The Board of Advisors provides thought leadership to brandadvisors from senior management and marketing professionals regarding branding issues and industry trends. The board also offers advice and counsel for the direction of the company.

Kathleen Onieal

Managing Partner—Helix Innovation Network

Kathleen Onieal is the managing partner of the Helix Innovation Network, an innovation consulting firm that works with all levels and functions to drive innovation in the life science industry. She works with healthcare start-ups to create winning growth strategies and broker connections to potential partners and customers.

Previously, Onieal was a senior advisor in marketing innovation at the Monitor Group, where she advised and consulted on business development with life science clients in marketing innovation. Prior she served as vice president, global leader of marketing innovations at Merck & Company, where she was responsible for leveraging new technologies and developing new marketing models to drive brand growth and build customer relationship management capabilities.

Prior to joining Merck, Onieal built and led the first New Marketing Channels Group at Novartis. In her role, she also developed internal capabilities to execute relationship-marketing programs for the company, which included major customer touch-point channels including the internet and call centers. In 2000, she pioneered the first e-marketing group at Pharmacia/Pfizer where she transformed e-marketing to become an integrated and measurable discipline as part of the marketing mix on major brands such as Celebrex and DetrolLA.

Prior to Novartis, Onieal spent many years in brand management at Merck and Johnson & Johnson. Among her accomplishments as director of consumer marketing at J&J was the launch of the first direct-to-consumer TV advertising for Ortho Tri-Cyclen brand. Onieal received her undergraduate degree in pre-medicine from the University of Washington and attended the Executive MBA Program at the Stern School of Business at NYU.

Robert Wong

Chief Creative Officer—Google

Robert Wong was born Chinese, grew up Dutch, was Canadian for a while, and is now American. About to finish a degree in accounting, Wong woke up one morning, flew to New York, and became a designer instead.

Since then, he has won virtually every creative award there is and has had the privilege of working on some of the world’s most loved brands—Apple, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s, Timberland, ESPN, NPR, MTV, and other acronyms. Before serving as chief creative officer at Google, Wong was the executive vice president and executive creative director at Arnold Worldwide.

Previously, Wong was vice president of creative at Starbucks, where he led the design of the brand’s experience globally. AdWeek recently referred to him as one of the foremost leaders in design. Wong received his MFA, Communication Design at Parsons School of Design, and is currently an MBA candidate at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. He has no plans of ever going back to accounting.

Russell Winer

Chair of Marketing Department and Professor of Marketing—Stern School of Business, New York University

Russ Winer is the chair of the marketing department and William Joyce Professor of Marketing at the Stern School of Business at New York University. He specializes in pricing, new technologies, consumer choice models, and advertising. Winer received a BA in economics from Union College, and an MS and PhD in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University—Tepper School of Business.

He has been on the faculties of Columbia and Vanderbilt Universities and, most recently, the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a visiting faculty member at MIT, Stanford University, New York University, Cranfield School of Management (UK), the Helsinki School of Economics, the University of Tokyo, and École Nationale Ponts et Chausées.

Winer has written three books, Marketing Management, Analysis for Marketing Planning, and Product Management. He has authored over 60 papers in marketing on a variety of topics including consumer choice, marketing research methodology, marketing planning, advertising, and pricing. He is a past editor of the Journal of Marketing Research, the current co-editor of the Journal of Interactive Marketing, and he is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, and Marketing Science.

Winer has participated in executive education programs around the world, and is currently an advisor to a number of start-up companies.

Rich LeFurgy

Online Advertising Advisor—1020 Placement, Archer Advisors, and Interactive Advertising Bureau

Rich LeFurgy has been a board member, advisors or investor in over 55 online advertising companies. Currently, LeFurgy is chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau, which he founded in 1996. The bureau, with over 300 member companies, is dedicated to promoting the use and marketing effectiveness of internet media. The organization is the largest of its kind and funds industry research, education, and advocacy. He also serves as a director at 1020 Placement, and is a general partner at Archer Advisors, a multifaceted advisory service company assisting start-up online media companies by serving on their boards of directors, completing advisory projects, and proving early stage investments.

