TheAudience, a social-media and digital content marketing agency focused on connecting brands with cultural influencers, has hired Mike Dodge as CEO and Debbie Menin as executive VP of strategic partnerships overseeing the sales team.
The two publishing industry vets join chief creative officer Patrick Mulford, who has been with the L.A.-based company since 2013 and leads creative and strategic direction.
Last fall, Dubai-based conglomerate Al Ahli Holding Group acquired theAudience to expand its holdings into digital media. Oliver Luckett, former CEO of theAudience, left the company in December 2015 to pursue other projects and currently lives in Iceland. In 2011, Luckett co-founded the company with Sean Parker, Facebook’s founding president and the inventor of Napster; and Ari Emanuel, co-CEO of WME.
“TheAudience built both its reputation and its unique position in the marketplace by learning how celebrities and social influencers can captivate such large networks of fans, and then applying that knowledge to the world of branded content,” said Mulford. “Bringing such forward-thinkers as Mike and Debbie on board demonstrates our ongoing commitment to connecting global companies to their audience in meaningful ways.”
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Prior to joining theAudience, Dodge was COO at Evolve Media, a digital lifestyle publisher whose brands include CraveOnline Media, TotallyHer Media and Martini Media. He has also held management positions at Internet Brands, GE, McKinsey & Co. and Procter & Gamble. “I am looking forward to using my most recent experience in connecting brands to millennial audiences with the expertise, imagination and passion that theAudience has for delivering brand engagement online through social media campaigns,” he said.
Menin most recently was head of strategic partnerships at Media General’s Federated Media. She previously held senior positions at Machinima, Yahoo, AOL, Huffington Post, Conde Nast’s Parade, MTV Networks and Variety. “The leading-edge social publishing capabilities that theAudience leverages to weave brands into the fabric of popular culture is what attracted me to the company,” Menin said. “Developing strategic social partnerships with Fortune 500 companies is what most excites me about joining Mike and Patrick.”
Pictured above (l. to r.): Mike Dodge, Debbie Menin, Patrick Mulford
