MEET THE 2024 PANEL
Rahmon is an award-winning entrepreneur listed by Forbes 30 Under 30 and winner of the KPMG Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He is co-founder of Loud Parade, the premier music creative and sonic branding agency with over 8 billion views on TikTok. Loud Parade makes bespoke music compositions for brands and creative agencies across all platforms and has worked with Fenty, Nike JBL, JD Sports, WPP and Havas, amongst others. Working at the intersection of Psychology and Music, Loud Parade creates sonic identities which match a brand's aspirational personality bringing objectivity to the usually subjective world of music in advertising by leveraging an AI tool which can test the emotional resonance of sounds. Loud Parade uses music as a form of storytelling, creating unique sonic identities for brands to increase individuality and uniqueness of their campaigns. Through viral sounds they increase brand love, recognition and awareness as well as support with the problem of music licensing through authentic and scientifically backed music solutions.
I've worked in audio advertising for over 20 years, creating campaigns for national and international brands and businesses, as well as winning awards such as London International Advertising Awards, Mobius Awards, and New York Advertising Awards. My philosphy has always been to look for that extra element that can push a campaign further. With audio, everyone has the same basic ingredients to work with, so to create something effective, activating and engaging needs talent and attention. Whatever the brand or client, we always try to deliver a sound to be proud of.
Most recently the Head of UK Ad Sales for Sony Music's podcast division, with specialist expertise in audio advertising both agency-side and for global media owners and publishers.
15 years of audio experience having worked at Bauer, Global & Talksport in various roles across Creative, Commercial & Client.
Sounds Profitable was created by Bryan Barletta, a seasoned professional with over 14 years in the ad technology space, including tenure at podcast companies Megaphone and Claritas. Bryan was part of the team that created the world's first shakeable ad in 2009.
Lucy is Radiocentre's Client Director. Her mission is to champion commercial radio among advertisers and agencies. She is responsible for Radiocentre's events and marketing. In 2022 she also became the inaugural President of the World Radio Alliance.
I've been a copy writer and creative director for over 20 years. In that time I've worked with some great brands like Nationwide, Barclay's, Jaguar, American Express, Sainsbury's, Virgin and Tesco (my current favourite obviously) and for some great agencies like TMW, Proximity, BBH and Havas. I love audio creative for its immediate impact and (if done well) lasting resonance. Recently I've been working on a lot of personalised audio - which I feel has a huge role to play for big brands who want to speak in a more intimate and targeted way to their customers.
"Sean has worked at Radioville, one of the UK's leading digital audio creative agencies, for nearly 20 years. Radioville have produced both award-winning and highly effective audio campaigns for some of the nation's most well-known brands such as Avon, Screwfix, TalkTalk, Peloton, Lexus, Guinness, wagamama, Funding Circle, Autoglass and many more. Sean started as junior producer back in 2001, became a company director in 2012 and then was appointed Managing Director is 2018. "
I have transformed Barclays approach to Intermediary marketing communications, advertising and events in my role as Barclays Head of Channel Engagement driving up awareness, sentiment scores and sales. I am passionate about delivering marketing that provides tools and information enabling our clients and brokers to succeed. I constantly listen to get their perspective, always striving for Barclays to continuously improve the service it provides them. In addition to my role, I often set myself challenges such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or the Base Camp of Mount Everest as well a hiking expedition on the Great Wall of China raising thousands of pounds in support of a small local children's charity. Recently, I graduated with an MSc in Business and Strategic Leadership from Cranfield University, a course I embarked on part time as one of 20 candidates chosen by Barclays as their leaders of tomorrow.
