Ten years of spotlighting the boldest and brightest in Branded Content and Native Advertising

Dr. Imran Rashid is a physician, author, and digital health expert with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of technology, behavior, and mental well-being. He has advised governments, businesses, and media organizations on how to navigate the human consequences of the digital age. As a leading voice on the ethics of attention, he coined the concept of “Authenticity-as-a-Service” to guide media toward trust, intention, and human value. His engaging keynotes blend neuroscience, storytelling, and real-world strategy to inspire meaningful change.

Luke Spano is the Founder & CEO at Avid Collective, Australia's home of branded content. Avid Collective has emerged as a prominent player in the advertising and publishing industry under Luke’s leadership. The business has seen exponential growth since its inception in 2021, on the back of developing a highly powerful solution to a complex problem - connecting over 140 digital publishers with hundreds of advertisers through its proprietary platform. 

Avid has since evolved further, introducing Avid PubSuite, a purpose-built SaaS platform, designed to help publishers simplify workflows, enhance advertiser experience, and maximise revenue from branded content. 

Luke has a set of valuable skills and interests including strategic planning, product design, business development, marketing strategy, and business process improvement.

Julia Linehan founded The Digital Voice™ in 2012 and has built up a well loved B2B AdTech specialist PR agency and team who live and breathe all things PR, communications, content, creative, multimedia, events, social media and digital marketing. Known for her boundless energy, she started her career in digital advertising at Dennis Publishing 29 years ago and has been at the heart of the changing digital media landscape ever since.

Peter Wallace is General Manager for EMEA at GumGum. Peter has been at the forefront of shifting trends in the digital media industry for over 15 years: he led a team of digital specialists at behavioural planning agency Total Media and quadrupled revenue at audience data platform Eyeota before entering the brave new world of contextual advertising at GumGum six years ago. During that time, he has seen the business grow exponentially through both organic growth and acquisitions to now being the global leader in its space.

Minai Bui is Director of Product Marketing EMEA at Samsung Ads, bringing over two decades of experience across media, advertising, agency, publisher and adtech sectors. Minai is a seasoned commercial leader with proven performance in driving revenue, relationship management, product strategy and go-to-market initiatives at both a regional and global level.

As Samsung Ads’ first Product Marketer in Europe, Minai has built out and leads a team of experts in the region. Bringing with her an extensive background in product marketing and digital media at the likes of Google and Viacom, she has been instrumental in the development and launch of Samsung Ads’ AI products including Smart Outcomes, and has played a pivotal role in Samsung’s expansion into mobile data for CTV advertising.

Working in one of the fastest growing areas of the business, Minai continues to shape how Samsung brings their capabilities to market across Europe and beyond. 

Elli is a trilingual media professional with 20 years of experience in the advertising industry. Her expertise is a blend of the publishing ecosystem, brand partnerships and ad technology, having spent many years in globally renowned organisations such as the Financial Times and Condé Nast in client-facing roles with stints in ad tech businesses in between. Her experiences have shaped Elli’s problem-solving and client-centric approach and she is passionate about connecting the dots, simplifying complex notions and fostering cross-functional collaboration to yield results and add value.

A true citizen of the world, Elli was exposed to different cultures and travel from a young age and continues to be passionate about discovering and exploring new destinations whenever the opportunity arises. She is a mum of two young boys (and most recently a cat) and whenever there is any spare time, she loves to experiment in the kitchen and to be active outdoors searching for that ever-elusive vitamin D.

Luke Spano is the Founder & CEO at Avid Collective, Australia's home of branded content. Avid Collective has emerged as a prominent player in the advertising and publishing industry under Luke’s leadership. The business has seen exponential growth since its inception in 2021, on the back of developing a highly powerful solution to a complex problem - connecting over 140 digital publishers with hundreds of advertisers through its proprietary platform. 

Avid has since evolved further, introducing Avid PubSuite, a purpose-built SaaS platform, designed to help publishers simplify workflows, enhance advertiser experience, and maximise revenue from branded content. 

Luke has a set of valuable skills and interests including strategic planning, product design, business development, marketing strategy, and business process improvement.

