Ten talented digital media strategists making names for themselves

In ancient times, important news or information was always delivered in person, by a human messenger. Sometimes the news wasn't good and, well, you know what happened then.

But gradually humans got more sophisticated and creative at getting a message across. From Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the wall of Castle Church in Wittenberg, to Paul Revere's famous ride from Boston to Lexington, to the much-maligned 30-second TV ad, media strategy has evolved considerably over the centuries.

In recent years, the task of getting the right message to the right audience at the right time has only become more daunting (though, fortunately, no longer fatal). Now that media is more fragmented than ever, devising strategies is far more complex than in the past, when the vast majority of consumers could be reached via ads on network TV. Even on the Web, reaching an audience is no longer a question of simply buying inventory on the major portals and a few large newspaper sites.

Today, Web users spend time reading blogs, visiting social networking sites, posting photos, watching clips on video-sharing properties, and engaging in a host of other media activities that once appeared implausible.

In this issue, we look at rising stars of the digital media world - those men and women faced with the challenge of finding consumers online and getting a message to them when they're in the right frame of mind to receive it.

Christian Anthony, 32

Special Ops Media, Chairman and co-CEO

A star is born Began career as an investment banker at JPMorgan after graduating from Brown University in 1996 with a degree in classics and political science.

Red carpet moments Special Ops has handled interactive campaigns for a wide range of clients, from top musicians such as Norah Jones and Paul McCartney to Reyka Vodka to Random House and Lionsgate Films. For Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the firm created an in-depth online publicity campaign for the second season DVD release of "The Office."

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web "Senior media executives are used to a TV-driven ad spend. As our generation continues to assume leadership roles on the client side, I think you're going to see increasing comfort with the interactive spend."

UGC - gems or junk? "It comes up a lot. If you want to use interactive fully, you've got to have a tolerance for risk and let consumers interact with your brand in new ways."

What's up with Web 2.0? "The reality is that we're moving out of Web 2.0 into the next phase, however you want to categorize it. It's the growing up of a lot of Web 2.0 platforms and how you stay relevant and make money and evolve from novelties into a staple of everyday life."

I'd love to get my hands on ... Sears. "It's a brand that has such a foothold in American life, but certainly has lost some of its luster."

Can't live without ... My BlackBerry. "I have no boundaries - it's invaded every part of my life."

Jeff Giacchetti, 34

EarthQuake Media, Media Supervisor

A star is born Before joining EarthQuake Media in 2004, he was a senior media manager in VNU Business Marketing's worldwide sports division where he handled B-to-B marketing for clients including Under Armour Athletic Apparel and Starter Apparel.

Red carpet moments For record labels including RCA and Wind-Up Entertainment, Giacchetti developed youth-oriented campaigns aimed at Web properties such as entertainment site ugo.com and video-sharing site eBaumsWorld.com.

For Cinemax, led an online effort to promote the cable service's premiere of the Star Wars film series in high-definition. The media plan included targeted sections on Yahoo, Star Wars fan sites and ifilm.com.

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web "It's really a matter of demystifying it for marketers and saying, 'This is not a new medium.' Consumers are using the Internet as part of their normal, everyday activities."

What's up with Web 2.0? "It's the next generation of online communication, expanding the relationship between the media and consumers."

Can't live without ... "The DVR and on-demand programming are two things that have become part of my daily routine. I'm a big fan of the HBO series 'The Wire.'"

Shane Kay, 30

Mindshare-Team Detroit, Digital Negotiation Manager

A star is born Before joining Mindshare-Team Detroit, Kay handled digital planning at JWT on behalf of Ford Truck. His career started at GM Planworks, where he worked on traditional planning for GMC.

Red carpet moments Negotiates approximately $200 million online ad spend on behalf of Ford. Developed the automaker's first rate card for major consumer sites including those of Time, ESPN and The New York Times.

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web "When we're able to better show return-on-investment for branding campaigns, we'll see our budgets grow even more. That's what we really need to lay out. It's a matter of finding the perfect formula for it."

UGC - gems or junk? "It's very touchy for Ford. We're definitely concerned with things like language and blogs, and video uploads."

I'd love to get my hands on ... "I've always been in automotive and I don't see getting out of it. It's probably from growing up in Detroit more than anything. My grandfather worked for Ford as an engineer so that's something that kind of drives me and makes me work hard for them."

Jason Klein, 28

Special Ops Media, President and co-CEO

A star is born Klein graduated from Brown University in 2000 with a degree in biomedical ethics and philosophy, and attended medical school at Columbia University for a year before starting Special Ops.

Red carpet moments For 20th Century Fox, Special Ops conducted an online campaign that provided influential Web sites with syndicated content promoting the theatrical release of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Recently hired to develop a Web campaign on behalf of Michael Eisner's Tornante Company in connection with its online "Prom Queen" series.

How online video will make us all rich "I think branded media players are an interesting opportunity where the advertising doesn't actually impact the content-consuming process, but has a presence surrounding the video itself through a logo or other branding."

What's up with Web 2.0? "I define it is as many elements that make up a two-way conversation between content publishers and consumers, whether social networking sites, blogs or podcasts. It's the democratization of the Internet."

