Michael Kassan

Michael Kassan
Born December 11, 1950
Alma mater University of California Los Angeles; New York University
Occupation Chairman & CEO
Board member of UJA- New York Marketing Communications Committee, National Association of Television Program Executives, Ad Council, San Diego Zoo
Children 3

Michael E. Kassan (born December 11, 1950) is a digital media expert, entrepreneur, commentator, and adviser to media companies. Kassan is the founder and CEO of MediaLink.[1][2]

Biography

After receiving his BA/JD from UCLA[3] and LLM-Taxation from NYU, Kassan began his career as a tax lawyer in the entertainment industry where he practiced for 10+ years.[4]

Kassan is married to Ronnie and has three children.[5]

Business career

After several entrepreneurial ventures, Kassan become the largest franchisee of El Pollo Loco and Rally’s Hamburgers in Southern California, Northern California, and Nevada.[6]

In 1986, Kassan entered the entertainment business as the President and COO of International Video Entertainment, a home video company which now comprises a large portion of Lionsgate.[7]

In 1994, Kassan joined Initiative Media Worldwide as President/COO and Vice-Chairman.[8] In that role, Kassan emphasized strategic management of diversified portfolios and helped grow media billings from $1.5 billion to over $10 billion.[9]

In 1997, he was named one of the top media executives in America by Advertising Age Magazine.[10]

Kassan founded MediaLink in 2003 as advertising, marketing, content, sales, service & commerce become more closely linked through technology.[11] The company advises leading media companies and executives.[12]" It has been described as "a powerhouse in the media and entertainment world."[13] It has over seventy operators working out of offices in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.[14] The company now offers agency reviews, executive search, trade marketing and financial due diligence.[15][16]

Since 2010, MediaLink has become a leader in agency reviews.[17] It played an important role in the 3MS: Making Measurement Make Sense[18] The firm has authored industry-advocacy reports, partnering with the Digital Citizens Alliance to create Good Money Gone Bad, which brought attention to how advertising dollars fund copyright infringement sites.[19]

The firm has helped to build industry consensus by organizing conferences and events, such as CES, Cannes, Mobile World Congress, ANA Masters of Marketing, AAAA's Transformation and the IAB.[20] As a partner to the CEA, MediaLink helped build the "Brand Matters" official programming track at CES.[21] that features keynote speeches and panel events with luminaries from Silicon Valley to Madison Avenue.

Since 2014, the firm has offered consulting in programmatic ad technology,[22] hiring Matt Spiegel, former SVP at MediaMath. Daryl Evans, a former VP at AT&T, was appointed SVP, Mobile, Media, and Advertising Strategy at MediaLink.[13]

Today, MediaLink employs about 70 people.[23] It has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.[24]

Media career

Kassan produces and hosts a radio show on Clear Channel, “Medialinked -- Inside Advertising and Media with Michael Kassan." The show airs online on iHeartRadio and wor710.com.[25]

Kassan is a keynote speaker, moderator and blogger.[26][27][28]

His blog post highlighting measurement in media mix modeling prompted the radio industry to take out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal.[29]

Kassan has appeared as an industry expert in Forbes,[30] The Wall Street Journal,[11][31] Ad Week,[32] Ad Age,[33] The New York Times,[34][35] and the Los Angeles Times.[36]

He served as a Special Adviser to Buddy Media[37] through its ultimate acquisition by Salesforce.com.[38]

Kassan will serve as the advertiser co-chair of Forecast 2015, along Katz Media Group CEO, Mark Rosenthal.[39]

Community involvement

Kassan serves as Chair of the UJA-New York Marketing Communications Committee,[40] Co-Chair of the Advertising Hall of Achievement, on the Board of the National Association of Television Program Executives,[41] the Global Advisory Board of the Wharton Future of Advertising Program,[42] and a Director on the Board of the Ad Council.[43]

Kassan sits on the board of the San Diego Zoo[44] and previously served as Chairman of the California State Senate Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry.[45] He has been actively involved with the H.E.L.P. Group, a non-profit organization serving children with special needs, and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program of Los Angeles.

