Avi Savar
Founding Partner | Big Fuel
New York, NY, UNITED STATES
Founder and Chairman of Big Fuel. Inaugural Cannes Lions Branded Content Jury President. Sought-after industry spokesperson and author.
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Biography
Avi Savar is Chairman, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Big Fuel, a pure-play social media agency.
Since 2004, Big Fuel has helped brands navigate the world of social media and branded content. Today, Big Fuel is one of the largest pure-play social media agency globally — with over 100 employees and clients that include Burger King, AFLAC, Best Buy T-Mobile, Starwood, Microsoft, Clorox, Children’s Place, Budweiser, among others.
In June 2011, Avi led Big Fuel to a successful acquisition by French media giant Publicis Groupe, giving Big Fuel a global footprint. Within Publicis, Big Fuel is a part of Starcom MediaVest Group, where it continues to influence the shape of brand communications and media for the world’s leading companies.
A sought-after industry spokesperson, and author of Content to Commerce: Engaging Consumers Across Paid, Earned & Owned Channels,
Avi was named President of the inaugural Cannes Lions Branded Content Jury and is a board member of the Social Media Advertising Consortium (SMAC). An adviser to several non-profits’s including UJA Federation and Grameen America. Avi is also an active investor and adviser to several media and technology companies including: Project Decor, Wendr, Promoboxx, Proclivity Media, Urban Interns, CMP.LY, Hyphen Lab, DietBet, among others.
Prior to founding Big Fuel, Avi was a television producer, creating and developing breakthrough entertainment programming for ABC’s “Good Morning America” and networks including MTV, VH1, Showtime, Fox, USA. He was instrumental in the success of VH1’s hit series “The Fabulous Life of….”
Avi began his career in the agent-training program at ICM in Los Angeles.
A Boston University Alumni, Avi currently lives in NYC with his wife and daughter.
Industry Expertise (10)
Internet
Writing and Editing
Social Media
Public Relations and Communications
Entertainment
Media Production
Advertising/Marketing
Media - Online
Media - Broadcast
Media - Print
Areas of Expertise (10)
Brand Strategy
Marketing and Content Creation
Social Media & Branding
Convergence of Marketing & Entertainment
Film & Video Production
Broadcast Public Relations
Content Syndication & Distribution
Branded Media Marketing
Branded Content
Original Programming for Broadcast & Web
Accomplishments (3)
Founding Partner – Big Fuel Communications (professional)
2004-03-01
Social media is a channel of people stories and in social spaces content is what drives engagement. Big Fuel is a New York-based Social Media and Branded Content company that takes brands from Content To Commerce. Big Fuel sits at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Hollywood; combining brand messaging and strategy with entertainment value and cultural relevance. We deliver guaranteed and measurable consumer engagement for some of the biggest brands in the world.
Chairman & President – Cannes Lions Jury (Branded Content & Entertainment) (professional)
2012-06-01
Inspiring Creativity is at the heart of Cannes Lions. The Festival is where creative professionals come to debate, learn and be inspired; where the greatest industry honours are bestowed; where those pushing creative communications forward are celebrated. For nearly 60 years, the Cannes Lions Awards have set the benchmark for excellence in creative communications. In 2012, Cannes Lions welcomed new entry sections for Mobile Lions and Branded Content & Entertainment Lions.
Board of Directors – Social Media Advertising Consortium (SMAC) (professional)
SMAC members are groundbreakers, entrepreneurs and thought leaders. This community fosters an environment of innovation and expertise in social media, with an emphasis on new business opportunities, knowledge and creating business relationships. SMAC fosters collaboration throughout the entire social media ecosystem, diving deep into critical issues and staying ahead of this constantly evolving industry. Our mission is to educate member companies on issues and trends in social media.