Nico has 20 years of experience as a strategy consultant and versatile Idea Maker who has worked for major publishing groups such as The Economist, POLITICO and now Condé Nast. He is driven by an unrelenting passion for collaboration, growing alongside talented and innovative personalities and constantly looking for new opportunities to learn and grow.

I have been working in advertising for 15+ years at several agencies, like DDB, DMB&B, Leo Burnett, JWT, Y&R, Wunderman, TaskForce Agency. Mainly in strategy & creative roles. Back in 2015 I have been dedicated involved in setting up and developing the Dutch publishers platform '&C Media' and its 360-content brand '&C', (monthly glossy magazines, specials, online platform, social media, e-commerce, tv-formats, live events) and focussing on a target audience of women 20-48 years. &C was launched in 2017. As Creative Director I am also part of '&C the brandstudio', our in-house creative content agency, developing, producing and distributing branded content campaigns mostly as part of a collaboration with one of the content titles of &C Media.

Ali is VP & Executive Creative Director at Freethink Media. She heads up the Creative Studio team, and oversees the strategy and creative execution for all custom content across Freethink.com and Bigthink.com, including documentaries, interviews, social assets and written features. 

Before Freethink, she served as Director of Branded Content at Hearst UK and as commissioning editor at The Telegraph. Before entering the exciting world of custom content, she was an entertainment journalist in NYC, where she had the joy of interviewing many of her favourite celebrities - including Ryan Gosling, Demi Moore and Selena Gomez. Sadly, Taylor Swift is still on the bucket list.

Richard Pattinson is Global Senior Vice President of BBC StoryWorks, the BBC’s brand studio within BBC Studios. BBC StoryWorks operates in nine countries across North Americas, EMEA and APAC, working with clients to develop and deliver commercial branded content and the sponsorship of BBC editorial across BBC Global News digital and TV platforms.

Previously, Richard was Global Partnerships Editor at BBC World Service Group, the BBC’s global news division which broadcasts weekly to an audience of almost half a billion people on BBC World News TV, BBC World Service radio, bbc.com, and the BBC’s forty plus non-English language services. Prior to that position he was Commissioning Editor for BBC News and bbc.com, where he oversaw the creation of a large range of editorial content to serve the organisation's global audience in news, across TV and online.

Richard has worked at the BBC for more than twenty years, in which time he has produced some of the organisation's most recognised television news programmes, including its flagship nightly UK current affairs show Newsnight from 2004 to 2008.

Ruth Holland is an Executive Producer at BBC Studios, where she leads award-winning branded content for BBC StoryWorks, the commercial content studio of the BBC. With over 15 years of experience in the commercial media industry, Ruth has worked across publishing, startups, and global blue-chip brands, helping them craft powerful, audience-driven stories. Her work combines editorial insight with creative innovation, consistently delivering campaigns that resonate with global audiences and drive results. Passionate about storytelling that matters, Ruth brings a strategic, collaborative approach to every project—blending brand objectives with the BBC’s editorial values to create content that informs, inspires, and engages.

Nadim is a native ads veteran, working closely with native advertising networks bring agency, brand, and affiliate spend to new heights globally. From growing a multi-million-dollar native ads agency, building out the premier native advertising community on www.native-hub.io, to spending $100s of millions on native ads globally – Nadim has worked on a sizable chunk of the largest native ad accounts out there. With his near-decade of experience, regular stage presences, and enthusiasm for the space, Nadim is one of the most well known figures in the native ads space globally.

Martina manages large-scale international ad spend for leading e-commerce and lead generation performance brands. Previously at Taboola, she led the DACH market and played a key role in shaping product development. Her deep understanding of algorithm behaviour and campaign performance not only drove key feature improvements for Taboola advertisers globally, but now powers results for her clients at Xevio —across any Native Ads platform.

Ingo started his career at McKinsey before moving into the media and technology space, gaining expertise across sales, marketing, and finance. This multi-functional experience across several sectors has enabled him to build high impact teams, which achieved successful market expansions across EMEA at LinkedIn and Taboola.

Natalie leads client sales and new business at the Guardian, working with our most valued clients both directly and through our agency partners. These close relationships allow us to explore bespoke advertising solutions that align with our editorial integrity and  resonate authentically with our audience. Natalie has worked in various roles in her 10+ years at the Guardian and has a background in advertising as well as  charity marketing and fundraising.