Previously, LeFurgy was a partner with the Walden Media and Information Technology Fund, a San Francisco venture capital fund that focused on internet advertising, e-commerce, entertainment, and education. Prior to joining Walden, LeFurgy was a 20-year advertising industry veteran, and was one of the early evangelists of the internet’s integrated advertising and marketing value.

LeFurgy also helped organize the Procter & Gamble FAST Summit Initiative in the summer of 1998 to help accelerate the use of digital advertising. LeFurgy is now chairman of the FAST Steering Committee, the successor FAST organization that is helping oversee the development of a broad range of voluntary guidelines for the industry. Among his other industry interests, LeFurgy also serves as a director of the interactive ad agency Lot21; Snowball, an online media company for the Internet Generation; and AllAdvantage, a media company that rewards consumers for their economic value while they are online. He is also on the board of the Advertising Educational Foundation and the Advertising Research Foundation. LeFurgy was most recently senior vice president of the Buena Vista Internet Group, where he oversaw advertising sales for ESPN.com, ABCNews.com, Disney Online, NBA.com, NFL.com, NASCAR, and Mr. Showbiz. LeFurgy started online advertising sales at Starwave, where he helped launch ESPN.com in 1995.

In the traditional advertising world, LeFurgy was executive vice president, senior partner and on the board of directors at NW Ayer & Partners in New York for 17 years. Beyond traditional advertising, he led both event marketing and direct marketing start-ups to create integrated marketing solutions for clients. His experience base is diverse, including eight years at AT&T, and roles at P&G, Gillette, Burger King, Marriott, Avon, Ralston Purina, Nestle, 7UP, and DuPont. He holds a BS in advertising from Syracuse University, where he graduated first in his Newhouse School class.

Robert Goldberg

Executive Vice President (Restaurants)—Tommy Bahama Group

Robert Goldberg has been on the leading edge of luxury lifestyle experiences for more than 20 years. A graduate of UCLA, Goldberg has been a force in the hospitality industry, successfully managing and operating a number of high-profile restaurants, hotels and retail stores throughout the United States. A San Francisco native and a fervent advocate of California food and wines, Goldberg has made a career reinventing how consumers eat, drink, and sleep.

Goldberg currently serves as the executive vice president of restaurants at Tommy Bahama Group, an island-inspired lifestyle brand that defines relaxed, sophisticated style in men’s and women’s sportswear, swimwear, accessories, footwear and a complete home furnishings collection. The company owns and operates over 130 Tommy Bahama stores worldwide, with 14 of those locations offering a Tommy Bahama restaurant and bar.

Previously Goldberg was the COO of Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas, an Australian entertainment company that is poised to launch its luxury cinema concept in America. With reclining Moran leather chairs, gourmet food, an extensive wine list, and waiter service, Village Roadshow plans on taking the movie experience to a new stratosphere. Prior, Goldberg served as president of the Moana Hotel Group, where he was responsible for developing and launching the Solage Resort and operating the company’s 20 restaurants and hotels. With an impressive track record in the hospitality industry, a passion for food and wine, and a personal commitment to excellence, Goldberg was uniquely suited to launch and manage Moana’s multifaceted hospitality programs and steer a successful course for future developments.

