Bio

Brenda White
Senior Vice President/Publishing Activation Director, Starcom USA

Brenda White has moved the print media agenda forward by realizing new strategies for engagement in magazines. As director of the Publishing Activation Group at Starcom – a full-service, Chicago-based media services agency – she is responsible for negotiating and planning all of the agency’s print advertising activities. She delivers on client marketing objectives by collaborating with top publishers to leverage, revive and rediscover the true strengths of the magazine medium.

On behalf of the agency’s clients, White leads execution of all print planning, overseeing millions of dollars in media investment while supervising a group of 40+ print experts. During her tenure with the group, White has transformed Starcom’s print business and the industry as a whole by launching Starcom’s A.C.E. print planning platform. A.C.E. pushes print strategies forward by focusing on accountability, connectivity and engagement. Forming partnerships with marketing research firm Affinity and a host of publishers, White has led the way in improving models for predicted readership and back-end accountability. She improved connectivity by moving her group away from simply placing pages in magazines, and towards a more involved model of brand programs integrated with a title’s content.

White’s work with A.C.E. has attracted scores of publishers to Chicago, who come to gain insight from her on the future of print. A.C.E. was the impetus for the creation of Starcom’s Turn the Page conference – the hub of industry discussion around such topics as print engagement, accountability, partnership, consumer behaviors and industry futures. The event was such a success that in 2005, the second Turn the Page conference featured media icon Martha Stewart as keynote speaker.

White has served with the print team since 2000, and was named director in 2004. Prior, she developed and implemented media strategies for the Procter & Gamble account, oversaw the planning and execution of all Marlboro media plans and served as an outdoor market specialist for Philip Morris. Named media supervisor for Philip Morris in 1997, she planned and negotiated several complex print impact units and spearheaded the launch of the successful Marlboro Bar Nights promotion. White joined Starcom in 1991.

In honor of her myriad accomplishments, White has been named a 2006 Media All-Star in the print category by Mediaweek; was listed among min magazine’s Sweet 16 in 2007; was recognized by Folio Magazine as a “Rising Star” in 2002; and was named a 2004 Harmon Award winner by the Chicago Magazine Association. White helped on the Playtex’s “Real Solutions for Today’s Woman” campaign that won a gold medal at the 2007 Jack Myers Media Creativity and Innovation Awards, and also helped on the Special K campaign that earned the Mediaweek 2007 Media Plan of the Year for campaigns ranging $10-25 million.

In her free time, White enjoys hiking trips to Wisconsin with her husband and spending time with her dog. She lives and works in Chicago.