Marketing Effectiveness Accelerator 2026

Sarah Capers leads Kantar’s Brand consulting practice, where she oversees the direction of the practice, as well as leads strategic client engagements in brand purpose, positioning, expression and experience design. A multidisciplinary strategist, prior to joining Kantar Sarah led accounts and production at a boutique creative studio where she brought to life brands, apps, websites and digital products for industry leaders such as Conde Nast, Dior, the Guggenheim and Adobe. She has also roles on successful political campaigns, including President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection. Sarah graduated from Universidad CEU San Pablo with an M.A. in International Affairs and from NYU’s Gallatin School with a B.A. in Social & Cultural Analysis

J. Walker Smith is Chief Knowledge Officer, Brand & Marketing, with the consulting division of Kantar. Walker has been described by Fortune as “one of America’s leading analysts on consumer trends.” He is co-author of four highly regarded books, a Marketing News columnist, a weekly video blogger, and a former public radio commentator. He is a 2012 inductee into the N.C. Advertising Hall of Fame. In 2014 and 2015, he won the WPP Atticus Award for Strategy and in 2013 for Consumer Insights. Walker holds a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Paul Donato joined the ARF as Chief Research Officer in October 2017. Paul is a highly-regarded leader in media and advertising research with more than two decades of industry experience. Earlier in his career he co-founded WPP’s Media Research Business Unit, served as CEO of Kantar Media, and Technical Director of IBOPE Latin America. He was the EVP and CRO for The Nielsen Company for more than a decade, overseeing Nielsen retail, consumer, mobile, and media measurement methodologies. Upon leaving Nielsen, Paul founded Jatopond, a media and market research firm. He also has led business units at Simmons, and at Audits and Surveys Worldwide. He currently sits on the Future State Committee of the National Air and Space Museum. In addition to leading the research team, Paul will also play an active role in overall ARF leadership, helping to guide our future direction.

Cliff Young is President of Ipsos Public Affairs in the United States, and also leads Ipsos’ global election and political polling practice. His research specialties include social and public opinion trends, crisis management, corporate and institution reputation, and election polling. He works with a wide variety of corporate, government, media, and political clients. He also oversees Ipsos’ US public opinion polling for Thomson Reuters, and is a spokesperson for Ipsos Public Affairs in the US. Cliff is considered an expert on polling in emerging markets, as well as polling in adverse and hostile conditions. Before coming to Ipsos Public Affairs North America, he was Managing Director of Ipsos Public Affairs Brazil where he started the practice for Ipsos. Cliff has polled on over 80 elections around the world; most recently he successfully completed polling on 25 races for the US midterms in 2010; the Nigerian Presidential and Gubernatorial elections in 2011, the Federal and Parliamentary elections in Canada in 2011; the Russian presidential elections 2012; the Egyptian and Kuwaiti Parliamentary elections in 2011/2012, US presidential election 2012, the Venezuelan presidential elections in 2012 and 2013; 2014 US Mid-term elections; 2014 Brazilian Presidential election; 2015 Greek Referendum; and 2015 Argentine Presidential election. Trained in survey sampling and survey methods design, Cliff has led on more than 100 full public opinion sample designs and post-survey analytics in the following countries: Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, South Africa, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Palestine, China, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Afghanistan, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Nigeria, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, and New Caledonia. He is a frequent writer, analyst, and commentator on elections, communication, and public opinion. Cliff earned his BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and did his graduate work at the University of Chicago (MA and PhD). He also trained as a survey statistician at the University of Michigan and in political psychology at Stanford. Cliff is also an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS and an instructor at Columbia University SIPA where he teaches courses on public opinion and political risk.

Scott McDonald became the CEO and President of the Advertising Research Foundation on March 1, 2017. With over 30 years of research experience solving pressing business issues, Scott is an ardent champion of high-quality standards. He has held senior research positions at leading global media companies, including 10 years at Time Inc., and 14 years Conde Nast. He also served as Chairman of the ARF from 2001 to 2002. His innovative work at the intersection of advertising research, traditional media, and the digital revolution reflects his roots in academia. Namely, McDonald earned his PhD in Sociology from Harvard University and has taught courses on media measurement, media economics, and monetization strategies at Columbia Business School for the past 18 years.

