Maribeth Papuga Joins BIA/Kelsey as Executive-in-Residence

CHANTILLY, Va. (June 4, 2015) – BIA/Kelsey announces media, marketing and advertising veteran Maribeth Papuga has joined the firm as Executive-in-Residence (EIR), to advise the company and participate in its practice areas including industry coverage, research, consulting and forecasting projects related to local media strategy and investment. Her areas of specific concentration will be local activation of national brands and overall media strategy as it relates to local measurement and investments.

“As our research indicates, the national advertising and marketing spend in local markets is continuing to grow rapidly, indicating an important area of concentration for brands, agencies, retailers, franchises and all media buyers, both traditional and digital – a major cross section of our client base,” said Tom Buono, founder and CEO BIA/Kelsey. “Maribeth’s 25 years of media experience as a strategic problem-solver will expand our ability to advise clients on what effective local market execution looks like, in particular how to develop cross-functional teams and alliances.”

Most recently, Papuga served as EVP, Local Investment and Activation for MediaVest. Throughout her career, she has championed the benefits of local media, continuously advocating that audiences gathered by local media offer marketers the ability to geotarget campaigns that both drive brand and performance lift and deliver audience extension to national-only campaigns.

“As media channel choices expand and marketing budgets are scrutinized, there is more confusion in the marketplace today than ever before,” expressed Papuga in a recent Vantage Points post on BIA/Kelsey’s Local Media Watch blog. “Traditional media players are worried about their own prosperity and growth while new entries may benefit from new technologies and flexibility but lack the expertise or resources to define their purpose or place in the ecosystem. It’s time legacy media concentrates on expanding collaborative partnerships and finding the right levers for innovation.”

Papuga’s expertise encompasses local market media and economic knowledge, including the study of how economic growth across metropolitan regions in the U.S. is presenting varied challenges and opportunities that impact marketing. She also brings local expertise in linear TV and radio marketplaces with primary emphasis on local markets, as well as knowledge about media software providers, and the buying and selling process related to linear media, direct to station, rep firm model and group ownership development.

About BIA/Kelsey

BIA/Kelsey advises companies in the local media space through consulting and valuation services, research and forecasts, Custom Advisory Services and conferences. Since 1983 BIA/Kelsey has been a resource to the media, mobile advertising, telecommunications, Yellow Pages and electronic directory markets, as well as to government agencies, law firms and investment companies looking to understand trends and revenue drivers. BIA/Kelsey’s annual conferences draw executives from across industries seeking expert guidance on how companies are finding innovative ways to grow. Additional information is available at https://www.bia.com, on the company’s Local Media Watch blog, Twitter (http://twitter.com/BIAKelsey) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/biakelsey). Stay connected by subscribing to the firm’s bi-monthly newsletter.

For more information contact:

Eileen Pacheco
For BIA/Kelsey
(508) 888-7478
eileen@tango-group.com