In Newly Created Role, Berens to Lead IAB Centers of Excellence, Research Teams, and Oversee Programming for IAB Events

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced that Brad Berens has been named Editor-in-Chief and SVP. In the newly created role, Berens will be in charge of IAB’s agenda-setting, research, and thought-leadership activities. In this construct, he will oversee IAB’s Centers of Excellence, the programming for IAB Events, and the IAB’s web site, mobile app, podcast, video, and other content channels.

“At IAB, Brad will do what the great Editors-in-Chief in history have always done: answer the question ‘why does this matter and what should you do about it?’,” said Randall Rothenberg, CEO, IAB. “Brad will help the digital marketing and media industry focus on the important matters, set their agendas, and learn what they need to know to grow.”  

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Rothenberg continued, “Adding Brad to the team in this critical role is part of an ongoing effort to strengthen our offerings across the board to ensure that IAB delivers the maximum value to every one of our members. Brad’s unique experience and perspective makes him the ideal choice for this role.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining IAB at this inflection point for our industry, the internet, and society itself. So many things are changing,” said Berens. “The cookie-less future is racing towards us, and Project Rearc will be a historic collaboration to define what’s next. The ways brands are born, grow, and die are changing fast. The streaming wars are shifting everything about entertainment. These are issues only IAB can tackle, and I can’t imagine a more exciting place to be right now than right here, in the thick of it.”

Project Rearc is a cross-industry initiative championed by IAB to get stakeholders across the entire digital advertising supply chain to make the internet a better place for consumers.

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Berens has been a futurist, analyst, and trusted advisor to companies around the world, and most recently was Chief Strategy Officer at the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, where he led both the Future of Transportation and the Future of Health projects. He was also founder and principal at Big Digital Idea Consulting, a boutique advisory firm.

Berens served as Global Chief Content Officer for dmg events’ digital portfolio, running over 50 conferences each year. Prior to that, he was the Editor-in-Chief of iMedia Connection, a daily online publication about the intersection of advertising and digital media, and spent several years as a Hollywood story analyst at studios, agencies, and production houses like DreamWorks, New Regency, CAA, and Mirage.

Berens started his career as an award-winning teacher of Shakespeare and writing at U.C. Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. He is also the author of the science fiction novel “Redcrosse.”

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