Digital Panel: Future of Online Advertising

Paul Lee - Moderator

Partner, Lightbank

Paul Lee joined Lightbank as a Partner in February 2011. Previously, Paul was Managing Director and Group Head for Digital Ventures at Playboy Enterprises where he was responsible for acquiring, investing in, and launching digital businesses on behalf of the enterprise. In addition, Paul also spearheaded the digital strategy implemented in positioning the company for a take-private transaction. Prior to Playboy, Paul was a founding member and Senior Vice President at the Peacock Equity Fund, a joint venture between NBC Universal and GE Capital. In his capacity as a deal partner, some of Paul’s representative Board and Observer seats include 4INFO, Greystripe, and Ramp. He first started in digital media as a co-founding employee of Click2Asia, a venture-backed online media company. Paul received a dual undergraduate degree in Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences (MMSS) and Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA.

Kevin Granath - Panelist

Vice President of Sales, Greystripe

A former Emmy Award-winning producer at ABC Sports, Granath went digital in 1994, starting ESPN’s online ad sales efforts.  He led the ESPN.com sales team for 5 years, also handling sales for NFL.com, NBA.com and NASCAR Online.  He left to head sales at entrepreneurial ventures in the online and mobile sectors, including Windwire, one of the first mobile ad networks.  ESPN pulled him back to start the sales effort for their mobile and emerging properties, and a few years later he left with some colleagues to start mobile ad agency Ansible, with backing from the Interpublic Group.  For nearly the last 2 years, Granath has led sales at Greystripe, the largest brand-focused mobile ad network.  Greystripe was acquired earlier this year by the veteran ad network ValueClick to help push into brand-oriented mobile sales.

Dave Carrel - Panelist

Senior Vice President Strategy & Analysis, Digitas

Dave leads digital marketing and advertising efforts for Digitas clients. He works on developing digital strategies & insight, building knowledge into client organizations, and leveraging all types of data to complete the picture.

Previously, Dave led the Strategy and Analysis capability for Digitas Boston. He has 15+ years marketing experience across product marketing, strategy consulting, e-commerce, and digital analytics. Previous work experience includes: IBM, PwC/Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Web Emporium and Dept. of Justice

Jim Norton - Panelist

Senior Vice President, AOL Advertising Sales

With over 20 years in the media business, Jim joined AOL in 2009 and is currently SVP leading AOL Advertising’s Advance Sales team, which focuses on national and regional advertisers across all categories, as well as new business. The team was launched in late 2009 and has grown to manage thousands of advertisers across the entire US. In addition to leading this sales team, Jim is also VP of Product Sales working with AOL product teams on maximizing their offerings to advertisers, including MapQuest, Patch, AOL Mail, AOL Video and Mobile. He also managed AOL’s Search and Sponsored Listings business unit, and helped launch and manage AOL’s self service advertising platform, Ad Desk.

Previous to AOL, Jim spent 3 years at Google most recently as National Sales Manger for Google’s Agency Activation team, which he launched and built from a small regional team into a national team covering over 180 national advertising agencies. His team sold and serviced the full suite of Google advertising products including search, display, YouTube and Google’s TV and Radio products. Jim began his Google career as Senior Account Executive on the National Tech BtoB Team servicing many of the leading global tech marketers.

Prior to his digital career, Jim worked in a variety of traditional media sales and marketing roles, including 4 years as Sales Manager at Tribune Broadcasting’s WLVI-TV (Boston’s WB), radio ad sales at Kiss 108FM and variety of brand marketing roles at Miller Brewing Company.

A life long Bostonian, Jim is a ‘Triple Eagle’, having graduated from BC High, Boston College (BA, Communications) and BC’s  Carroll Graduate School of Business, (MBA, Marketing and Technology). He lives in Cohasset, MA with his wife Katie and 3 sons, Jack, Ryan and Charlie. He spends most of his free time at a Little League Field, hockey rink, hoop court or soccer field while discreetly eyeing his phone for the latest scores of Boston sports teams.

Francoise Brougher - Panelist

Vice President, Global SMB Sales & Operations, Google

Francoise leads a global team of Googlers who acquire, grow and retain online small and medium AdWords customers and online publishers—managing billions in revenues each year. They also work to maintain a web experience that is engaging, useful and safe for users and customers. Previously at Google, Francoise was vice president of business operations. In that role, she helped solve strategic business problems and led sustainability efforts, including solar panel installation at the Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. Passionate about bringing technology to every part of the world, she helped Google launch its presence in Africa in 2006. In 2011, she was part of the first all-women tech delegation to visit Liberia and Sierra Leone on behalf of the U.S. State Department, investigating how technology can increase opportunities for women and girls.

Prior to joining Google in 2005, Francoise was vice president of business strategy at Charles Schwab. Before that, she was an entrepreneur running a wholesale business that imported black pearls from the South Pacific. She also worked as a management consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in Europe and the U.S. and in manufacturing for L’Oreal in Japan.

Francoise earned an MBA from Harvard University and a master’s in engineering from Institut Catholique d’Arts et Metiers in France. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their three children.