VCU news

By Cassie Williams Jones

Global branding will be the emphasis of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business’ 19th Annual International Business Forum on April 10. The forum will highlight competitiveness among commercial brands in an increasingly global market, and the critical need to identify and differentiate a brand in a pool of international competition.

“Creating and Sustaining Global Brands as Globalization Gains Depth and Breadth” will be held in the University Student Commons’ Commonwealth Ballroom, 907 Floyd Ave., from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Speakers will include Jim Joseph, president of Cohn & Wolfe North America, a global communications and public relations agency; Joe McCarthy, former CEO of Publicis New York, an integrated marketing communications agency; Ian Davidson, worldwide account director in London at the locally based Martin Agency, an advertising firm; and VCU’s Helayne Spivak, director of the VCU Brandcenter. Van Wood, professor of international marketing and Philip Morris Chair in International Business, VCU School of Business, will serve as moderator of the forum. The event is free and open to the public.

“Our goal is to provide insights that will illuminate the nature and importance of brands and how they are developed and maintained,” said Wood, who organizes the International Business Forum each year. “I hope insights gained from this year’s forum will help us all realize that knowledge of brands and branding is imperative to the growth of prosperity in our times.”

Joseph provides strategic oversight and client service and drives new business across all offices in the United States, Mexico and Canada. He has worked with clients such as Kellogg’s, Kraft, Ikea, Cadillac, Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson, Clean & Clear, American Express and Walmart. Prior to joining Cohn & Wolfe, Jim served as president and partner of Lippe Taylor, where he led the agency in marketing to women for clients such as Nestle and David’s Bridal. He is the author of three books: “The Experience Effect,” a volume of marketing advice that shows big business how to build the ultimate brand experience; “The Experience Effect for Small Business,” which takes that big brand theory and applies it to the backbone of the American economy - small business; and “The Personal Experience Effect,” which takes that experience to personal branding.

From 2008 until 2012, McCarthy drove significant top-line revenue growth and delivered against aggressive profit targets despite difficult economic times at Publicis. New client growth during his tenure included Hilton WW, Homewood Suites, Merck, TGI Fridays, AXA and LensCrafters, as well as organic growth from Procter & Gamble, Citi and Nestlé. Prior to joining Publicis, he had been vice president of worldwide advertising and marketing communications at Johnson & Johnson.

Davidson joined the Martin Agency to direct its new Manpower account. He was most recently a worldwide account director on the United Parcel Service account in the London office of the McCann Erickson Worldwide unit of the McCann Worldgroup, formerly shared by the Martin Agency, so he has been collaborating with Martin on UPS matters for the last decade. He is the first employee of Martin based outside the U.S.

Spivak joined the VCU Brandcenter in August of 2012 to lead its mission of helping the industry navigate change and fueling it with future leaders. She oversees financial and personnel management of the school, as well as fundraising and outreach to individuals and firms in the advertising industry and brand community. She is the former chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, where she helped improve the creative product and move from an all-DTC (direct-to-consumer) agency specializing in traditional broadcast advertising to a fully integrated, full channel communications company.