2021 Annual Conference Bios
Robin Boehler | Partner, Mercer Island Group
Robin is a Partner with marketing management consulting firm, Mercer Island Group (MIG). MIG helps clients and agencies solve tough challenges like matching the right clients with the right agencies, and developing enhanced workflows, briefing and creative evaluation processes. MIG is a top 5 firm in US agency search market share.
Robin’s unique perspective on client-agency effectiveness has been honed by hundreds of sessions with executives from a roster of great companies like Starbucks, Microsoft, UScellular, Ulta Beauty, Kaiser Permanente, and Anthem. She routinely interacts with CMOs, crafting strategies that address important challenges. She deftly facilitates “meetings after the meetings” as clients select their partner. She counsels dozens of agencies per year on growth strategies. Robin’s Win More Business with Strategy workshop has helped many agencies win their largest clients.
Simon Cook | Managing Director, Cannes LIONS
Simon Cook has worked in the branded communications industry and Cannes Lions for over a decade. He worked agency-side before joining the business. During his tenure with Lions he has also overseen the creation and introduction of more than half of the Lions awards. Simon is deeply passionate about the work and is a tireless advocate for creative marketing excellence that drives business performance.
Simon founded the Global Chief Marketing Officers Growth Council and is leading the expansion of the Lions brand including the provision of intelligence services and learning and advisory programs with creativity at the core.
April Crichlow | Chief Marketing Officer, Centrical
April has 20 years of global marketing experience in the high-tech industry at leading brands like SAP, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, and BusinessObjects. April spent 15 years at SAP where her strong customer focus, digital and data driven methodology, and brand storytelling experience led to category growth of Human Experience Management (HXM), an award-winning customer marketing organization, the relaunch of SAP’s small & mid-market brand, and standing up SAP’s first partner demand generation practice.
She is currently Chief Marketing Officer of Centrical, a high growth global software as a service company and pioneer of a next-generation employee engagement and performance management platform, where she is responsible for worldwide brand awareness, demand generation and customer success.
April also served at SAP as an executive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion champion and continues to lead global thought leadership and strategic partnerships on inclusive culture, women’s equality, and sustainable supply chains.
Lynne Field | Head of Strategy, FutureBrand
When Lynne begins an engagement, she asks herself one question: What is the dream of this brand, and what’s getting in their way?
Lynne believes that in order to be an effective brand consultant, one must be able to look at a problem from a variety of perspectives—inside-out, outside-in, and sometimes, a combination of both. Through a career that’s taken her to both the client side and agency side of the business, Lynne has developed these perspectives firsthand, and formed a holistic approach to brand-building that is second to none.
Lynne has worked extensively with both B2B and B2C clients in verticals from tech to healthcare, and from financial services to consumer and packaged goods. Her client roster includes AT&T, Allstate, American Airlines, Verizon, Kohler, Pfizer, Synchrony and MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Simon Hill | President, FutureBrand North America
Simon is living proof that one can be both meticulous and boundless. The former trait guides his client selection, ensuring each has the potential to be a future brand; the latter describes the heights these brands are taken with his guidance.
Simon has more than 20 years experience working with global brands to develop their brand strategies and communication platforms at both a local and international level. He’s directed projects for clients like Nestlé, General Mills, and Premier Foods. Simon also led the account for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, a project heralded by The Financial Times as ‘the biggest assignment in the history of UK marketing.’
Kimberly McNeil-Downs | Director, Green Dot Agency, Deloitte
Kim is the Director of Deloitte’s in-house creative agency the Green Dot Agency – a world-class, fully-integrated team that amplifies the Deloitte brand on behalf of its business partners. Through agilely developed creative experiences, they capture the hearts, minds, and loyalty of their clients. Kim has more than 30 years of experience being a part of and leading creative teams and her vision for the agency reflects her commitment to providing an environment for creatives to thrive. As a destination-of-choice for the best talent in the business, this diverse and multi-disciplined team is singularly focused on making sure what they do best is best for the brand.
Brent Reinhard | Chief Marketing Officer, Chase Business Banking
Brent Reinhard is the Chief Marketing Officer for Chase’s Business Banking organization, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s products targeted specifically at the Small Business population. Brent leads a diverse organization of Marketing professionals managing Branding and Advertising, Product Development and Management, Client Communications, Digital Strategy, Social Media and Innovations efforts.
Brent has been with Chase since 2003 and has held a variety of roles including several roles on the Chase Ink team, Chase Sapphire team, as well as roles in eCustomer marketing, operations, and product development areas.
Brent holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Delaware Valley College and an MBA from Penn State University. He and his husband of 24 years live with their two dogs in Yardley PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Geof Rochester | Founder, CEO, GRC Advising
Geof Rochester is a strategic advisor to nonprofit and brand leadership in the areas of business, marketing and communications. Recognized as a thought-leader across corporate sustainability and responsibility, he brings distinctive and dynamic experience with the world’s leading conservation NGOs, media companies, and consumer goods brands. Geof founded GRC Advising in 2018 with the goal of driving social purpose, optimizing networks and scaling brands for maximum potential all in pursuit of a purpose-driven world.
Geof has served in global roles as Managing Director and CMO of The Nature Conservancy. He has held the positions of Executive Vice President, Marketing at World Wrestling Entertainment and Senior Vice President, Marketing at Showtime Networks. Earlier in his career, Geof served in senior marketing positions with Comcast, Radisson Hotels International and P&G. Geof is a native Bajan, a graduate of Georgetown University and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Meredith Shue | Director of Talent Brand, Marketing & Communications, EY Americas
Meredith serves as the Director of Talent Brand, Marketing & Communications for EY Americas, focusing on the talent experience including recruitment, development and retention of our people, our culture, our commitment to well-being and diversity, equity and inclusion, and corporate responsibility. As a member of the EY Americas Talent Executive Committee, Meredith leads efforts to create exceptional and transformative experiences for over 80,000 EY people across 31 countries.
Prior to this role, she served as the Marketing + Communications lead for Inclusion & Diversity, Corporate Citizenship and Government Relations for Accenture North America where she was responsible for developing and implementing Accenture North America’s I&D marketing and communications strategy to position Accenture as an I&D leader and employer of choice and create a sense of belonging for all.
Peter Weinberg | Global Head of Development, The B2B Institute, LinkedIn
Peter Weinberg is the co-founder of LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, a think tank that researches the laws of growth in B2B marketing. As the Global Head of Development, Peter develops contrarian marketing strategies designed to give LinkedIn’s top clients a competitive edge. Peter has spent the majority of his career at LinkedIn in a variety of sales and consulting roles. Prior to LinkedIn, Peter worked in creative planning at Dentsu and media planning at GroupM. Outside of LinkedIn, Peter is a profoundly unsuccessful science fiction novelist and a devoted Nintendo player.