Department of Advertising and Public Relations Hosts Industry Leaders for March 27 Conference
AUSTIN, Texas — March 21, 2014 — Peter Zandan, global vice chair of research at Hill + Knowlton Strategies; Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide; Marianne Malina, president of GSD&M; and Tom Bedecarré, chairman at AKQA will discuss the effects of new technology and media changes on the advertising and public relations business and its clients. The event will be livestreamed at http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1715912/events/2869654.
EVENT: "Advertising and PR: What's Changed and What's Stayed the Same"
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 27
WHERE: The Thompson Conference Center (3.120), 2405 Robert Dedman Drive
REGISTRATION: Register for the conference and luncheon at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advertising-and-public-relationswhats-changed-and-whats-stayed-the-same-tickets-11012822649. The event is free and open to the public.
BACKGROUND: "Advertising and PR: What's Changed and What's Stayed the Same" was organized by Neal Burns, professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations and will feature morning sessions by Zandan, Reinhard and Bedecarré.
Zandan directs strategic initiatives for Hill + Knowlton Strategies as the worldwide research practice group leader. He has been instrumental in developing the firm's reputation management and communications research offerings. He has provided assistance with international brand development for clients in financial services, energy, technology, health care and consumer products.
Zandan founded IntelliQuest and served as its chairman and chief executive officer for 15 years. Under his leadership, IntelliQuest became the fastest growing market research company worldwide and was publicly-traded on the Nasdaq (IQST). Zandan also founded and served as chief executive officer of Zilliant, a leading provider of price-optimization solutions that was named one of the top 50 venture-backed companies by The Wall Street Journal. He also serves on the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council.
Reinhard is chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most-awarded advertising and marketing networks. In 2012, DDB was named "Advertising Network of the Year" by Campaign, as well as "Agency of the Year" and "Digital Agency of the Year" by Strategy magazine. At the 2013 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, it won 93 Lions, the most ever for the network.
As a working creative man, Reinhard gave birth to the Hamburglar and the other denizens of McDonaldland. He was responsible for McDonald's "You Deserve a Break Today" and for the Big Mac tongue twister, "Two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions, on a sesame seed bun." He also penned State Farm's long-running theme, "Just Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm Is There." In 1999 Advertising Age named "You Deserve a Break Today" the best advertising jingle of the 20th century and one of the century's top-five campaigns.
As the president of GSD&M, Malina brings this entrepreneurial spirit to the agency, driving GSD&M's core purpose — ideas that make a difference. In her 14 years at GSD&M, she has held leadership positions including creative managing director and account director where she was steward of brands like Southwest Airlines, KOHLER and Legacy. Malina continues to play a key role on many of GSD&M's accounts. Under her leadership, the Southwest Airlines team saw a policy turn into a cultural phenomenon when she led the integrated "Bags Fly Free" campaign, which won a Gold Effie Award.
Previously, Malina worked in Portland, Ore., as a producer for clients, such as Nike, Adidas and Microsoft at Limbo Films. She got her start in advertising at Cole & Weber and Borders, Perrin & Norrander working in account management.
Bedecarré is chairman of AKQA, the leading and most-awarded digital advertising agency. With 11 offices in the U.S., Europe & Asia, AKQA works with global brands to ensure they win in the digital age. He is also president of WPP Ventures, a new Silicon Valley-based company, which explores investment opportunities for WPP, the world's largest communications services group.
In 2013, Bedecarré was recognized as a "National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year" for his leadership in the media, entertainment and communications industry.
After the morning sessions and a luncheon, Assistant Professor Angeline Close and Assistant Professor Carlos Hernandez will lead two sessions dealing with key issues agencies and their clients are facing – the metrics of effectiveness and native advertising.
Close conducts consumer research. Her areas of expertise are event marketing and sponsorship, online consumer behavior and branding. Her research has been featured on CBS and in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, New Scientist, the St. Petersburg Times and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Close is immediate past president of the American Marketing Association's Consumer Behavior Special Interest Group. She also serves in various leadership roles for the Association for Consumer Research, the Society for Marketing Advances and the Academy of Marketing Science.
Hernandez teaches courses on research methods, new media and online advertising. In addition to teaching, he plans to conduct research on advertising with a strong emphasis in modeling new forms of advertising and research methods.
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Contact: Laura Byerley, (512) 471-2182; Neal M. Burns, (512) 799-6605