I'd love to get my hands on ... "One place I'd like to be involved more is in public health awareness campaigns and issues, probably because I dropped out of med school to become a media and advertising person. I think we could take advantage of our know-how and the kind of clients we have in entertainment to create health campaigns that are a little edgier while still providing a public service.

Old media habits I can't quit The New Yorker, Dwell, The New York Times, Wallpaper, Wired

Nicole McKinney, 23

GSD&M, Assistant Media Planner

A star is born At GSD&M since August 2006, shortly after graduating from Vanderbilt University.

Red carpet moments Spearheaded an online viral campaign on behalf of Eric Volz, an American convicted of murder in Nicaragua and a good friend of McKinney's brother. Volz's supporters maintain he is innocent. For the effort, McKinney released a video on YouTube and created a "Free Eric Volz" MySpace page. By this spring, the YouTube video had garnered around 100,000 views, while almost 5,000 people have signed on as friends on MySpace. Stories then appeared in mainstream media outlets including CNN and The Wall Street Journal.

What's up with Web 2.0? "Empowering the consumer to demand what they want to see from advertisers."

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web "You get to see your results; we know every single impression, every single click."

Erica Milanese, 25

AKQA, Media Supervisor

A star is born A one-year veteran of AKQA, she previously worked at Organic, where she rose through the ranks to become a media supervisor.

Red carpet moments For Visa, Milanese was involved in an effort to distribute video ads at Web sites offering video clips aimed at entrepreneurs. Part of that initiative involved sponsoring all of the video content related to small business at AllBusiness.com; for this effort, Milanese worked directly with the AllBusiness.com editorial team.

Toys and games iPod Shuffle and "a phone that can take pictures." "I'm not a gadget person - which is really funny."

I'd love to get my hands on ... "I would want to work on a smaller brand and really influence what they can do online." Such as? "Luna bars - I think they can use the Web. Personally, I have an understanding of how women could be targeted in the online space.

Kristine Munsen, 31

Universal McCann, New York, Vice President, Associate Media Director

A star is born Joined Universal McCann in 2005, after working at sister JPG agency Foote Cone & Belding. Previously worked at Seattle's Avenue A | Razorfish and Cole Weber/Red Cell.

Red carpet moments For Intel, released unbranded video ads one week before the campaign for the Core 2 Duo processor officially debuted last year, in an attempt to create online buzz.

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web Accountability and flexibility. "At the end of the day, we can track campaign results in real time and make smart choices based on performance."

UGC - gems or junk? "When it's right for the product, and done in the right way, I think consumer-created ads can be powerful." What would be the wrong way? "If you're a pharmaceutical company, where you're launching a new drug product and that ad is spelling out the side effects."

Old media habits I can't quit The New York Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal

Can't live without ... My BlackBerry

Mohan Renganathan, 32

MediaVest, Vice President, Group Director of Digital Strategy

A star is born Came to MediaVest three years ago, after working at Modem Media for six years.

Red carpet moments For Earthlink, placed ads within video podcasts. Also helped execute a podcasting program that involved EarthLink's soliciting ads from podcast listeners.

I'd love to get my hands on ... "This really goes back to where my interests lie and some of my favorite brands. I'd love to work on - and I haven't actually seen any online advertising for this company - but I'd love to work on Patagonia. It's really a pleasure when I get the chance to work on a client whose customer base is so passionate."

How online video will make us all rich "If I knew that, I'd start my own company."

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web "The thing about the Internet that allows us to make a convincing argument to marketers is the fact that it's no longer a niche medium. It's a mass medium. This is a place where people are leaning in and participating on a daily basis."

Toys and games "A set of very expensive earphones for my iPod."

Matt Story, 27

Denuo's videogame unit, Play, Director

A star is born Came to Denuo in 2006 after four years at Procter & Gamble, where he worked in interactive marketing.

Red carpet moments For Pontiac, helped develop an interactive game based on the NCAA basketball tournament. The initiative, the Pontiac Virtual NCAA Final Four tournament, culminated in a gamers' face-off in Atlanta, at which Pontiac gave away a car. More than 6,000 entrants participated this year.

On getting marketers to part with their money on the Web "The sad thing is it's going to be seeing their competitors, or other industries, or other categories doing smart things."

What's up with Web 2.0? "It's really taking the tools that the Internet has always had - that no one has leveraged - and putting them in the hands of consumers."

I'd love to get my hands on ... Vitamin water. "What they're doing in the sports beverage class is very interesting. They've kind of taken the approach of leveraging athletes and doing different things in the industry with a very quirky type of message, even in their packaging. Marketers like that are usually open to out-there ideas."

Samantha Tenicki, 27

Starcom USA, Supervisor

A star is born Joined Starcom three years ago, after working for a small public relations and advertising agency in Chicago.

Red carpet moments For the launch of the Nintendo Wii, placed long-form video, available on demand, on sites like MarthaStewart.com, where people were likely to be looking up information about holiday gifts.

Old media habits I can't quit Wired

How online video will make us all rich "We've definitely seen pre-roll spots and I think that has worked, especially if those sorts of placements are aligned with longer content on the Web." Further down the road, "it will be interesting to see how users react to more experimentation with opt-in."

UGC - gems or junk? "There's something there, and it's incredibly intriguing, but we have to be cautious."