Programmatic: Transactional Efficiency vs. Relationship Effectiveness

Mike Sanders is Vice President and Director of North American Brand Advertising at BMO Financial Group and Director of U.S. Personal & Commercial Advertising for its U.S. division, BMO Harris Bank. In this role, Mike oversees the planning, development, execution and measurement of brand, sponsorships, retail and commercial banking advertising for the nation’s 12th largest bank. Prior to joining the bank, he was the chief employee communications officer for Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school district and the city’s second largest employer, where he served on the executive leadership team, advising the CEO and CFO on communications strategy and coordinating a team of 35 specialists across the district. Mike also worked as a brand strategy lead and account director at VSA Partners, where he led the CME Group, Allstate and Archer Daniels Midland accounts. Previously, Mike worked as a merchant and strategist for retailers Target and Abercrombie & Fitch. He earned his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Craig Johnson is currently the Managing Director for Accordant Media, based in Chicago, where he oversees all aspects of their client relationships, as well as integration efforts with new parent company Dentsu Aegis. Having been with Accordant for the past 2+ years, Craig leads a team of programmatic and digital media leaders on client strategy, tactical optimizations and partner development. Prior to Accordant, Craig led integrated media strategy for two global technology clients while on the agency side, and has worked on all sides of our industry; client, media and agency.

As Director of Programmatic, Rachel joined Mediavest | Spark with over 11 years of experience in interactive media, working in the digital space with both direct response and branding clients in the CPG, Beauty, Telecom, Entertainment, Financial, Automotive, and Luxury Travel industries. Rachel also has a wealth of knowledge on media campaigns involving multiple pricing options, creative, and integration on the agency, publisher, and trading desk side. Throughout her career, Rachel has pitched and implemented numerous digital firsts that include iPad integrations, YouTube channels/mastheads, mobile sweepstakes, custom video and research executions, and social sweepstakes with fashion industry partners. She also spearheaded initial pitch efforts to get General Mills on board with programmatic media and digital campaign promotion for the release of Daniel Radcliffe’s first film post-Harry Potter, The Woman in Black. A native of Indianapolis, Rachel graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Marketing, and is based in the agency's Chicago office.

Sam Karow 20 years of experience as a prolific idea generator and builder of innovative, data-driven and statistically modeled communication plans that surpass brand and business goals and exceeded client expectations. Sam’s passion for challenging status quo led to him found Adaptive Campaigns, a real-time creative platform for programmatic media.  Clients include American Medical Association, Art Institute of Chicago, Chamberlain, Harry & David, Hyatt, Industry West, Kalahari Resorts, Lyft, Northern Illinois University, Peapod, Sears Holdings and many others. Sam also founded Effective Marketing Communication, a media consultancy focused on integrated digital media planning, buying and measurement.  He helps agencies and clients grow new business wins and develop data and technology-enabled capabilities for message development, measurement and optimization.  He helped commonground, MarketingWerks, Upshot, Tom Dick and Harry Creative Co, TRISECT and others build media business units from the ground up. Sam began his career at Starcom Mediavest Group, the world’s largest media agency.  He has over $1B in media investment management experience. He led planning and buying teams on Bank of America, Gillette, Hanes, Kellogg’s, Miller Brewing Company, Sara Lee and many others. At Loyola University’s Quinlan School of Business, Sam served as an adjunct professor of integrated media planning. Sam received his Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communication from the Medill School at Northwestern University and his undergraduate degrees in advertising and telecommunications from Michigan State University.

Lynne Marek is a senior reporter at Crain’s Chicago Business, where she covers the media and financial industries. That includes the city’s newspapers as well as other digital media outlets, as well as investment management, private equity, hedge fund, investment banking, and trading firms. She joined Crain's in March, 2010, after serving as Chicago bureau chief for the National Law Journal, reporting on the city's law firms, the state and federal courts and litigation. Before that, she was a reporter for 11 years at Bloomberg News in Washington, D.C., and in Chicago, covering airlines, railroads, Midwest Federal Reserve officials, and corporate disclosure with the SEC. She started in journalism as a researcher and cub reporter in the Washington bureau of the Chicago Tribune. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and received a master's in public affairs journalism from American University in Washington.