AdForum 2023

Welcome! We had a great time meeting and getting to know you at AdForum. As a fast follow-up, we wanted to share out a go-to resource for all the content we covered during the event. Below you will find the presentation we shared available for download below along with some other insights. We hope to have the chance to connect again soon.

Consumer Intelligence on Artificial Intelligence

AI is impacting how our clients' brands show up in the world. It's influencing the way their products and services meet consumer demands. Our aim is to help our clients navigate these changes with clear data and insight. Our latest report can be downloaded below.

Capabilities

Critical Mass is a full-service digital agency with complete capabilities in-house. Our strength is in connecting creativity, platforms, and audiences with human behavior. That’s why we’re always thinking big, and thinking ahead—both across the digital ecosystem and into the future.

Chief Executive Officer

Chris Gokiert

Since joining Critical Mass in 1998, he has been instrumental in the growth and success of the agency, expanding the team from just 35 people in one Calgary office to over 1,500 employees across 12 global offices. Chris leads key client relationships across continents, including the launch of major multidimensional initiatives for Nissan, INFINITI, adidas, and AT&T. 

Prior to his role as CEO, Chris served as President of Critical Mass for over a decade. Under his strategic leadership and dedication to excellent client service, Critical Mass has been recognized as an A-List Agency, Best Engagement Agency, Top UX Design Agency, Best Agency to Work For, Employer of the Year, and Best Place to Work. Chris himself was voted Influencer of the Year at the prestigious Creativepool Annual. Industry comments and POVs from Chris have been published in The Washington Post, Adweek, Campaign, Creativebrief, and more.

When not traveling from office to office, Chris resides in Calgary with his three girls, wife, and two dogs – enjoying all the Canadian Rockies have to offer. Fun fact about Chris: he holds a master’s degree in Classical Archaeology.

Chief Creative Officer

Val Carlson

Val is an avid storyteller with over 20 years of creative experience. She has worked across many disciplines, ranging among design, product, AR/VR, film, brand strategy, marketing, retail innovation, gaming, and applications for some of the world’s biggest brands, such as FOX Entertainment, JPMorgan Chase, Coke, Microsoft, AT&T, Honda, Kraft, Treasury Wine Estates, Lululemon, and many others.

Prior to joining CM, Val was the ECD for Wunderman Thompson California, where she focused on digital transformation and loyalty experiences. Prior to that, she was the Global VP Creative at Method Products (People Against Dirty), where she led global creative and innovation for Method and Ecover brands. Before that, she was the Executive Creative Director at EVB, where she led work for the NBA, Facebook, Twitter, and Mamba Candy. She was also the Executive Creative Director, Global Innovation Lead at SapientNitro, where she led the AVATAR digital ecosystem for James Cameron’s Lightstorm. Earlier in her career, Val held several top creative positions at Razorfish.

Val taught college-level graphic design at an engineering school for seven years before jumping into digital in 2000. It is her love for teaching that has helped her mentor and lead in an industry where it is hard for women to succeed. She is also an advocate for women’s diversity and junior talent programs, leading them at several agencies over the years.

She has a huge passion for ecosystem connections, interface layer personalization, and the evolution of e-commerce. TWITCH, Minecraft, and old school games fascinate her, and she believes mixed reality, streaming, and experiential models can unlock solutions to business problems in ways that traditional marketers haven’t tapped into yet.

Chief Strategy Officer

Grant Owens

Grant's role at the agency is to lead strategy teams across the globe to ensure the agency is relentlessly focused on designing meaningful experiences that improve customers’ lives. Grant has a track record of building strong teams that deliver best-in-class, strategically driven work.

Prior to joining CM, Grant was with Razorfish for more than 10 years. Most recently as GVP, Head of Planning, he was responsible for digital strategy for clients such as Spotify, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Viacom, CBS Radio, BMW, and CNN. Grant also spent four years working in planning at Euro RSCG 4D.

Grant serves as Adjunct Professor at New York University, where he has taught for more than two years. He graduated from Miami University (Ohio) with a B.A.

SVP, managing Director, Eurpoe & Asia

Clare Hart

Clare leads CM's business in the European and Asian market.

Prior to her role at Critical Mass, Clare was part of The Publicis Groupe for over a decade working in digital agencies, helping brands establish themselves and grow online. In 2010, she moved to New York to run Coca-Cola globally for LBi, later becoming EVP, Client Services of MRY before relocating back to London to be Managing Director of MRY in Europe. Prior to that, Clare held a range of senior management roles at LBi in London, Engage Group, and Limehouse.

With expertise across full-service marketing and communications, Clare is passionate about customer experience and service design. Key clients, both globally and locally, include: O2, giffgaff, AXA, Coca-Cola, Sony, Adobe, Spotify, AT&T, and Johnson & Johnson.

EVP, General Manager, New York and Toronto

Darryl Braunmiller

Darryl is a champion of client service.

With strong roots in e-commerce, website, and digital solutions, Darryl has the experience and expertise our clients seek when taking on complex platform and digital challenges. He also runs our key B2B clients and provides leadership for major accounts in the NYC and Toronto offices, including SAP and Citibank. Before joining Critical Mass, Darryl was the General Manager of New York for Blast Radius, part of Wunderman, working on clients such as Hilton, Land Rover USA, Pfizer, Burlington Coat Factory, Ann Taylor, and Kraft Foods. Darryl also previously worked with Critical Mass when we launched an industry first for Mercedes-Benz USA, creating digital strategies and launching one of the first automotive websites in the industry.

wider Cm team

Let's Continue the Converesation

Contact:

newbusiness@criticalmass.com