IAB social media council elects Effik

Publicis Modem’s Chief Strategy Officer vows to connect with UK’s biggest advertisers and agencies and grow the industry with ‘6 Point Plan’.

Wednesday, 18 November 2009


Tony Effik, Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Modem, has been elected as new chair of Internet Advertising Bureau UK’s social media council. Addressing knowledge gaps within the wider industry, he will be responsible for leading the group throughout 2010 and shifting its focus to work directly with UK brands and help grow the discipline.

Building on the successes of the last year – which include a social media handbook, numerous events and industry research - Effik plans to channel the council’s efforts into training the marketing community and talking to clients in a ‘common language’.

The IAB social media council comprises of media owners, social networks, brands, creative, media and specialist social media agencies and was launched in 2008 to educate the industry about the opportunities within this space. With a range of experience and expert knowledge, the council’s collective remit includes word of mouth marketing and blogger outreach, content distribution, digital creative and social media research. Tony takes over the role from Lloyd Salmons, founder and CEO of agency Outside Line.

Effik will spend the year facilitating meetings, engaging with industry leaders and driving council initiatives, and acting on a proposed ‘6 Point Plan’ for the group:

1. Empowering ambassadors of specialist topics within the diverse membership of the social media council, thus giving every member a voice.

2. Sharing the council’s knowledge and practical guidance with the wider industry via editorial and video content each month.

3. Promoting the council as a ‘shop window’ for social talent and agencies.

4. To create standards, tools, templates, and systems to help grow the social media business in the UK.

5. To liaise directly with industry influencers on a regular basis with focused presentations and case studies.

6. To lobby and promote social media and the council to the major holding companies and industry bodies to ensure all relevant groups are talking in the same language.

These goals will feed into the IAB’s ongoing role in supporting the social media industry via educational materials, dedicated forums for debate, marketing and consumer insights.

At Publicis Modem, Effik has focused the last three years on building the social media operation which now includes a diverse spectrum of social media work, ranging from: the management of social media platforms for easyJet; through to buzz monitoring for LG across Europe; and social application development for HP.

Prior to this he was responsible for building the digital strategy function at Publicis Modem London and previously at Digitas London – two of London’s leading digital agencies.

Tony Effik, chief strategy officer at Publicis Modem and chair of the IAB social media council, said: "Many agencies and advertisers are honest about the fact they have less knowledge and understanding of social media than dedicated practitioners, and indeed consumers. Both consumers and social media developers are already comfortable with sharing, and collaborating, and the sensibilities of the open source culture are all pervasive in this space.

My aim is to bring some of these open source sensibilities into the social media council so we can grow the overall business. We'll be developing tools, templates, and processes collectively, and will share these with the wider industry. We plan to break out of the confines of the ‘social media cluster’ and connect with the biggest advertisers and agencies in the UK, on their terms, offering training and support."

Amy Kean, the IAB’s senior PR and marketing manager and social media council coordinator said: “Tony is an excellent appointment for the group, and has a great vision for the Council in 2010. The IAB has long been extolling the virtues of social media to advertisers and agencies with less experience in the area, and it is essential that as a council we take training, educational materials and insights directly to them to boost their knowledge and understanding.

The IAB social media council is an exceptional group of real thought-leaders within the industry, and over the next 12 months we intend to focus our efforts on growing this business and placing it even higher on the marketer’s agenda.”

For more information contact:

Amy Kean, senior PR and marketing manager, IAB, 07739372042 amy@iabuk.net

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