Ed Couchman is an experienced business leader with over two decades of experience in the media and advertising industry at the heart of the digital transformation. He is currently the Head of Sales, UK & Northern Europe at Spotify, where he leads the company's advertising sales operations across the region. Prior to joining Spotify, Ed was the General Manager of Snap in the UK, where he led the camera company's largest European sales office. During his tenure, he worked hand in hand with advertisers, helping them to best leverage Snapchat's innovative ad formats, as well as unpacking the tangible business impact and ROI they provide. Before joining Snap, Ed served as Director of Agency Partnerships at Facebook, where he worked for over six years. Prior to this, he was Head of Digital and Future Media at Channel 4 and led the display team at Associated New Media. In addition to his work in the industry, Ed is actively involved in several charitable organizations. He serves as a trustee of the MediaTrust, a national charity that uses the power of media to give charities a voice and change lives. He is also a member of several industry bodies, including the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Industry Advisory Panel to the Advertising Association. Ed is highly respected by his peers and colleagues for his strategic thinking, business acumen, and leadership skills. He is a sought-after speaker and has spoken at several industry events, sharing his insights on the evolving media and advertising landscape.
Cicely is the ECD of world-leading sonic branding agency, Sonicbrand. A classically trained pianist, DJ and expert music supervisor, Cicely has a wealth of experience in the development and production of sonic branding and composition for global brands such as Shell, Nestle, GSK, MARS, Mondelez and Marantz.
In my role as Creative Director of Factory Originals, a creative division of the award winning audio facility Factory Studios, I work closely with Clients and Brands on exploring new and original ideas, with the focus on bringing them to life through a host of media formats.
Krissie has extensive experience working directly with advertisers to understand their marketing objectives, partnering strategically to offer insights and solutions to help drive KPI's across the funnel. Currently running the Client Strategy team at Bauer Media Advertising, Krissie is helping clients navigate the Bauer portfolio across Audio & Publishing, with a specific focus around delivering long term partnerships ensuring impact at every stage of the campaign.
With over 20 years' experience in media, Andrew has worked for some of the biggest and most iconic brands in the UK, including NME, Capital, Heart and the Guardian. Now CEO at Adelicious, the UK's leading independent podcast hosting and monetisation network, home of The Diary of a CEO, Motherland, The Bunker and many more
Jon has over 17 years' experience in media having worked in both agency and client-side roles. Jon joined Craft Media London in Summer 2021 from Sky where he spent five years leading Media & Planning teams. Craft Media are an independent comms strategy consultancy that works in collaboration with media & creative agencies to deliver award winning work. At Craft Media London, Jon is responsible for implementing their approach to client management. This is about setting the right conditions for the teams to produce their best work, establishing Craft Media London as a market leader in communications planning.
Michaela is a multi-award-winning creative leader with more than 25 years’ experience in the audio sector. She believes that audio can paint the most powerful pictures, unique to every single individual listener, and that brands could be making more of it. As Head of Audio at BBC Creative, she led audio marketing campaigns for the BBC's highest priority shows from Strictly to Killing Eve, the Olympics to Eastenders, Doctor Who, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Proms and Planet Earth. She's developed strategy and creative for the BBC's Connected Speaker offering, and developed sonic brand identities for BBC Music, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. As Director of Content at Fresh Air she works with brands to build their own podcast series and IP. From WWF, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Universal NBC and English Heritage, to AutoTrader, Barclays, Deloitte, and Decathlon, she helps clients define the series that only they can make, developing unique formats that both demonstrably meet business objectives and – crucially - keep listeners, listening.
Rich is a seasoned executive with over 20 years' experience across a multitude of sectors, with a key focus on innovative cutting-edge technology solutions, marketing, and clients. Rich leads Pogust Goodhead's global technology and marketing initiatives. He is responsible for the firm's global marketing strategies and campaigns, information security assurance, and the software development of our innovative platform capabilities, which help cement Pogust Goodhead as the global leader in group litigation. He is focused on ensuring the whole business leverages technology and product innovation to meet and exceed the demands of our clients, while ensuring these advances drive client satisfaction and deliver agile engagement and commercial revenues for all key stakeholders. He is passionate about nurturing a data-driven culture so that all key and strategic decisions are about growth and future prospects.
As the Head of Business Development at Octave Audio, Nadia Holmes brings with her a wealth of experience gathered during her time at Bauer Media. Holmes spearheaded Bauer Media's Digital Audio proposition, which led to her ascending to the position of 'Head of Digital Audio.' Octave Audio hand-picked her to join the leadership team, where her trusted relationships with agencies and clients have resulted in significant revenue generation, as well as leading the evolution of Octave's digital audio proposition, which includes the exciting world of podcast content.
