Moira McCarthy has been appointed to the newly created position of director of business development and marketing at The Napoleon Group. The hire continues the studio’s commitment to supporting female leadership: Napoleon recently announced the launch of a joint venture with the woman-owned art production powerhouse Famous Frames, founded by Janine Miller, and promoted longtime senior staffers Annabel Salmon to VP, executive director of operations, and Angela Gianforcaro to head of production.
McCarthy joins The Napoleon Group from the New York office of Audio Network, Inc., where she was manager, music licensing. Audio Network is the international production music service that works with brands, agencies, broadcasters and producers around the world. During her tenure there, she was responsible for building and developing client relationships; driving revenue through marketing, partnerships and events; negotiating licensing contracts; music supervision; and supporting the music and A&R teams in their efforts to source and showcase new talent.
At Audio Network she played a key role in placing the music for a Volvo social media campaign, “The Greatest Interception,” that won the 2015 Cannes Direct Lions Grand Prix for Volvo and Grey Worldwide. Her roster of agency clients included Droga5, BBDO, Havas, Leo Burnett, McCann, KBS+P, Y&R and McCann. Before joining Audio Network she was director of strategic accounts at TransPerfect, the global communications company that specializes in the transcreation of multi-national ad campaigns for major marketers. In this role she oversaw the New York office’s agency accounts and consulted clients on global sales and marketing strategy.
McCarthy said what attracted her to The Napoleon Group was its ability to provide a broad scope of solutions. “I truly believe in the value of an integrated company that can easily adapt to meet the needs of its clients, and that’s what we’re building at Napoleon. All the elements are here: not just a world-class production facility, but great leaders in each discipline of our business, from pre-visualization to production, post, motion capture, design, audio and now experiential. It’s an amazing opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.”
An Illinois native who grew up in Indiana, McCarthy graduated from the University of San Diego with a BA in French, while pursuing minor studies in English and Business. She put them all to use during her time at TransPerfect, but eventually her work with ad campaigns and agencies proved more alluring than her interest in languages, and she made the move closer to the creative.
The Napoleon Group founder and chief creative officer Marty Napoleon said of McCarthy, “She’ll be leading the charge as we create a brand presence designed to drive our sales and marketing efforts across categories and lines of business. We’re expanding into new areas like experiential design, live action production, audio post and music production, and growing our footprint on the West Coast. In the process, we’ve not only re-engineered our offering for existing clients but are generating a recognizable profile with new ones. And raising profiles and capturing share of mind is something Moira is particularly adept at doing.”
McCarthy is already on the case, having just orchestrated a festive event in Chicago (in partnership with her former haunt, Audio Network) to celebrate the launch of Napoleon’s new Audio Production and Post Division. It was timed to coincide with the AICP Show’s visit there last month and drew a roster of Chicago-area creatives. As the New Year arrives she’ll be deep into planning Napoleon’s presence at the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More