Nico has 20 years of experience as a strategy consultant and versatile Idea Maker who has worked for major publishing groups such as The Economist, POLITICO and now Condé Nast. He is driven by an unrelenting passion for collaboration, growing alongside talented and innovative personalities and constantly looking for new opportunities to learn and grow.

Megan Gilbert is Vice President of the award-winning FORTUNE Brand Studio (Fortune Media), driving editorial direction, strategy, and production of campaigns for clients such as Salesforce, AWS and PayPal. 

Her career includes positions at Gawker/Gizmodo, Fusion/Univision, The Washington Post, Slate, and VICE. 

Megan is a graduate of Boston University and earned her M.F.A. in nonfiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She teaches Branded Content at New York University. She was named WICMA Content Marketer of the Year (2022) and was included on the 100 Most Significant Women in Native Advertising list (2018).

Rob Alexander is an experienced communications advisor and a partner at Headland Consultancy, the fastest growing comms consultancy in the UK. An expert on brand and comms strategy with a focus on combining earned and paid activity to build reputations. He worked for over 20 years as a planner in creative agencies, TBWA\ and J Walter Thompson on award winning global campaigns for Apple, HSBC, Vodafone and Shell. At Headland Rob leads the paid media practice and is part of the strategy and insight team, delivering work for Iberdrola, Danone, Bregal Sphere, Costain and F&C.

Adam is the Vice President of Channel Revenue at Ceros, a leading platform that empowers brands, publishers, and agencies to create immersive, interactive content without code. With over a decade of experience in the SaaS and media industries, he has a proven track record of driving revenue growth and building high-performing teams. From launching new verticals to scaling operations and refining market fit, Adam operates at the intersection of creativity and strategic execution. His teams at Ceros have helped agencies and publishers push the boundaries of digital storytelling, transforming how brands engage audiences through premium, interactive content.

Victoria White is a seasoned editorial and content marketing leader with over 25 years of experience creating compelling, multi-platform storytelling for brands and publishers alike. As former editorial director of a leading content agency and long-time magazine editor, Victoria has shaped content strategies for household names like Asda, Jamie Oliver, O2, and George at ASDA—earning a reputation for combining creative innovation with commercial results.

Her career spans transformative roles at Company and Good Housekeeping, where she led both brands through digital reinvention—building audiences, launching award-winning influencer programs, and scaling online reach to nearly a million users.

With a deep understanding of what audiences want and what brands need, Victoria thrives on leading teams, pitching big ideas, and delivering content that connects. In this session, she brings her trademark energy and insight to the stage—sharing how to push the boundaries of branded storytelling while keeping editorial integrity at the core.

Andy studied marketing in the UK and Australia and gained hands-on experience working in an agency environment in London. Today, he’s making waves in the world of native advertising and branded content. As the founder of Seznam Brand Studio, he built one of the most awarded brand studios in the world. In 2023, he was named Native Advertising Marketer of the Year.

Andy’s mission is to prove that advertising can be done in a way that doesn’t annoy people — and still truly works. He now runs a hands-on consultancy, where he leverages his experience, creativity, and drive to help media houses, brands, and individuals level up by unlocking their full potential.

Adam is the Vice President of Channel Revenue at Ceros, a leading platform that empowers brands, publishers, and agencies to create immersive, interactive content without code. With over a decade of experience in the SaaS and media industries, he has a proven track record of driving revenue growth and building high-performing teams. From launching new verticals to scaling operations and refining market fit, Adam operates at the intersection of creativity and strategic execution. His teams at Ceros have helped agencies and publishers push the boundaries of digital storytelling, transforming how brands engage audiences through premium, interactive content.

Luke Spano is the Founder & CEO at Avid Collective, Australia's home of branded content. Avid Collective has emerged as a prominent player in the advertising and publishing industry under Luke’s leadership. The business has seen exponential growth since its inception in 2021, on the back of developing a highly powerful solution to a complex problem - connecting over 140 digital publishers with hundreds of advertisers through its proprietary platform. 

Avid has since evolved further, introducing Avid PubSuite, a purpose-built SaaS platform, designed to help publishers simplify workflows, enhance advertiser experience, and maximise revenue from branded content. 

