Influencer Marketing

Welcome and Introductions (11:00-11:15AM ET)
Leah Marshall, Director - ANA

I. Influencing 24/7 – What do you want your influence to be? How Social Studies is Leveraging Always-On Influencers to Build the Next-Generation of Lasting Brands  (11:15am-12:00pm ET)
Brandon Perlman, Founder and CEO of Social Studies, takes you inside an influencer AOR and predictions for 2022.  Learn bleeding-edge tips and tricks and how to elevate influencer marketing out of the awareness game and toward lower-funnel KPIs.

Speakers:
Brandon Perlman, Founder and CEO - Social Studies, Inc.

II. Expanding the Landscape: How Anheuser-Busch InBev has made celebrity influencers, entertainment and culture part of its DNA (12:00-12:45pm ET)
The rise of influencer marketing has changed traditional advertising and broadened the ways companies can engage with their consumers. Shana Barry, Head of Music & Entertainment at Anheuser-Busch InBev, speaks with Gabe Gordon, Co-Founder of Reach Agency, to discuss how the entertainment industry and the halo effect of celebrity has become a significant player within the space. From Post Malone to Dude A With Sign, Shana has lead multiple AB InBev campaigns with top entertainers in the business. This discussion will explore how influencers and entertainment fit within the integrated marketing process and how AB InBev has made celebrity influencers, entertainment and culture part of its creative DNA.

Speakers:
Shana Barry, Head of Music & Entertainment - Anheuser-Busch InBev
Caitlin Robertson, SVP of Business Development - Reach Agency

Closing Remarks (12:45-1:00pm ET)

**Schedule subject to change

Speaker Bios

Brandon Perlman, Founder and CEO, Social Studies, Inc. 

Brandon Perlman is the CEO and Founder of Social Studies, a bleeding edge, award-winning influencer marketing agency launched in 2015. Previously known simply as The Gramlist, the company was initially created as the solution for discovering relevant voices on social media. Now known as Social Studies, the company was boot-strapped and built entirely from scratch to help businesses amplify their messaging and objectives through influential voices across the social media landscape. It pioneered the use of micro-influencers long before the term itself was coined. Since its inception the company has connected tens of thousands of influencers to some of the most forward-thinking companies in digital marketing, resulting in a measurable business impact and the evolution of the industry itself.

Prior to launching Social Studies, Brandon was an editor at numerous glossy magazines such as InStyle, W Magazine / WWD, and DEPARTURES. In 2009, he co-founded the StyleCaster Media Group, one of the first digital women’s lifestyle portals reaching 20 million unique monthly visitors before it was acquired in 2014 by SheKnows Media and then Penske Media Group.

In 2011, Brandon launched Departures.com for American Express Publishing. Additionally, he held the position of Director of Digital Marketing Strategy at Hearst Digital Media in 2012 brokering more than 30 innovative digital media programs rooted in social media and content marketing. He has served as an advisor to 5 startups including the mobile video app QWIKI, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2012, and currently the travel app Localeur, based in Austin, TX.

Brandon lives in Aspen with his fiancé and tries his best to hit the slopes between Zoom calls.

Shana Barry, Head of Music & Entertainment, Anheuser-Busch InBev

Shana started early on in her career as a beverage promotional ambassador and climbed up the ranks to her current role: Head of Music & Entertainment for Anheuser-Busch, the largest beer supplier in the world. For the past three years, she brought award-winning consumer experiences and strategic vision to the largest brand in the AB portfolio. Notably, she leads the Post Malone x Bud Light relationship as well as the Bud Light Dive Bar Tour franchise, now in its 5th year, which brings mega artists like Lady Gaga, Post Malone, John Mayer, and G-Eazy back to the small stages they began their careers. Additionally, to cultivate the new class of leading talent, Barry and her team produce Dive Bar Sessions – a mobile pop-up dive bar at top music festivals like Governors Ball and Lollapalooza. To date, the Dive Bar franchise has produced 120+ performances since its inception.

For Super Bowl LIII, Barry introduced the first-ever Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest. The 3-day festival included some of the biggest names in entertainment: Migos, Post Malone, Aerosmith, Cardi B, and Bruno Mars. In 2020, the Fest returned with notable performances by Guns N’ Roses, Dan + Shay, and Demi Lovato, as well as production on a one-hour broadcast segment on FOX. Combined, these experiences have top multi-million impressions, solidifying Bud Light’s commitment to our consumers’ top two passion points – Music & Sports.

Barry prides herself on being in touch with culture and the long-standing relationship with Post Malone and his team. This mentality and commitment have created massive opportunities on both sides. Most recently the pair created and aired 2 Super Bowl Commercials in conjunction with Bud Light’s biggest brand launch in a decade – Bud Light Seltzer. These commercials have already topped our incredibly high 2019 Super Bowl commercial benchmark with Game of Thrones. Prior to that, in 2019, the pair successfully launched custom Bud Light x Posty 16oz cans in 15 U.S. cities and collaborated on a sold-out merch line which was exclusively announced in Vogue – the 1st time ever an Anheuser-Busch brand appeared in the prestigious outlet. The limited-edition packaging and merch quickly became iconic; items from our collection sold for 5x on resale markets, and a 12-pack of the Posty Can sold for 15x cost – the highest price ever paid for a Bud Light by a consumer.

Barry’s work has been recognized by many notable publications. She is a Billboard Power Player and her consumer experiences in music received the #1 spot on BizBash’s rankings for 2019’s Most Innovative Experiential Brand.

Caitlin Robertson, SVP of Business Development, Reach Agency

As an award-winning SVP Business Development at Reach Agency, Caitlin Robertson is an energetic leader with experience building and scaling teams that drive profitable growth, cultivate authentic relationships and deliver best-in-class work. She’s at the helm of creating innovative and powerful programs for global brands like Anheuser-Busch, Microsoft, Disney, Google, Amazon, NBC, Warner Brothers, Timberland, Mary Kay, and more.

At Reach Agency, Caitlin works across a number of clients including Microsoft and Anheuser-Busch. And, in addition to her stellar client work, she is equally passionate about equipping managers to lead engaged, innovative and effective teams.

Prior to her work at Reach Agency, Caitlin was VP Client Service at Fullscreen (an AT&T company), formerly known as McBeard. Before McBeard, Caitlin was the Head of Influencer Relations at Hello Society (later acquired by The New York Times company), directly responsible for building brand partnerships with the top influencers on Pinterest and working with brands like Gap, Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger and more.

Caitlin began her career in International Marketing at JAKKS Pacific, working on a portfolio of over 40 brands that generated $80m+ in sales outside of the U.S., including Disney Princess, Pokemon, WWE, UFC, The Smurfs and more.