The Mad Ave Journal is edited for VP, Marketing to CXO-level industry leaders who are interested in understanding how contemporary culture intersects with Madison Avenue and the impact new media has on integrated marketing today.
Among its many achievements, the Journal is the only advertising trade e-zine to produce special promotions for its audience with such partners as the award-winning AMC-TV Network's series, MAD MEN, a series on advertising in the 1960's, the Museum of Modern Art and the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center.
It was created as a joint venture between Madison Avenue Consultants and Watershed Publishing.
Separately, Watershed publishes the several well-respected e-zines, including MarketingVox, MediaBuyerPlanner and Marketing Charts, among others.
Wendy McHale, Publisher
Before launching Madison Avenue Consultants and the Mad Ave Journal, Wendy McHale was a senior consultant with Vogue Magazine, the flagship Conde Nast publication where she provided insight and sales support for their print and integrated marketing sales propositions.
She brings a 15-year background in sales and management with major publishers, including Time Inc. and Conde Nast, both of which have twice employed her in senior sales positions. In 2002, Wendy won "Salesperson of the Year" at the Conde Nast Bridal Group for her sales growth using cross-platform solutions.
Over the course of her two stints at Time Inc. Wendy was hired as Fashion Director with InStyle Magazine at the launch of that extremely successful publication. She began her career in Time's College publishing division with Student Life Magazine, in circulation.
At Conde Nast, besides the Conde Nast Bridal Group, she has worked with Mademoiselle, Glamour and Architectural Digest and Bon Appétit. Before Time Inc. and Conde Nast, Wendy had stints with Murdoch and Reed Elsevier. Besides Fashion, her collective sales background has given her category knowledge of Beauty, Travel & Hospitality and Home Furnishings.
At Reed Elsevier where she began her career, Wendy helped launch "The Official Cruise Guide" as Global Advertising Director. She was 28 and at the time, the youngest person ever to hold the Global Ad Director position at the company.
As MadAve Journal publisher, Wendy manages the day to day media sales operations including all including RFP's, advertising negotiation, value-add coordination, processing IO's, trafficking, billing and providing all reporting/backup to substantiate advertising impressions verification.
As president of Madison Avenue Consultants Wendy is the primary day to day interface with a number of its Fortune 500-level clients. MadAveCon provides integrated marketing and media solutions for clients such as Forbes, Philips Electronics and Brooks Brothers. It also provides counsel and guidance for several interactive technology companies, including EyeWonder.com and ProLink.com among others.
She lectures at The New School University in various capacities with Kurt Brokaw, who teaches several courses there including "All About Advertising," among others. She can be reached at Wendy@madavejournal.com.
Kurt Brokaw, Culture Editor
Kurt spent 30 years on Madison Avenue as a writer and creative supervisor at Grey Advertising, Cunningham & Walsh, Benton & Bowles, and McCann-Erickson. His accounts included P&G, General Foods, Drackett, Texaco, American Home Products, The U.S. Navy, Heublein, Gordon's Gin, Van Heusen, Buick, MGM, and RCA Records.
He also organized and staffed RCA's first in-house agency as creative director of advertising/sales promotion for all of the label's artists, working with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Elvis Presley, Jefferson Airplane, The Guess Who, John Denver, Waylon Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Townes Van Zandt and Chet Atkins. On the agency side he wrote the Texaco campaign with Jack Benny in all media for four years, and created ads for other show business legends including George Burns and Harry Blackstone, Jr.
Since 1986 Kurt has taught "All About Advertising" to undergrads, grad students and working professionals at New School University in New York City. His classes welcome guest specialists like media entrepreneurs Wendy McHale and Tim McHale as well as Stephanie Blackwood, co-founder of the leading gay/lesbian agency, Double Platinum. Kurt also teaches "The Big Idea," a new three-credit copy design course that partners New School and Lang students who want to try writing advertising with Parsons' students who want to try designing ads. Non-credit working professionals can also take the course and partner each other. "The Big Idea" meets 15 Monday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00 starting September 10.
Additionally at The New School, Kurt taught in the Humanities Division for 10 years, alternating "Pulp Fiction" (a history of pulp magazines and their major authors from 1890 to 1950) and "Killer Writers" (a study of crime noir writers and novels from Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson, to Chester Himes, Patricia Highsmith and Donald E. Westlake).
Kurt also teaches a continuing film series at the 92nd Street Y, "Killer Movies: Lost Films Noirs" among others, which focuses on the best and most obscure crime dramas of the 1940s.
Kurt holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Journalism, both with advertising majors, from the University of Wisconsin, writing the first thesis there on television commercials. He also taught advertising at the University of Illinois, sharing a faculty office with the legendary direct mail specialist James Webb Young. He is married with four children.
Kurt's son, Chris, is a rock musician with three solo CDs in international distribution, plus 20 years' experience as lead guitarist recording and touring with Come, Consonant, Steve Wynn, and Evan Dando; Chris also played drums in the seminal slo-core band Codeine, and plays drums currently with The New Year. Kurt can be reached at brokawk@newschool.edu.
Tim McHale, Managing Editor
With a 19 year background in traditional marketing and 7 years in Interactive and marketing to date, McHale is best known for his proactive leadership role in integrated marketing. A self-described "Media Activist," as co-founder/managing partner of Madison Avenue Consultants and MadAve Journal Publisher, he is responsible for the day to day operations of the two LLC's
Tim has planned media and serviced over 150 B2C and B2B Brands, such as Procter and Gamble, McDonald's, Anheuser-Busch, Intel, MCI, Nike, Starbucks, British Airways, General Motors, Isuzu, American Airlines, Warner Bros., General Foods, Philip Morris, JC Penney, Exxon-Mobil and AOL among others.
McHale was co-founder and Chief Media Officer of Tribal DDB Worldwide, a separate division of DDB Worldwide (Omnicom). According to The New York Times, he was the first Interactive professional on Madison Avenue to be appointed to this title, representing the increased importance of media in the agency equation.
While at Tribal, he managed a 50+ person staff across 7 offices. He launched Tribal Connections, Tribal's global interactive CRM and strategy group. Before joining DDB, he was EVP, Director of Strategic Planning and Development at i-Traffic, a division of Agency.com (also Omnicom), also leading their business development efforts. Before forming Madison Avenue Consultants, McHale was co-founder and CEO of Underscore Marketing. Tim began his career as an intern at Ogilvy & Mather. He can be reached at tim@madavejournal.com.
Komra Moriko, Designer / Developer
Komra oversees all design and website management for both MadAveCon and the MadAve Journal. She acts as brand identity design guardian for both. Please go to AvenueVERVE.com to the award-winning site designs and testimonials from her clients.
The Madison Avenue Journal
244 Madison Avenue, #482
New York, New York 10016
www.tmajournal.com
To reach the editorial staff, please send us an email at editor@madisonavenuejournal.com.
