This was the headline of an article published by the Consumer Electronics Association in its member magazine Vision http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cea/vision0112/#/22 focusing on how online search engine marketing (including both SEO and paid search), coupled with high-quality social media programs and content marketing initiatives, are becoming essential for effective CE product and technology marketing strategies. Increasingly, both BtoC consumer electronics brands and BtoB technology component providers – from Lenovo and Nikon to Intel and IBM, just to name a few – are directing more of their overall marketing efforts and investment dollars toward paid and organic search campaigns supported by strong content marketing programs.

Come to the next CommNexus Consumer Electronics SIG event and see two nationally-recognized authorities on search, social and content marketing discuss the digital future of CE and technology marketing. We’re delighted to have two executives from San Diego-based Covario speaking at the event on Wednesday, April 10th.

Executive counterparts LuRae Lumpkin and Jeff MacGurn, serve as vice presidents of global paid and earned media, respectively, at Covario, the world’s leading independent search marketing agency and a social media/content marketing innovator.  The firm has represented an array of distinguished companies in the CE and technology space, including Lenovo, Nikon, Intel, IBM, Samsung, T-Mobile, Sony, HTC, BlackBerry, LG, Microsoft, AT&T, H-P, and many more. It was named by the OMMA (Online Media, Marketing and Advertising) publishing organization as The Search Agency of the Year for both 2012 and 2011. Covario was also one of just a few firms cited as a “Strong Performer” in the 2012 and 2011 Forrester Research Waves of Search Agencies.

Please join us for what promises to be a revved-up search and content marketing session that will surely offer insights and ideas to all of our CE SIG members.

PANELISTS:
LuRae Lumpkin

Vice President, Global Paid Media Services, Covario
LuRae Lumpkin is a dynamic interactive marketing professional with over 12 years of online marketing experience. She is a thought leader in the paid media space and writes, as well as speaks, for various publications and events. LuRae has worked with Fortune 500 brands across multiple verticals including Disney, Marriott, Sprint, Revlon, Warner Bros., Volkswagen and 
many others. LuRae has an extensive marketing background with a foundation in traditional media (i.e. television, print, radio, direct mail). In addition to owning her own search agency, she has held numerous senior positions including senior partner, head of search for MediaCom in New York; vice president, marketing for Qwest Communications; vice president, client and partner marketing for Click Action; and director, strategic planning for iCrossing. LuRae holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from the University of Oregon School of Journalism.

Jeff MacGurn
Vice President, Earned Media Services, Covario
As vice president of earned media services, Jeff MacGurn leads Covario’s SEO team, providing strategic search marketing and social media services to clients, which include Fortune 500 companies and Internet 1000 clients. Jeff has managed online search and social media marketing programs for Wells Fargo, Sony, Samsung, T-Mobile and Research in Motion, among others. Jeff began working in SEO in 2000 in the financial industry. He also has more than a decade of software and web development experience for companies such as NBC, UFC, The Discovery Channel and the NBA. Jeff holds a BA in Communication from the University of California, San Diego.

MODERATOR:
Rick Clancy
Head of Public Relations, Covario, Fmr. SVP, Corporate Communications, Sony Electronics

Rick Clancy is a veteran corporate communications executive, a public relations thought-leader, and a social media pioneer.  He currently serves as the head of PR for Covario, the world’s leading independent search marketing agency and, through Rio SEO, “the only leader” cited in the 2012 Forrester Wave of SEO software platforms. 

Based in San Diego, Covario provides enterprise-level paid search and search engine optimization (SEO) services to global brands and national retailers.  Increasingly, the firm also integrates a variety of innovative social media and content marketing strategies into its client programs. The firm’s suite of software solutions (most offered through Rio SEO) include SEO, local search, and social media automation and activation tools, in addition to analytics for cross-media ROI management, SEO reporting, paid search audits, and social media impact. The company has been named to the Inc. 500/5000 list of America’s fastest-growing firms several years in a row, as well as to the Software 500 list of the nation’s top software companies multiple times. The firm was named the OMMA 2012 and 2011 Search Agency of the Year. It was one of only a handful of firms selected for both the 2012 and 2011 Forrester Waves of Search Marketing Agencies.

 At Covario, Rick’s responsibilities primarily encompass media and analyst relations, as well as social media management.

Questions? Contact Brittany Bjerke at bbjerke@commnexus.org