10/5/2026	Standard 11/10/2026
MEMBER	$599	$799
NON-MEMBER	$799	$999

LIVESTREAM	10/5/2026	11/10/2026
MEMBER	$299	$449
NON-MEMBER	$449	$599

the EARLY MOVER rate ends on Oct. 6

2026 ADVISORY COMMITTEE BIOS

Karen Chisholm – Product Lead, Marketing Effectiveness AI Startup

Brian Cross – Director of Global Data Intellligence, Publicis Groupe

Paul Donato - Chief Research Officer, ARF

Ross Link – CEO, Marketing Attribution LLC

Jay Mattlin - VP, Research & Director, Councils Program, ARF

Scott McDonald, Ph.D. - CEO & President, ARF

Carl Mela – Austin Finch Foundation Professor of Marketing Duke University

Sable Mi – Advertising Advisor and Strategist

Robert Moakler – Research Scientist, Meta

Lisa Pezzuto

Shweta Shah — VP, Data Science, Outcomes Measurement, Nielsen

Keith Smith, Ph.D. – Managing Director, MSI

Jim Spaeth – Partner, Sequent Partners

Alice Sylvester – Partner, Sequent Partners

Sequent Accelerator Award - OPEN FOR ENTRIES THROUGH MAY 30

Speakers

2025 Advisory Committee

Agenda

SponsorS

Host

Reception Sponsor

PRICING

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