Big Happy Taps Industry Titans to Reshape Omnichannel Advertising

NEW YORK, NY – March 11, 2026 – Adtech platform Big Happy has announced the formation of its 2026 Board of Advisors, a strategic move assembling senior leaders from across the media, marketing, and brand strategy landscape. The company, which champions a creative-first, performance-powered approach, aims to leverage this new brain trust to guide its next growth phase and solidify the role of cinematic creative as a primary performance driver in an increasingly fragmented advertising world.

As consumer journeys now fluidly cross between physical and digital environments, the new board is tasked with shaping the future of omnichannel advertising. “We’re thrilled to welcome a board of leaders who share our belief that creative isn’t an add-on - it’s a key performance lever,” said Jonathan Frohlinger, Founder and CEO of Big Happy. “Their guidance will help us define the next era of omnichannel advertising, where DOOH and mobile work in tandem to deliver measurable lift, stronger conversion, and incremental growth.”

A Strategic Assembly of Industry Leaders

The advisory board represents a formidable collection of expertise, strategically chosen to reflect the modern marketing ecosystem. The roster includes Adam Gerber, former Head of Ads Commercialization at Netflix; Chris Price, VP of Media at Heineken; Katie Haniffy, Vice President of Media at Dick's Sporting Goods; and Meredith Herman, Global Head of Marketing Acceleration at Kenvue. This brand-side experience is complemented by agency and adtech veterans like Brian Rappaport, CEO of Quan Media Group; Daniel Mouradian, SVP at Innovid; and Melissa Gordon-Ring, Global President at Omnicom Media Health. The inclusion of entrepreneurs like Natalie Holloway, CEO & Co-Founder of Bala, adds a crucial perspective on brand building from the ground up.

This diverse composition underscores a holistic approach to tackling modern advertising challenges. One of the new board members, Greg Reilly, CEO of iCleanse and former President of Dentsu Health, captured the current climate in the announcement. "The rules of attention have changed," Reilly stated. "The flood of content has eroded our ability to reliably capture attention and earn trust, and brands can no longer rely on reach alone to drive real outcomes. Pairing high-impact creative with precision targeting across DOOH and mobile is transforming how brands create meaningful connections, influence behavior, and deliver tangible impact for the audiences they serve."

The Omnichannel Imperative: Bridging Digital and Physical Worlds

The formation of this board is set against a backdrop of profound industry shifts. The concept of omnichannel advertising has matured from a buzzword to a business necessity. Projections for 2026 show a market moving beyond simple multi-platform presence towards a cohesive, data-driven brand experience where consumers expect seamless transitions between their screens and their physical surroundings.

At the heart of this shift is the rapid growth and evolution of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising. Industry forecasts indicate that DOOH will command over 40% of the total outdoor advertising spend by 2026, with the global market projected to surpass $10.9 billion. This expansion is fueled by programmatic DOOH (pDOOH), which enables automated, data-rich buying and allows for dynamic creative optimization—adapting ad messaging in real-time based on signals like weather, location, or even live data feeds.

The true power of this new landscape, and a key focus for Big Happy, lies in the convergence of DOOH and mobile. When used in tandem, these channels create a powerful synergy. Studies show that integrated DOOH and mobile campaigns can extend campaign reach by over 300% and increase engagement by nearly 50%. Critically, research has found that 74% of mobile users take action on their device after being exposed to a DOOH advertisement, bridging the gap between seeing an ad in the physical world and taking a digital action like a search or a purchase.

Beyond Reach: Validating Creative as a Performance Driver

Big Happy’s core thesis is that in an era of content saturation, high-quality, cinematic creative is the most significant lever for performance. This belief is not just an internal mantra; it is increasingly validated by extensive industry research. A landmark study by Nielsen found that creative quality is responsible for 49% of a brand's sales lift from advertising—a figure that rises to 56% for digital campaigns, making it a more significant factor than reach, targeting, or brand combined.

This finding is echoed across the industry. Research from Ipsos suggests that creative quality determines a staggering 75% of advertising impact, while Google's internal Media Lab attributes 70% of ad performance directly to the creative itself. This data collectively refutes the long-held notion of creative as a subjective, unquantifiable "add-on" and repositions it as a measurable, indispensable component of a successful media plan. The focus on cinematic creative is also rooted in data, with studies on cinema advertising showing it generates significantly higher levels of memory recall and personal engagement than traditional television ads, underscoring the power of immersive, story-driven visuals to capture attention and drive impact.

Big Happy's Blueprint: CGI, Integration, and Performance

To execute on its vision, Big Happy has developed a proprietary ad platform built on advanced CGI technology. This platform centralizes 3D creative production, media activation, targeting, and measurement, allowing for the rapid and scalable deployment of cinematic ad experiences across its network of over one million DOOH screens and more than 7,000 premium mobile publishers.

The company's end-to-end solution is designed to streamline what is often a disjointed process, ensuring creative consistency and performance optimization from a single point of control. The platform is fully integrated with all major demand-side platforms (DSPs) and leading measurement providers, enabling sophisticated targeting based on audience segmentation, location intelligence, and real-time contextual signals.

Big Happy reports that this integrated approach yields significant results, claiming its ad units deliver 54% higher brand recall and 7x greater engagement than industry standards. The company further asserts that its campaigns achieve 14x higher brand recall and 4x more product interest overall, with a 75% unaided recall rate among consumers. By assembling a board of seasoned experts and continuing to invest in its integrated technology, Big Happy is positioning itself to not only navigate the future of advertising but to actively define it.