Goldberg previously served as president and CEO of PlumpJack Group, where he was responsible for the overall management of the company’s 15 businesses and new business development. Goldberg is credited for taking the luxury lifestyle company from a local phenomenon to a national leader in hospitality and retail innovation. While at PlumpJack, Goldberg was recognized by Ernst & Young as a finalist in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Goldberg started his career managing the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles, the first Hard Rock property in the U.S. He spent his twenties opening and operating Hard Rock Cafes. He went on to serve as general manager of LA’s Vertigo, named the most exclusive club in America by Esquire, where he was responsible for pre-opening planning, the creation and maintenance of a 300-plus wine list, menu development, marketing, and human resources. In 1992, Goldberg returned to the Hard Rock Cafe Group, overseeing the company’s properties in Los Angeles, Maui, Honolulu and San Francisco. Goldberg was soon promoted to corporate director of operations, moving to the worldwide headquarters of Hard Rock International and overseeing the operations of all of the restaurants and retail stores in the western U.S. and Hawaii. He was responsible for $80 million in annual sales and more than $30 million dollars in retail merchandise, and was involved in the site selection and negotiation of new locations, as well as supervising the plans and build-out of these properties.

Goldberg lives in Kentfield, California, with his wife, Frances, and two daughters, Georgie and Charlotte. He is an accomplished Ironman triathlete and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family.

Keith Costello

Senior Vice President—Zuora

An experienced enterprise technology leader, with proven experience in sales, services, marketing, and product management, Keith Costello has built and led industry-leading professional service organizations on both the client and consulting side for over 20 years.

Costello is the senior vice president of Zuora, the market leading SaaS-based billing, commerce, and finance management solution to launch, grow and monetize subscription products and services. The company has emerged as the leading evangelist of the Subscription Economy—the idea that as we move from a manufacturing sector to services, enterprises are shifting to a customer-centric, subscription-based business model. In providing billing and commerce systems to such companies, Zuora has become  one of the fastest growing, high profile software companies, with a world class list of customers and over $130 million in venture funding.

Previously, Costello led SAP’s worldwide professional services organization, managing a business with revenues in excess of $250 million. Prior at Oracle, Costello architected the company’s first vertical applications product line, established their first-ever consulting applications center of excellence, and founded the company’s middle market, a $150 million business with 1,500 consultants. Costello ultimately served as vice president of worldwide marketing and strategy for Oracle’s $2 billion consulting business. Costello was later named vice president of professional services at Siebel Systems where he was responsible for global services in the Americas, Latin America, and Asia Pacific regions. He consistently met or exceeded revenue and profit objectives, and led his peers in customer satisfaction as well as internal financial performance metrics for three years running.

Costello also led Intershop Communications, one of the world’s leading providers of e-commerce applications, as president of the Americas. He has also held senior positions at Booz Allen Hamilton and Price Waterhouse Coopers. Costello received his BA in Economics from the University of California. He is married with twins, and resides in Hillsborough, California.

Susan Baisley

Associate Vice President, Constituent Engagement—Johns Hopkins University and Chief Marketing Officer—Alpha Capital Financial Group, Inc.

Susan Baisley is the associate vice president of constituent engagement at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as the chief marketing officer at Alpha Capital Financial Group, Inc. Baisley is a strategic financial executive with extensive experience in successfully positioning businesses in global and regional marketplaces and in integrating and leading client development and marketing and communications functions. Her specific expertise includes developing and implementing marketing strategies in support of ongoing business priorities as well as strategic initiatives including expansion into new markets and new business launches. Baisley has deep leadership experience and proven innovation in brand management, public relations, client development, client and internal communications, advertising and sponsorships, collateral development, proprietary publications, and market research.

Previously, Baisley was a managing director and head of U.S. marketing for Citigroup Private Bank, where she was responsible for providing strategic marketing planning as well as marketing execution. Her team’s responsibilities include market research, public relations, marketing materials, client events and sponsorships, advertising, and direct marketing. She brought 17 years of experience in private banking and marketing to Citigroup.

Prior she headed marketing for Goldman Sachs’ Private Wealth Management Group. She also headed the marketing department for J.P. Morgan’s U.S. Private Bank. In addition, Baisley held a number of management positions in that organization, including heading marketing for the European and Middle East Private Bank (based in Geneva) and developing the brand and marketing plan for a mutual fund company, which J.P. Morgan created with Japan-based Daichi-Kangyo Bank.

Baisley holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Natural Sciences (biochemistry concentration) from Johns Hopkins University.