Kendra Clarke – Vice President of Data Science and Product Development at sparks & honey, Kendra captains a team of technologists focused on using data to quantify culture and power the transformation strategies that build better companies and better futures. Kendra has spent over a decade working for New York-based marketing and consulting firms, as well as on a few product/startup projects of her own. She has worked on a host of different clients—ranging from CPG companies like Procter & Gamble to high tech clients like IBM, as well as household names like Starbucks, AT&T, and the NYTimes. Most recently, Kendra was named the Ad Club of New York’s Young Professional of the Year. A passionate home cook, writer, and sometimes surfer, Kendra also speaks regularly on the intersections of diversity, inclusion, and technology.

Janelle James is an experienced marketing strategy executive with a passion for changing the world. Her career spans 20 years, includes multiple marketing disciplines, and has enabled her work to touch over a billion people. She’s currently a Qualitative Research Director at Kantar where she designs, conducts, and analyzes a wide range of studies for Fortune 500 companies and consults clients on everything from consumer and market knowledge to marketing plan development. Janelle enjoys learning about new cultures and has lived in the US, France, Italy, and the UK. She holds both a BA and MBA from Harvard University.

Beyond her broad expertise leveraging consumer insights to drive brand growth for leading companies, Ola has extensive experience across all age and lifestyle segments of African-American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQ and Millennial audiences. She has been a featured speaker on effective diversity marketing at conferences sponsored by the World Federation of Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Advertising Research Foundation, Association of National Advertisers, Advertising Week, Brandweek, World Research Group, and is regularly invited to present and lead executive workshops on evolving organizations to “New Majority” readiness. In her 20 year career, Ola has spearheaded hundreds of consumer insight and strategy initiatives spanning a wide range of consumer segments and categories, including multinational, U.S. Total Market, and multicultural studies for McDonald’s, The Coca-Cola Companies, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Colgate, Google, Facebook, Snapchat, MTV Networks, Diageo, and many others. In addition to her work in the for-profit and public sectors, she has partnered with several institutions to illuminate opportunities for improved relations with underserved and ethnic communities including studies for M&T Bank, Loretto Hospital and University of Chicago Medical Center under an initiative led by former First Lady Michelle Obama, in her previous role as VP of Community and External Affairs at UCMC. Ola is passionate about culture in its various manifestations, and holds dual degrees from Harvard University in Psychology and Afro-American Studies. She is a winner of the prestigious Atticus Award for Original Published Thinking in Communications Services, and a longtime resident of Brooklyn, New York City.

Claire has been an integral part of the ESL Insights team for more than 17 years, following a career in technology services where her responsibilities included operational support and utilizing metrics to improve operational performance. In her role at ESL Insights, Claire is responsible for much of the overall research design, managing fieldwork, client interface, and analysis and reporting of research results. Claire views market research as a “must have” in providing the strategic insights C-Suite executives will require as they respond to the demands of the post COVID-19 marketplace. She is convinced that understanding the COVID mindset will be critical for advertisers and companies in strengthening their brand and retaining their customer base in these times of enormous stress and uncertainty.

Brian Fuhrer is SVP, Product Strategy for Nielsen. In this role, he helps guide Nielsen’s National and cross-platform television audience measurement initiatives supporting major media clients, Digital companies, MSO/MVPDs and advertising agencies. Most recently, Brian has been working with a broad range of clients to focus on the dramatic changes being introduced by Subscription Video On Demand and Direct to Consumer offerings and developing appropriate measurement solutions for them. With over 30 years in media research and product development at Nielsen, Brian’s experience spans the U.S. media and advertising industry as well as overseas markets where Nielsen has a media presence in more than 30 countries. He frequently speaks at industry events and has been extensively quoted in the press. Based in Tampa, Florida, Brian is a site leader at Nielsen’s Global Technology and Innovation Center. He holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of South Florida, and has multiple research-related patents.

Victoria Sakal is the Managing Director of Brand Intelligence for Morning Consult, a global data intelligence company delivering insights on what people think in real time. She leads the company’s brand intelligence research, focusing on the intersection of data with marketing, brand reputation, and consumer trends, and is an expert in distilling actionable insights and developing impactful brand strategies. Prior to Morning Consult, Victoria served as an associate director for Kantar, integrating qualitative research with extensive landscape mapping to inform future-forward brand positioning and long-term strategic ambition and imperatives. She managed a team of analysts and data scientists to quantitatively assess total addressable market (TAM), optimal portfolio strategy, and product/offer innovation opportunities for high-growth tech companies. Victoria is a repeated co-author of WPP’s annual BrandZ reports. She has also conducted extensive research on organizational behavior, management theory, and innovation in social entrepreneurship under Wharton Management Department’s Adam Grant and its Snider Center for Social Impact. Victoria graduated with honors from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is a previous recipient of the Ian MacMillan Award for Excellence in Research and Leadership.