IAB Names Cohen CEO, as Rothenberg Takes Exec Chair Role

In New York, digital media and marketing industries trade association the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has named David Cohen Chief Executive Officer, succeeding long-time CEO Randall Rothenberg, who will remain at IAB as Executive Chair through 2022.

Cohen joined earlier this year as IAB President, after working at MAGNA, Interpublic Group's centralized media intelligence, investment and innovation arm, where he most recently served as President, North America. In a 21-year career at Interpublic he also held senior roles at Universal McCann (UM), including Chief Investment Officer, Chief Media Officer, Chief Digital Officer, and EVP, US Director of Digital Communications. In his new role, Cohen will serve as CEO of both IAB and IAB Tech Lab, the separate trade association devoted to the development of industry technical standards, which is led by Dennis Buchheim.

He succeeds Rothenberg, who originally became IAB leader in 2007, after serving as Senior Director of Intellectual Capital at strategy and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton; spending six years at The New York Times as Technology Editor and Politics Editor; and ten years as a marketing and media columnist for Advertising Age. During his time as IAB CEO, Rothenberg has tripled the organizations membership to 750 companies, tripled its staff, and quintupled its annual revenues to $30m. Rothenberg has also driven collaborations with multiple trade associations, including the cross-industry self-regulatory mechanism to protect consumer privacy on the internet; the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). As Executive Chair, Cohen will work full-time until the end of 2020, and then half-time through 2022.

Commenting on Cohen's appointment, Rothenberg said: 'David is a true leader with the steadiness, strategic insights, and experience necessary to take IAB and the digital marketing and media industries through the economic recovery and ultimately to the next level of growth. The Board and I felt strongly that there was no reason to wait. He should be our CEO now.'

Web site: www.iab.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.