JoAnn Sciarrino to Speak at Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Digital Media

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 19, 2015) — A former executive vice president with BBDO North America will deliver the Fall 2015 Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Digital Media. The Warren Lecture is a lecture series in the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication (ISC) in the College of Communication and Information.

JoAnn Sciarrino is the Knight Chair in Digital Advertising and Marketing at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism.  Sciarrino’s lecture will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, in Room 204 of the White Hall Classroom Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Sciarrino will speak on the growing array of digital media applications in advertising and marketing. In her position at UNC, she works with the industry to test, deploy and refine digital advertising and marketing business models — and share results and ideas widely within the professional and academic communities. Alyssa Eckman, chair of the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication said Sciarrino’s Warren Lecture will provide valuable insights about where the industry is now and where it may be headed.

“In today’s digital environment the ISC industry is constantly undergoing change, and Joann has remained at the forefront,” Eckman said. “Our department is fortunate to be hosting a thought leader who analyzes these changes from multiple perspectives and continues to impact how ISC professionals communicate with consumers.”

While at BBDO, Sciarrino advised more than 30 global clients for more than a decade in insight generation based upon research, analytics and modeling, most notably AT&T, Starbucks, FedEx and Hyatt. She and her team also led innovation of analytical approaches within the agency, such as advertising claims substantiation, message mix modeling, social media brand attachment and corporate social consciousness measurement. Prior to joining BBDO, she was a practice leader at Burke Strategic Consulting Group.

In her capacity as Knight Chair at UNC, Sciarrino has continued her ties to BBDO and its clients to conduct deep research to help move the digital advertising industry forward. She also collaborates with UNC’s Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics to develop an entrepreneurial hub that drives innovation in the field.
 

Sciarrino earned a Master of Business Administration with a focus on marketing and decision science from Emory, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing and statistics from Michigan State University.

The Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Digital Media honors the memory of Warren who was the creator of some of the nation's most successful advertising campaigns. During an advertising career spanning more than 40 years, Warren worked at Doyle Dane Bernbach, BBDO and other leading agencies, before moving to McCann Erickson, the world's largest advertising agency, where he retired as senior creative director in 2006.

The lecture series was established by Patrick Mutchler, a graduate of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications, who worked with Warren while in marketing with Johnson & Johnson.

MEDIA CONTACT: Blair Hoover, (859) 257-6398; blair.hoover@uky.edu