Luke has a set of valuable skills and interests including strategic planning, product design, business development, marketing strategy, and business process improvement.

Nadim is a native ads veteran, working closely with native advertising networks bring agency, brand, and affiliate spend to new heights globally. From growing a multi-million-dollar native ads agency, building out the premier native advertising community on www.native-hub.io, to spending $100s of millions on native ads globally – Nadim has worked on a sizable chunk of the largest native ad accounts out there. With his near-decade of experience, regular stage presences, and enthusiasm for the space, Nadim is one of the most well known figures in the native ads space globally.

Ingo started his career at McKinsey before moving into the media and technology space, gaining expertise across sales, marketing, and finance. This multi-functional experience across several sectors has enabled him to build high impact teams, which achieved successful market expansions across EMEA at LinkedIn and Taboola.

Jamie Credland is CEO of the World Media Group, a coalition of leading international media brands including The Economist, BBC, CNN, and The New York Times.

A strategic marketing leader with 20+ years’ experience across client, agency, and media roles, Jamie helps brands harness the power of trusted journalism to drive commercial success. He advises organisations on brand, media, and content strategy, and has led global rebranding initiatives for publishers and tech companies.

With over 20 years of international media experience, Nadine began her career in UK newspaper advertising sales before moving into leading sales teams and developing integrated partnerships and commercial strategy for AOL Time Warner and then to National Geographic. Nadine's current role at The Walt Disney Company sees her leading global commercial integrated partnerships across EMEA and APAC. Nadine is focused on delivering client excellence

highly engaged content & creative, revenue growth and high margins for the business.

With nearly 20 years of experience in media, I’m currently Global VP of Marketing at TIME, where I began as International VP of Marketing three years ago, focusing on partnerships and impactful storytelling.
Prior to TIME, I led European marketing at Samsung Ads, Marketing Lead at Bloomberg Media, and UK Marketing Manager at Microsoft Advertising.
My career and passion, has focussed on driving global brand growth through the intersection of content, creativity, and storytelling.

Arif is an experienced creative leader on the international stage and a Director of the World Media Group. Well-versed in building editorially focused creative teams with high-levels of film production and design capabilities, he works with a wide range of partners, from governments and policymakers to SMEs and global blue-chips.

Since Sept 2022 Arif has been leading Reuters Plus, the global studio at the heart of one of the biggest news agencies in the world. He has honed Reuters Plus' multimedia offering around expert thought leadership, placing a greater focus on live location filming, docu-series videos and podcasts. He retains the sensibilities of a business journalist and documentary maker, bringing contacts and context to innovative commercial editorial projects, from short films to long-form features and everything in between. 

Before joining Reuters Arif was the founding executive editor of Bloomberg Media Studios in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to building creative studios’ teams Arif was an established business journalist writing for the Guardian, New York Times and HuffPost, and was known in the UK for being the editor of Media Week and Media Editor at Campaign.

Ellen Cabrinetti Meum leads tech and business development at Schibsted Partnerstudio, where she helps organizations turn AI from ambitious plans into real-world results.

With a background in strategic sales, AI implementation, and digital transformation, she’s seen firsthand what makes AI succeed—and what makes it stall. She’s particularly interested in the human side of AI: the roles, the politics, and the awkward moments when hype meets reality.

I have been working in the media industry since 2002 and with Content Advertising since 2015, and I have become a true enthusiast in this field. Native advertising can do so much for so many, and witnessing the impact of everything we do for our clients is amazing.

Andy studied marketing in the UK and Australia and gained hands-on experience working in an agency environment in London. Today, he’s making waves in the world of native advertising and branded content. As the founder of Seznam Brand Studio, he built one of the most awarded brand studios in the world. In 2023, he was named Native Advertising Marketer of the Year.

Andy’s mission is to prove that advertising can be done in a way that doesn’t annoy people — and still truly works. He now runs a hands-on consultancy, where he leverages his experience, creativity, and drive to help media houses, brands, and individuals level up by unlocking their full potential.

Justin is a creative executive with over 16 years in the advertising, content, and media industries. His career has taken him through the creative halls of Crispin Porter, JWT, and Dentsu, as well as the content studios of The Onion, Deadspin, Gawker, and Univision before landing at Dotdash Meredith. Throughout his journey, Justin has led large content, production, and operations teams to deliver multi-channel campaigns for iconic global brands.

