The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today released the full agenda for its upcoming Annual Leadership Meeting, a major event that helps to set the tone for the media, marketing and ad-tech industries throughout the year. This month’s gathering in Marco Island, Florida, Jan. 22-24, will include a significant presence of executives from major brands such as Pepsi, UPS, General Motors and Shake Shack.
“We’re particularly pleased about and proud of who we’ve been able to bring to the stage,” David Cohen, chief executive of the IAB, said in this interview with Beet.TV, which is the media partner for the event. “We have more CMOs and CEOs speaking on the stage than we have ever had before.”
Alex Rodriguez, the former Major League Baseball star who is a part owner of the Minnesota Timeberwolves, is among the featured speakers. He will share insights on investing in the future of sports. The speakers also include:
- Matthew Ball, Pioneering Tech Authority, Venture Capitalist, and Bestselling Author, The Metaverse
- Krishan Bhatia, President and Chief Business Officer, NBCUniversal
- Jeffrey Cole, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Center for the Digital Future, USC Annenberg
- Sean Corcoran, U.S. Chief Executive Officer, Mediahub
- Soumya Donkada, Head of Digital, Media and E-Commerce, Beauty and Well-being, Unilever
- Sean Downey, President, Americas and Global Partners, Google
- Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer, Policy, Meta
- Michele Fino, Head of Branded Entertainment, Crackle Plus
- Jeremi Gorman, President, Worldwide Advertising, Netflix
- Scott Howe, Chief Executive Officer, LiveRamp
- Andy Monfried, CEO and Founder, Lotame
- Deborah Wahl, Global Chief Marketing Officer, General Motors Company
- Kevin Warren, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, UPS
- Andrea Zapata, Executive Vice President, Head of Ad Sales Research, Measurement and Insights, Warner Bros. Discovery
“IAB brings everyone — buy side and sell side – together,” Cohen said, “and if our attendance so far is any indication, we are going to have very good representation from brands, from agencies, publishers, platforms and adtech.”
The conference agenda includes discussions about key topics such as data privacy and regulation, media measurement, full-funnel advertising and marketing and the changing media landscape. Newer technologies such as the metaverse and blockchain also will be featured.
About 1,000 attendees have signed up to attend the exclusive gathering, which emphasizes the power meeting others in person. The event won’t be livestreamed, a welcome change for anyone who has spent many hours in Zoom calls during the pandemic.
“This is not a spectator sport. This is a participatory sport and our theme for this year, which is ‘It Starts Here,’ is really an homage to that,” Cohen said. “Everyone needs to get in the game to figure out the industry that we want to have, lest it be figured out for us.”
Editor’s Note: Beet.TV is media partner to the IAB and will be on location at the ALM conference to produce a video series in partnership with the IAB and Index Exchange.
