NEW YORK (FEBRUARY 28, 2022) – Today MSL U.S. announced the appointment of Robert John Davis as its Chief Digital Innovation Officer. Davis will lead the agency’s digital innovation center of excellence inclusive of its industry-leading comms tech stack and influencer engagement platform, Fluency.
A veteran digital executive and creative strategist, Davis has built his career around the moving target of convergence between technology, consumer need and brand influence. Davis has driven digital strategy for companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 stalwarts, reestablishing legacy brands and bringing new ones to IPO. Davis has developed an audience-oriented, data-fueled perspective to creating engaging interactive experiences, blending tech, strategy and creative at all process points from ideation through production, distribution and measurement. This integrated approach to creative excellence and business effectiveness has helped him establish deep relationships across a diverse set of clients including IBM, DuPont, Aetna, Nestle, Nationwide and Corteva.
“Welcoming Rob to the agency today brings me great joy. Rob is a unique leader in the digital space – someone who has the most expansive wings and deepest of roots in innovation, is excited to build on the incredible foundation our team has set and is primed and ready to take us and our clients into the future, from advanced digital discovery to Web3 and everything in between,” said Diana Littman, MSL U.S. CEO. “This is a time of immense and intense change and I know that in partnership with Rob we will continue to soar.”
Davis joins MSL after spending 14-years WPP-owned Ogilvy. In his most recent role Davis launched THE CUBE, Ogilvy’s incubation, innovation and creative technology offering, spearheading growth in experiential, sonic branding and gaming/metaverse. Prior to Ogilvy, Davis led digital for Rainbow Media’s cable properties where he transitioned the interactive businesses of AMC, IFC and WE television networks from static websites to dynamic interactive experiences. Davis established the first interactive television team at MTV Networks and has also led digital engagements at Gartner, Spiderdance and Gannett.
“The future of branded digital innovation sits squarely within the PR industry because the core elements of what we do - social, influence, content, experiential - are at the center of both Web3 and IRL digital engagement,” said Davis. “MSL is entering the next phase of the digital era with committed leaders, a world class roster of clients and a tech stack already supporting industry-leading, data-infused products like Fluency. I am looking forward to bringing the total sum of my experiences to the agency as we redefine digital excellence and effectiveness.”
A well-known writer and international speaker, Davis has co-authored major industry works including the first in-depth look at the world of influencers as creators ‘The Digital Social Contract’ and the streaming media primer ‘Cordless: The Radical Redefinition of Television.’ He has been a featured guest and MC on stages across the United States, Europe and Russia including SXSW, VidCon (US & UK), Advertising Week, 4A’s Transformation, Google Firestarters, Google Think and Harvard University. A believer in diversity and helping young professionals, Davis has served as a mentor for the 4A’s Multicultural Advertising and Intern Program (MAIP) and regularly engages in opportunities to advance the next generation of digital groundbreakers.
Davis will be based in New York and report to MSL U.S. CEO Diana Littman. Davis succeeds MSL’s late Chief Innovation Officer, Bryan Pedersen who passed away in July 2021. In December 2021, MSL launched the groundbreaking ‘Time to Face the Influencer Pay Gap’ study in Pedersen’s honor to lead much needed change in influencer marketing.