Max Schüler is the Director of Schibsted Brand Studio at Schibsted Marketing Services in Sweden, Stockholm. Our mission is to significantly increase profitable growth in content marketing. Schibsted Brand Studio delivers high-quality, creative content marketing solutions based on demand from Schibsted's advertisers. I feel honored to have the opportunity to participate and facilitate a round table session about data together with world leading content creators

Rachel Tarley is an award-winning commercial editor with 15+ years of experience helping brands deliver their message with maximum impact. As Managing Editor of Bloomberg Media Studios in Europe, she has worked with clients across sectors to craft compelling narratives and drive engagement. She's passionate about video storytelling, data-led marketing and the future of commercial content.

Yvonne Beister is the Director of the Axel Springer Brand Studios, the largest content marketing unit of Axel Springer Company. There she has successfully developed more than 1000 cross-media campaigns and storytelling concepts for all major German brands within the last six years and has been awarded with the Native Advertising Award several times and nominated for the Nova Award of the BdZV, among others. According to the Native Advertising Institute, she is one of the 100 most successful women in the advertising industry.

Until 2016, Yvonne Beister was responsible for the entertainment department of Europe’s biggest news-brand, BILD, won the Axel Springer Prize for Young Journalists in 2009 and headed the Springer bureau in Los Angeles, California.

Beister studied media management at Ohio State University and journalism at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York.

Matt is Director of Brand at Manuka Doctor - New Zealand’s number 1 Manuka honey brand - where he looks after European Marketing. An experienced health and wellness communicator, he knows how to use storytelling to create commercial success.

Romy Oltuski is the executive editor of the Forbes Content & Design Studio, which produces high-impact storytelling experiences across Forbes platforms, in partnership with leading brands. She was previously the features director of InStyle. Romy has published work in The New York Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle, and interviewed changemakers from Katie Couric and Stacey Abrams to Amy Schumer and Tina Fey. She is a graduate of Tufts University and the Columbia Publishing Course, and is completing an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College.

Dan is a highly experienced media leader with a proven track record of building successful teams across investment, planning and creative transformation.
As the MD of Creative Futures UK, Dan now leads the charge in pioneering Breakthrough ideas that power growth and competitive advantage for brands in the worlds of culture, entertainment, sports, and gaming. His innovative approach ensures that EssenceMediacom remains at the forefront of creative and strategic excellence in the rapidly evolving New Comms Economy.
 

In 2023, I celebrated my 13th work anniversary at DPG media, formerly known as The Persgroep Publishing, the biggest media company in Belgium. The secret behind a good native campaign is finding the unique common goal between our own publishing brands and advertisers: entertaining, educating & informing our audiences.

And there you have what I like the most about my job.

Inspiring our talented team to make native advertising a success and blooming business.

Enabling growth in revenues by looking for new innovations.

And last but not least: a well thought-out pricing and evaluation model.

As from 2018, de Persgroep Advertising merged with MEDIALAAN. I’m now responsible for the department “Creative & Strategy” over all media (radio, tv, online, print) and” the Strategy & product team Native advertising”. More challenges to come!

Sam Bird is Managing Director, Content & Brand Experience at Wavemaker UK. Sam leads Wavemaker content and creative capabilities including partnerships, innovation, production, sports, and gaming. He and his teams help Wavemaker’s clients establish big ideas that lead to unrivalled work.
Prior to joining Wavemaker in 2024, Sam held multiple senior positions at OMD and Stylist Group leading creative solution services such as influencer marketing, partnerships, and social media. Sam has worked on many blue-chip brands such as Levi’s, Burberry, Google, Pepsico and Hasbro.

Founder of HLabs, Hannah is a graphic designer turned CEO, that runs a London-based creative strategy agency that loves designing bespoke interactive experiences, solving problems, inspiring teams, streamlining processes, and most importantly, always driving creative excellence. With a team of more than 40 talented and driven creatives, in just five years, HLabs can offer a full-service package from creative direction, digital strategy, design, production, video & animation, illustration, 3D, editorial and more! Specialising in 'no code' design platforms, we have the expertise to create interactive experiences to your requirements in no time!

