Specific Media

Tim Vanderhook
Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer

Tim Vanderhook co-founded Specific Media in July 1999 when he recognized a need in the industry for an ad network that offered premium-site publishers and delivered efficient ROI results for advertisers.

Tim was largely responsible for creating the pop-under ad unit in 2001, when the dot com fallout began. Web publishers needed a new source of revenue to continue operating their companies and advertisers lost sight of the value traditional banners offered. The popular unit provided a large canvas for advertisers to deliver their messages and a new source of revenue for web publishers.

As the Internet ad industry continued to evolve and the pop under ad unit started to fade in popularity, Tim shifted the company's focus toward creating advanced user targeting technologies to support all standard IAB ad units.

Since 2002, he has developed one of the most advanced ad serving platforms in the industry, which gives advertisers the unique ability to serve ads to users based on demographic, behavioral, contextual and geographic data across the web's most popular brand publishers. Today, Specific Media's Premium Network boasts the biggest roster of brand publishers on the web with brand names such as Yahoo, Marketwatch, ABCNews, FOX Sports, MLB.com and virtually every other major media company.

Tim is responsible for the strategic direction of Specific Media and communicating the corporate mission to external audiences.

Chris Vanderhook
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer

Before assuming his current title, Chris served as the company's Senior Vice President, overseeing day-to-day operations including all aspects of sales, media buying and ad operations.

Prior to joining Specific Media, Chris was a Personal Banker specializing in small business financing at Bank of America. He became a top-ranked associate regionally and nationally for his outstanding achievement in the procurement of new business finance clientele.

Chris received a BS degree in Business Administration at the Marshall School of Business from University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Russell Vanderhook
Co-Founder, Senior Vice President

Russell oversees the implementation of new products for Specific Media and plays a key role in maintaining the company's technological edge.

Prior to assuming his current title in January 2003, he served as Chief Operating Officer of predecessor, Advertisement Banners.com, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations.

Colin Petrie-Norris
Managing Director, International Specific Media

Colin Petrie-Norris joined Specific Media in 2008 as International Managing Director. Petrie-Norris' responsibilities include managing Specific Media's portfolio of international business and overseeing European growth and expansion into new territories. As Specific Media continues its strategic growth in Europe and builds on its current market share, Petrie-Norris will spearhead the development of the company's rapidly growing client base across the region.

Prior to Specific Media, Petrie-Norris served as Chief Operating Officer of Advertising.com's International Division, where he oversaw the company's operations in UK, France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland and Denmark. Petrie-Norris developed and executed a successful realignment business strategy for Advertising.com Europe through the centralisation and restructuring of operations, process re-engineering, creation of client services, the formation of advanced analytical teams and pioneering numerous technology advancements.

Before joining Advertising.com, Petrie-Norris was Business Manager at Capital One in Johannesburg and in Nottingham, UK where he piloted the first credit card in the South African market specifically targeting the underserved segment and launched a secured-credit card product for the UK market respectively.

Petrie-Norris received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and is an accredited professional engineer.

Philippe Besnard
Managing Director, Continental Europe

Philippe joined Specific Media to drive the company's strategic growth policy across the region and oversee the existing French and German operations.

Prior to Specific Media, Philippe was Managing Director of Southern Europe at AOL, where he successfully developed and merged AOL and Advertising.com together. During Philippe’s leadership, the Advertising.com unit dramatically turned around with a 3 fold revenue increase and a number one position in local markets.

Philippe has extensive online advertising experience but he has also held many senior management positions in services and consumer goods sector. Before joining AOL, Besnard was the COO of the French office for Laureate International, a US-based investment company specialising in education and e-learning.

Steve McCartney
Senior Vice President, Engineering

Steve McCartney is responsible for all aspects of technical operations and developing Specific Media’s global ad serving platform and ad management system.

Steve joined Specific Media through its acquisition of Adviva, where he served as Head of Technology. Whilst at Adviva, Steve designed, developed and implemented their proprietary ad-serving platform that powered the growth of the company since 2000 and continues to innovate in the fields of Behavioral and Contextual targeting in parallel to scaling the platform to address Specific Media's global audience.

Steve holds a Masters of Engineering in Materials Science from St. Catherines College, Oxford University.

Jon Schulz
Senior Vice President, Global Category Development

Jon Schulz joined Specific Media in 2008 as Senior Vice President of Global Category Development. In his role, Jon will develop category expertise and foster strategic partnerships to drive Specific Media's growth and solidify the company's leadership position in key industries around the world.

Jon joins Specific Media from Ford Motor Company, where he worked for more than 12 years in a variety of functions, including brand management, marketing communications, field sales, regional marketing, website development, direct marketing, incentives planning, field operations and dealer relations. Most recently, Jon headed Digital and Direct Marketing for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands where he was responsible for online and emerging media, dealer digital integration, brand websites and direct marketing. Prior to that, Jon was Brand Manager for Mercury car lines where he was responsible for marketing communications, pricing and packaging. Before joining Ford, Jon held several Information Technology positions at Eli Lilly and Company.