Matt is the Co-founder and Creative Director of specialist audio agency Trisonic. He has worked in the audio industry for more than 30 years, is a highly skilled director, producer and copywriter, and is trusted by agencies and advertisers to deliver highly effective content, both short form and long form.
CEO and Founder of The Club Media Group, a content and monetisation company focused on sports, entertainment and lifestyle audiences.
Richard Mashiter has worked in the media industry for 8+ years with clients such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestle & Centrica. He led Mars' recent audio journey as their brands prepare for an HFSS world where audio will become a key channel for them learning what it takes for a brand to be successful across radio & digital audio platforms.
Tim leads a team of 5 in-house audio writers & producers at Audio Experts - an independent audio agency, trusted by the biggest brands in the world, to create persuasive digital audio advertising. His team creates anything you can hear, from digital audio ads to podcasts, audio branded content to bespoke music production. Tim has worked in radio and audio advertising for almost 40 years. He launched Audio Experts in 2013 and prior to that was a Senior Radio Producer at the Government's Central Office of Information - at the time the UK's biggest radio advertiser.
Kathleen leads the creative team at audio specialist agency and recording studios, Forever Audio. Her team creates international commercial audio campaigns for radio and digital audio streaming platforms, podcasts, long-form audio content, audio focussed interactive digital campaigns and immersive audio experiences. Kathleen has worked in audio creative for 15 years for agencies and media owners, including working across Bauer Media's portfolio of flagship national radio brands.
I am an award-winning Account Director at Acast whose experience spans over 7 years in the digital audio industry. My focus on both building key industry relationships and having a strong expertise of podcasting as a whole has resulted in being Acast's top global seller in 2022, having 3 separate campaigns nominated for a 2023 MediaWeek award, as well as being one of PodPod's Industry 'Faces to Watch' in 2023.
Managing Director for Chalk and Blade Podcast Productions. Brand liaison ensuring podcast creative meets the organisation goals along with all things contractual and financial, from IP negotiation to talent contracts.
Lizzy leads all marketing, PR and brand activity for the world's largest podcast company, Acast. Acast hosts, grows and monetises 100,000 shows including the UK's biggest and best podcasts such as Shagged Married Annoyed, ShxtsnGigs, Off Menu and Telling Everybody Everything with Katherine Ryan. An avid runner, she listens to 3.7 hours of podcasts a day (often whilst running.)
Jack Preston heads up Acast's creative offering, working with some of the world's biggest podcasts and brands to create partnerships which harness the power of audio. Preston has more than a decade's experience creating multichannel campaigns for brands, and since joining Acast has led an overhaul of its advertising offering for clients — helping move the business from ads and sponsorship alone to a greater focus on branded content and 360 partnerships. Before joining Acast, Preston led content and social strategy at Virgin.
Nick Russell is Director of Creative Strategy at Global, one of the worlds’ leading media & entertainment groups. Europe’s largest radio company, Global is home to national market leading media brands broadcasting across the UK on DAB & FM and around the world on Global Player, including Capital, Heart, Classic FM, LBC, Smooth, Radio X, Capital XTRA and Gold. Global is also one of the leading Outdoor companies in both the UK & Europe, with over 235,000 sites reaching 95% of the UK population. Global’s extensive and diverse outdoor portfolio encompasses Transport for London’s Underground network, almost all major UK airports and the UK’s largest portfolio of roadside posters, as well as the UK’s largest network of buses including all major cities. Prior to joining Global, Nick worked in creative roles for The BBC and Telegraph Media Group and has helped to create award winning campaigns for brands including Volkswagen, Heineken, Organix and Disney.
Jenna has 17 years' experience in the industry, across both media agency and media owner. Prior to her 5 years at Bauer Media, Jenna also worked at Dentsu agencies including Vizeum and The Story Lab - giving her a broad view of all sides of the advertising sector. Since joining Bauer Media in 2019 Jenna has worked across the commercial business, working with both clients and agency partners - she is now Commercial Director, overseeing GroupM agencies. Jenna has always had a passion for Audio advertising and its ability to deliver real business impact and she works to ensure brands and agencies are seeing the full effects of the power of audio.