In this panel presentation the president of Upstream Group leads a discussion on consumer generated advertising and how smart marketers can steer consumer efforts in a mutually beneficial direction.

In an age where life is a mix and every American is a DJ, it's only natural that marketers would start to empower the Average Joe to create his own advertising. It's happening now and it's taking root quickly. Even without being asked, consumers are creating advertising and some smart marketers are steering those consumer efforts in a mutually beneficial direction.

The dangers of ceding some control of your brand to your consumers are many, but so are the rewards, when everything comes together. It is as much an art as it is a science and the rules are not yet established.

In this provocative panel discussion, marketers and agencies representing four dominant brands -- Converse, Adidas, Dove and Southwest Airlines -- will explore the process, trials, tribulations and rewards of consumer-generated advertising and light the path for those who will follow.

Bios:
Sarah Fay manages the growth and integration strategy for the digital and one-to-one agency services that fall within Isobar U.S.'s multiple divisions. Today, these services include Carat Fusion, Freestyle, Molecular, and iProspect. In the year 2000, Fay took on the challenge to envision, launch, and grow Carat Interactive (now Carat Fusion, the U.S. digital hub for Carat Americas). Carat Americas is one of the nation's largest media agencies, with more than $6 billion in billings. After the launch of Carat Interactive, Fay converted what began as an interactive media shop to a full service digital marketing agency, which claims premiere clients such as Pfizer, RadioShack, adidas, Gateway, Wachovia, and AOL. Fay is a regular speaker on the topic of interactive advertising, and is widely quoted in such sources as Ad Age, Ad Week, DM News, B2B Magazine, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Jill Howard-Allen is responsible for the online marketing efforts for DING! and www.southwest.com. As another direct "voice" to the customer, the site provides a convenient, user-friendly way for travelers to access and book reservations on Southwest. Howard-Allen is part of a multitude of the company's online marketing initiatives including the recently launched microsite, www.southwestwannagetaway.com as well as a member of the blog team providing direction and posts for blogsouthwest.com. A 15-year veteran in marketing at Southwest Airlines, Howard-Allen knows that it's all about cultivating a strong corporate culture and growing a profitable business by delivering legendary customer service.

Babs Rangaiah currently oversees media across all Unilever brands in the U.S. In the past year he has overseen the media for several highly innovative campaigns, including Dove's Dovenight webisodes, Super Bowl Campaign & Dove Cream Oils consumer generated campaign." Dove was recently named "CPG Marketer of the year" by MediaPost. Prior to joining Unilever, Rangaiah spent three and a half years as the vice president of media for the interactive firm Agency.com and several years in traditional media planning at DMB&B, most recently as vice president AMD. In his career, Rangaiah has worked with clients such as Procter & Gamble, JP Morgan, Colgate, Discovery Networks, Sprint, Merck and Burger King.

Doug Weaver, president of Upstream Group, has worked with over 100 leading companies, including Yahoo!, USA TODAY, CBS Digital Media, Dow Jones, MarketWatch, National Public Radio, ESPN, About.com and The New York Times. After a 15-year career in print advertising sales with companies like Hearst and Conde Nast, Weaver became the advertising director for Wired Magazine in 1994 and sold some of the web's first ads on the company's Hot Wired site.

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Presenter: Doug Weaver, president, Upstream Group; Sarah Fay, president, Isobar U.S.; Jill Howard-Allen, online marketing manager, Southwest Airlines; Babs Rangaiah, director, Media & Entertainment, Unilever USA

Format: Zipped PowerPoint