References

  1. ↑ Trachtenberg, Jeffrey (2014-10-15). "Martha Stewart Magazines to Be Licensed to Meredith Corp.". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ↑ Learmonth, Michael (2013-11-05). "Ubiquitous-in-Adland Michael Kassan Gets His Own Radio Show". Advertising Age.
  3. ↑ "Ultimate Mobilizer Kassan Finds More Success".
  4. ↑ "Meet Michael Kassan, Ad Land's Connector".
  5. ↑ Archerd, Amy (2008-05-12). "Whatta Wedding". Variety.
  6. ↑ "Meet Michael Kassan, Ad Land's Connector".
  7. ↑ "Highlighted Speakers".
  8. ↑ "Michael Kassan Expands His Advisory Role With Clear Channel".
  9. ↑ "Advertising Space on Bananas? Why Not?".
  10. ↑ "Wharton School".
  11. 1 2 Hagey, Keach (2014-08-05). "Newspapers Press On, On Their Own". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. ↑ "Michael Kassan".
  13. 1 2 Bergen, Mark (2014-10-27). "MediaLink Poaches Top AT&T Mobility Marketer". Ad Age. Advertising Age.
  14. ↑ "Crunchbase".
  15. ↑ http://medialink.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ "crunchbase".
  17. ↑ "Overall Activity Billings". RECMA.
  18. ↑ "IAB, ANA & 4A's Join Forces to "Make Measurement Make Sense"—Leading Trade Groups Take on Top Industry Challenge". iab. 2011-02-28.
  19. ↑ Moses, Lucia (2014-02-18). "New Report Says How Much Advertising Is Going to Piracy Sites". Ad Week.
  20. ↑ Kafka, Peter (2014-01-12). "The Second CES: No Giant TVs, No Booth Babes — Just a Ton of Media Money and Michael Kassan". recode.
  21. ↑ Kafka, Peter (2014-02-12). "The Second CES: No Giant TVs, No Booth Babes — Just a Ton of Media Money and Michael Kassan".
  22. ↑ Bruell, Alexandra (2014-09-22). "MediaLink Aims to Expand Consulting on Programmatic Ad Tech". Ad Age. Advertising Age.
  23. ↑ "MediaLink Expands Leadership Team with Programmatic Pioneer Matt Spiegel". SYS-CON Media. Business Wire. 2014-09-23.
  24. ↑ Caitlin, Kelly (2014-10-28). "MediaLink Appoints Daryl Evans As New Head of Media Strategy". Virtual Strategy Magazine. Business Wire.
  25. ↑ "Clear Channel". 2012-08-13.
  26. ↑ "What is the only advertising that works?". Radio Ink. Radio Ink. 2014-10-02.
  27. ↑ "Twitter CEO Dick Costolo (R) is greeted by moderator Michael Kassan, CEO of Medialink, prior to a panel discussion at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.". First Post. 2014-01-08.
  28. ↑ "Twitter". Twitter.
  29. ↑ "Media Link-ed".
  30. ↑ Pomerantz, Dorothy (2014-04-01). "With Disney Buying Maker, Do All Big Media Companies Need To Up Their YouTube Game?". Forbes.
  31. ↑ Vranica, Suzanne (2014-09-28). "Digital Media to Take Center Stage at Advertising Week". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal.
  32. ↑ "Creating Change in Cannes Even in Today's High-Tech World, Innovation Requires a Human Touch". Ad Week. Ad Week. 2014-06-09.
  33. ↑ Peterson, Tim. "Maker Studios, Omnicom Sign Eight-Figure Upfront Deal for Web Video". Advertising Age. Advertising Age.
  34. ↑ "Accounts and People of Note in the Advertising Industry". The New York Times. 2013-11-11.
  35. ↑ Kaufman, Leslie (2013-09-09). "2 Companies in Web Video Are Expected to Merge". The New York Times.
  36. ↑ Chmielewski, Dawn (2012-01-24). "YouTube video-game channel Machinima aims for the next level". Los Angeles Times.
  37. ↑ Lee, Edmund (2011-08-15). "Buddy Media Raises $54 Million as Business Embraces Social". Advertising Age.
  38. ↑ Fitzgerald, Drew (2012-06-04). "Salesforce to Acquire Buddy Media for as Much as $745 Million". The Wall Street Journal.
  39. ↑ "KASSAN TO CO-CHAIR FORECAST 2015". Radio Ink. 2014-08-25.
  40. ↑ "Marketing Communications Division". UJA Federation of New York.
  41. ↑ "Board of Directors". natpe.
  42. ↑ "Michael Kassan". Wharton University of Pennsylvania.
  43. ↑ "Board of Directors". Ad Council.
  44. ↑ "Foundation Board". San Diego Zoo.
  45. ↑ "Michael Kassan Expands His Advisory Role With Clear Channel". 2013-09-19.
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