Luke Spano is the Founder & CEO at Avid Collective, Australia's home of branded content. Avid Collective has emerged as a prominent player in the advertising and publishing industry under Luke’s leadership. The business has seen exponential growth since its inception in 2021, on the back of developing a highly powerful solution to a complex problem - connecting over 140 digital publishers with hundreds of advertisers through its proprietary platform. 

Avid has since evolved further, introducing Avid PubSuite, a purpose-built SaaS platform, designed to help publishers simplify workflows, enhance advertiser experience, and maximise revenue from branded content. 

Luke has a set of valuable skills and interests including strategic planning, product design, business development, marketing strategy, and business process improvement.

Martina manages large-scale international ad spend for leading e-commerce and lead generation performance brands. Previously at Taboola, she led the DACH market and played a key role in shaping product development. Her deep understanding of algorithm behaviour and campaign performance not only drove key feature improvements for Taboola advertisers globally, but now powers results for her clients at Xevio —across any Native Ads platform.

Andrey is at the helm of business development for Xevio, a powerhouse native advertising agency managing over $100M in advertisements for D2C & Lead Generation brands. A former Taboola lead of Central Eastern Europe & Israel with a $60M ARR portfolio, Andrey catapulted the reach of native ads through strategic media buying, comprehensive growth consulting, and robust networking with Native Hub.
 

Brandon Keenen's Bio: Brandon was most recently a CMO in fintech and gaming, but prior he was a Senior Director at CNN, AOL and BuzzFeed. He is now the CEO of Vivv Labs, the revolutionary AI tech platform born from years of frustration with manual optimization at major publishing companies.

Founder of HLabs, Hannah is a graphic designer turned CEO, that runs a London-based creative strategy agency that loves designing bespoke interactive experiences, solving problems, inspiring teams, streamlining processes, and most importantly, always driving creative excellence. With a team of more than 40 talented and driven creatives, in just five years, HLabs can offer a full-service package from creative direction, digital strategy, design, production, video & animation, illustration, 3D, editorial and more! Specialising in 'no code' design platforms, we have the expertise to create interactive experiences to your requirements in no time!

With 25 years in advertising and media technology, Tom works with tech and media companies in the U.S. and Europe to accelerate global commercial activity, and advises on corporate and strategic and revenue strategies, and often serves as a nonexecutive director. Among other roles, Tom helps lead ClarityAds, a managed service for content promotion, and Accenture's retail media practice. Tom has held senior roles at Google (established the company's first premium programmatic team), Admeld (the first SSP), Polar (one of the first native adservers) and served as Advisor to McKinsey and many others. Tom is based in London.

Eric Rostedt is Head of Data Strategy & Business Automation at Schibsted Media, where he leads initiatives that bridge advanced analytics, automation, and business growth. With a strong background in digital transformation and data-driven decision-making, Eric plays a key role in shaping Schibsted’s strategic use of data across its media brands. He is known for combining technical insight with a sharp understanding of business needs, driving operational efficiency and innovation at scale.

Raquel Bubar leads the international arm of T Brand,  the branded content studio in The New York Times Advertising department. T Brand Studio International spans offices in London, Paris and Singapore. Born in 2015 to represent the NYT’s international push into global creative partnerships, Raquel has built its reputation for high-quality branded content around the world. Raquel heads up a creative, strategic and insights-based team of creative strategists, designers, editors, project managers, technologists and audience development experts who tell impactful stories for a global audience who wants to engage with the world. The team has achieved international recognition and awards for its innovative and creative campaigns, particularly for partners including UBS, Philips, Rimowa, Pomellato, Unilever and Cartier.

Raquel has been a judge and co-chair of the World Media Awards and Native Advertising Awards, in addition to being a speaker at both events. She has also spoken at IAA-U.K., IAB-Madrid, City Nation Place, nextMedia.Hamburg, VideoWeek London and AdWeek London. Raquel first joined The New York Times in the New York headquarters before relocating to London to launch creative operations in Europe and Asia. Prior to T Brand Studio, Raquel led digital public relations and social media campaigns at Edelman, based in Washington, D.C. and New York. She has a M.A. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. in History and Psychology from Brandeis University. She is from Washington, DC and now lives in London with her husband and son.