Jon has an MBA in Marketing from Indiana University and a BS in Management Information Systems from Central Michigan University.

Rupert Staines
Senior Vice President, International Client Development

Rupert Staines joined the UK’s premium ad network in late 2005 to lead the expansion into Europe. His Online Advertising experience goes back to 1998 when he created the European operation for Valueclick Inc. (NQ: VCLK), opening offices in London, Paris, Munich & Madrid and living through their successful IPO in 2000. He has been a company director for the last 8 years with a primary focus on generating revenue from commercially viable opportunities in the Licensing, Brand Development and Online Media sectors.

Rupert brings to Specific Media 15 years of Business knowledge and experience in International Operations, Digital marketing, Media Sales, Intellectual Property and Brand Management with Adviva, Fastclick, Hasbro Inc., Valueclick Inc., The Nest, Associated Newspapers and BMW AG. Rupert holds a BA (Hons) German & Management Science from Royal Holloway College, University of London.

Eric Clemenceau
Senior Vice President, International Client Development

Eric Clemenceau joined Specific Media in 2009 as Senior Vice President of International Client Development. His responsibilities include expanding Specific Media’s client base and creating tailor-made client solutions, whilst continuously promoting the quality of our Data Network.

Former journalist, SVP and CEO, Eric has worked in various media sectors including print (Vogue), international channels (CNN), cable networks (Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TCM) and the Internet (Massive, Joost). Eric has proven successful in a variety of business development functions where he has increased advertising revenues and triumphed in top management positions, always finding innovative media consumption for users and cutting edge marketing solutions for marketers.

Tania Bruning
Finance Director of Specific Media UK & Europe

Tania Bruning Finance Director of Specific Media UK & Europe, joined the company in early 2007. Prior to this she was Financial Controller of easy-forex.com, an online platform for trading foreign exchange currencies, where she was responsible for finance and administration.

She has also worked for FTSE 100 companies including Johnson Matthey Plc and Home Retail Group Plc (formerly GUS Plc), where she advised the Board and Audit Committees of risk management and internal audit issues. Prior to this, Tania was part of the Group Strategy team at GUS Plc that managed the Initial Public Offering of Burberry Plc on to the London Stock Exchange. She also set up her own retail business in 2004, successfully running the finance, sales, purchasing & marketing of 3 home interior shops in Central London.

Tania qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 1997, where she gained valuable experience in accounting and financial management. She received a BA in Business Administration with German from Middlesex University, London.

Katie Field
Vice President, European Publisher Services

Katie Field is VP European Publisher Services for Specific Media. February 09 saw Katie’s role expand from a UK to a European focus alongside the development of Specific Media in the European market.

Her primary focus includes the development and implementation of the Publisher Services strategy across Europe. Aside from managing key strategic partners, Katie is responsible for the expansion of Specific Media's data advantage.

Prior to the acquisition by Specific Media, as Director of Publishers for Adviva, Katie was an active contributor to business growth since joining in 2004. Katie has fostered and developed relationships with new and existing publishers and implemented growth strategies to achieve the premium publisher network that was unique to Adviva and has continued this through the transition to Specific Media.

Katie holds a BA (Hons) in Advertising and Marketing Communications from the Media School at Bournemouth University.

Pippa Halstead
Director of Marketing, Europe

Pippa Halstead is Director of Marketing for Specific Media Europe.

Pippa joined Specific Media in 2008 to develop the brand across Europe. In this role she delivers a multi-channel marketing programme to inform and educate the wider industry of the Specific Media offering. Pippa heads the European Marketing Division and her responsibilities include PR, events, product marketing, advertising and marketing communications.

Prior to joining Specific Media, Pippa held Marketing and Communication positions at companies including the dating arm of Associated News Digital, and Clear Channel Entertainment where she helped set up a boutique corporate events department.

Pippa holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from University of Nottingham.

Virginia Ammann
Vice President, European Operations

Virginia holds the position of VP European Operations with the aim of replicating Specific Medias success across the European business. Her responsibilities include Business Solutions, Ad Operations, Product, Analytics and Performance Strategy.

Prior to Specific Media, Virginia has over 7 years experience in the online marketplace, joining Adviva Media at it’s inception. As Director of Advertising, Virginia was responsible for revenue growth, sales strategy and the development of the sales team in the UK, and was instrumental in establishing Adviva’s reputation within the UK marketplace.

Virginia has a BA (Hons) in Advertising & Marketing Communications from Bournemouth University.

Emma Boyle
HR Director, Europe

Emma Boyle is the HR Director for Specific Media Europe. In this role Emma works across the organisation providing leadership and direction, ensuring that people practices are fully aligned and supportive of the Specific Media business strategy. Since joining Specific Media, Emma has focused on sourcing and supporting talent in the UK operation and helping drive the European Expansion.

Prior to Specific Media, Emma worked within HR in the Experiential Marketing industry where she attained full Chartered Membership of the Institute of Personnel & Development. Emma holds an MA in Human Resource Management from London Metropolitan University and a BA (Hons) in Media and Information from Brighton University.