“Marketing Financial Services to Women”

As the Global Head of Qualitative for Kantar, Anita is accountable for all elements of qualitative research across Kantar operating brands worldwide. At Kantar, we seek to inspire our clients, our people and society to create and flourish in an extraordinary world and we do so by drawing on the expertise of our research consultants that sit across 60 countries. Prior to being appointed Global Head of Qualitative, Anita successfully grew qualitative over 900% for Kantar TNS in North America, and transformed businesses in Latin America by building effective relationships with external and internal corporate clients.  A seasoned researcher, Anita focuses on providing insight into connecting consumers emotionally to brands to drive growth for Fortune 500 clients. She has extensive experience in new product development, brand strategy, communications, retail, and satisfaction research. Throughout her career, Anita has moderated hundreds of focus groups and one-on-one interviews for many Fortune 100 firms across CPG, Financial Services, Travel/Tourism, B2B and B2C audiences. Anita is a strategic thinker with a big heart and thrives on uncovering significant opportunities in the small details of everyday life. Anita currently serves on Unilever’s Expert Panel for its highly regarded qualitative accreditation program, and is recognized as an Accredited Professional Development Specialist for the Market Research Society in London.  She also serves on the Advisory Board for Michigan State University’s Master of Science in Marketing Research Program. Anita has a BS in Marketing, graduating magna cum laude, from the University of Dayton.

Pamela D. Seagle is the Manager for Global Women’s Programs at Bank of America. In this role she is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of women’s programs across the company’s global footprint.  This includes the Global Ambassador Program, a Vital Voices and Bank of America partnership; the Tory Burch Foundation Capital Access Program, powered by Bank of America; a partnership with Kiva.com and a partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation, as well as other programs and initiatives leading to the economic development of women leaders.  Prior to that, Seagle led the bank’s marketing programs supporting Global ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) efforts. Seagle joined Bank of America in 1994, has held a range of leadership positions, and has spent the past sixteen years in Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs.  During her tenure in the Marketing organization she has led numerous integrated marketing campaigns across various channels and served as ESG Marketing Manager from 2009-2013. 

Jessica Pate is the Senior Director, Brand including Ally Financial, Ally Bank, Ally Invest, Enterprise and Clearlane brands. Her primary responsibilities focus on Brand evolution and protection. Including defining key brand strategies, assessing competitive brand positioning and ensuring consistency across channels and experiences. Jessica joined the Marketing team at Ally in 2009 and has been a champion for Ally’s brand purpose from the inception of the brand to the launch of “Do It Right”, what remains at the heart of Ally is the belief that financial services should truly serve. Her north star is reinforcing that Ally is a company committed to delivering digital financial services built on the brand pillars of Do Right, Tirelessly Innovate and Obsess over the Customer. From partner opportunities to cultural narratives, the Ally brand plays an integral role in shaping the definition of being money mindful for both customers and communities alike. Prior to joining Ally, Jessica spend 4 years at Bank of America developing consumer marketing and value propositions for what became Bank of America Home Loans in 2008. She began her career with 6 years of agency experience in the CPG category on accounts such as Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven, PepsiCo, and Gatorade with Omnicom’s TPN in Dallas, TX. Jessica graduated with a B.A. in Advertising from the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Southern Methodist University, in 2002. Jessica is passionate about changing the consumer mindset in today’s service and experience driven world. Focusing on the role of brand in an ever-evolving service driven society. In this time of data-driven marketing, it is more imperative than ever to remember the humanity at the center of our advertising efforts.

Phoebe Connelly is deputy director of video at The Washington Post where she leads daily news coverage, interactive storytelling and oversees emerging video products. Phoebe is also the video product owner at The Post, working closely with the engineering team to develop and manage a suite of custom internal and external-facing video solutions. She joined The Post in 2013 from Yahoo! News and The American Prospect. Her writing has appeared in the Atlantic, the Awl, NPR and the Guardian.

Meghan Lantier is the Chief Communications Officer for Brighthouse Financial. Brighthouse Financial was established by MetLife in 2016 and is a major provider of annuity and life insurance solutions in the United States. In this role, Lantier is responsible for public relations, internal communications, employee engagement, and diversity and inclusion.  Lantier was previously Vice President, Global Communications for MetLife where she was responsible for internal and external communications strategies for MetLife’s America’s Region, its Global Employee Benefits business and its Global Brand.  Lantier joined MetLife in 2011 and served in many different roles, including leading communications for MetLife’s U.S. Retail, Corporate Benefit Funding, and Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits organizations. She also led communications for the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

Prior to joining MetLife, Lantier spent 10+ years at public relations agencies, partnering with clients in the financial and professional services industries. She joined MetLife from Bliss Integrated Communications, where she was Senior Vice President and Financial Services Practice Leader.  Lantier graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University

Karen Kistenmacher is a Marketing Program Manager supporting Wells Fargo’s Middle Market Banking Group. In this role, Karen strategizes, plans, and implements integrated marketing programs targeted to middle market companies with annual sales ranging from $20 million up to $1 billion. She focuses primarily on development of marketing programs for key vertical industries and diverse segments.  Karen joined Wells Fargo’s marketing organization in 2013.

As a career marketer, Karen possesses more than 25 years of marketing experience gained in service-driven industries including financial services, telecommunications and SAS technology. Prior to Wells Fargo, Karen held the role of Director of Marketing at Global Compliance (now NAVEX Global) from 2004-2012, and formerly served as Marketing Manager supporting the Small Business and Commercial lines of business at Bank of America from 2003-2004. In advance of Bank of America, Karen spent more than 15 years in various marketing management roles in the data and telecommunications industry, most recently serving as Director, Marketing Services and Director, Marketing Communications at MCI WorldCom, and Marketing Manager for WilTel. She began her career with Southwestern Bell.

Karen holds a BBA degree in Marketing from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.