Education (1)
Boston University: Bachelors, Communications 1995
Affiliations (6)
- Publicis Groupe
- Grameen America
- UJA Federation
- SMAC
- Cannes Lions
- Big Fuel
Links (4)
Event Appearances (19)
Winning The Trust Economy
Engage: Digital Storytelling Conference New York, NY
2014-04-29
Native Content Campaigns that Rock
Westchester Digital Summit Westchester, NY
2014-05-15
Driving Participation to Build Trust
Targeting Trust New York
2014-05-08
IAA Global Marketing Summit
Is Marketing Dead? New York
2013-04-26
Follow The Money: Once it's Paid For, Is Earned Media Authentic?
Ad:Tech "Under the Influence" San Fransisco
2013-04-10
Branded Content: Make it Good, Or Don’t Make it At All
Ad:Tech New York, NY
2012-11-08
Storytelling to Engagement
Branducers 2012 Spain
2012-08-30
Leveraging Your Free Focus Group
Internet Week in New York - OMMA SOCIAL New York City
2012-05-15
KEYNOTE SPEECH: Trends at CES
CES 2012 – Creative Talks Live Las Vegas, Nevada
2012-01-12
Working with Brands and Content Creators
2012 International CES Las Vegas, Nevada
2012-01-11
Socializing Media
Monaco Media Forum Monte Carlo
2011-11-09
Case Study: Driving Engagement & Increasing Sales Through Facebook
Social Media Marketing & Monitoring New York 2011 New York City
2011-10-12
Do Facebook ‘likes’ Indicate Marketer ROI?
DMA: 2011 Conference & Exhibition Boston, Massachusetts
2011-10-04
KEYNOTE SPEECH: Brand Content, Storytelling & Engagement
Branducers Conference Spain
2011-09-02
The Great Facebook Debate
Digital Publishing & Advertising Conference New York City
2011-06-09
Social Media 102
The Penn Club Event Series New York City
2010-01-11
The Power of the Individual Voice: Social Media & the Blogosphere
The X Factor: Marketing to Women in the Digital Age New York City
2010-09-16
Does Your Brand Have Mom-entum?
iMedia Brand Summit Miami, Florida
2010-06-15
Branded Media Marketing: Reinventing the Commerce & Media Model
Digital Hollywood Santa Monica, California
2009-10-21
Sample Talks (5)
Winning The Trust Economy
Being a marketer today has never been more challenging. One-size-fits-all messaging has been trumped by the need for context, relevance and real-time content in order to build trust with consumers and drive commerce. Learn key tenants and simple tools to put you on the right path to successfully connecting with your audience in a meaningful and engaging way.
Branded Media Marketing: Reinventing the Commerce & Media Model
With the attention of the consumer being assaulted by a host of great technologies, devices as well as content programming, the task of the client, the agency and content provider raising their message above the clutter is daunting. The industry’s marketing teams are reinventing the world of entertainment, branding and marketing. In this session, Big Fuel's Avi Savar will offer his insights into the structures of the industry’s future.
Branded Content: Make it Good, Or Don’t Make it At All
The first rule of branded content is that it needs to be good. No exceptions. The second is that you need to choose the right platform; you need to be where your audience is. Distribution and analytics round out the strategy, but quality content is key. This presentation will highlight examples of branded content that worked to achieve specific goals, along with insights into choosing syndication and distribution partners, as well as various ways of measuring success.
Working with Brands and Content Creators
Are you a brand looking to deliver your message through web series content? Are you a video producer looking to help brands reach an audience? Join Avi Savar, Founding Partner of Big Fuel, as he talks about what works and what doesn't work in the online video space.
Leveraging Your Free Focus Group
Marketers now have access to technology that can transform social conversations into actionable insights, allowing them to extract a real understanding of their audience’s online experiences and transform them into a responsive, real-time focus group that isn’t necessarily dependent on popular social networking sites. Avi will discuss how this abundance of information from social media provides marketers with a real-time focus group and how it can improve both their online and offline marketing.
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Host/MC
- Author Appearance
Social