Meet The Panellists: How Media Owners are Powering 2026’s Most Creative Work
Ever wondered how the likes of the New York Times, Spotify, Channel 4, and JCDecaux power the world’s most attention-grabbing work? That’s what LBB’s AUNZ managing editor Brittney Rigby will dig into at Cannes, in one of the first sessions on the LBB & Friends’ Beach in 2026.
On Monday June 22nd at 12:30pm CEST, in a session titled ‘The Infinite Stage: How Media Owners are Powering 2026’s Most Creative Work’, Brittney will be joined by:
- Tusar Barik, senior vice president, marketing, New York Times Advertising
- Kellie Espina, head of creative strategy, Americas, Spotify
- Mark Bucknell, chief commercial officer, JCDecaux UK
- Jennifer Carey, director of media and effectiveness, Channel 4
- Samira Ansari, chief creative officer, Grey US
Panel Overview:
Truth and trust are in short supply, but inspiration doesn't have to be. While the industry grapples with the 'Slop Age,' a new wave of media innovation is proving the platform itself can be the most powerful creative tool in a brand’s arsenal. Whether it’s the immersive scale of 3D OOH, the intimate power of audio, or the ‘analogue’ resurgence of print, media is taking centrestage. We’ve invited a diverse group of media owners and a top CCO to dig into how the best media companies are helping brands cut through the noise with ingenuity.
The Panellists:
Tusar Barik, senior vice president, marketing, New York Times Advertising
Tusar Barik is SVP of marketing at New York Times Advertising (NYTA), focused on long-term go-to-market strategies and execution for the breadth of NYTA's portfolio of brands (News, Cooking, Wirecutter, The Athletic, Audio, and Games).
He and his team are focused on enabling and engaging agencies and customers to help them exceed their marketing goals and drive sustainable growth. Prior to joining The New York Times, Tusar spent over seven years at LinkedIn as senior director of marketing.
Tusar has experience in advertising, marketing, and ad-tech on the agency, client, and consultant side. Tusar was recently named on Ad Age 40 Under 40 2025 list. Tusar currently lives in the US near Princeton NJ with his wife, son, and daughter.
Kellie Espina, head of creative strategy, Americas, Spotify
Kellie Espina is head of creative strategy, Americas at Spotify, overseeing both North American and Latin America. She works at the intersection of culture, music, and podcasts to help brands unlock their full creative potential by building connections with consumers rooted in fandom, passion, and the moments that matter most to fans.
Samira Ansari, chief creative officer, Grey US
An international multi-award-winning creative, Samira Ansari has worked across Fortune 500 brands globally. Her work on Michelob Ultra’s McEnroe vs McEnroe received a 2023 Sports Emmy Award in the Best Digital Innovation category, and in 2022 was awarded the only Cannes Gold Lion in Innovation. She was also recognised on Adweek’s Creative 100 list in 2022.
Her career highlights include creating Michelob Ultra Courtside with the NBA and Microsoft, launching Mike’s Hard Lemonade in South America, producing a brutally honest campaign for U by Kotex that forever changed how women's sanitary products are marketed, and taking Wheat Thins and Pringles to the Super Bowl for the first time.
Most recently, Samira was appointed US chief creative officer for Grey, where she now leads the creative vision across the agency's New York and Cincinnati studios.
This move follows a highly successful two-year tenure as chief creative officer for Ogilvy New York, the agency’s flagship office. Under her creative leadership, Ogilvy New York ranked No. 3 among global agencies at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Her direction also helped Ogilvy garner Cannes’ Network of the Year honour, with Michael CeraVe and Recycle Me winning Grand Prix awards -- the latter marking Coca-Cola’s first Grand Prix in a decade. Additionally, during her tenure, Nestlé's Sanpellegrino With Love, Italy earned the brand its first-ever Cannes Lion in 2025.
The success of Ogilvy New York under her leadership was instrumental in Ogilvy being ranked No. 1 by WARC on both its Creative 100 and Effective 100 lists, marking the first time any agency network has achieved that top ranking in consecutive years.
Jennifer Carey, director of media and effectiveness, Channel 4
Jennifer first discovered it was someone’s job to decide where the ads go when she started her media career at Carlton Sales for ITV. She then moved on to planning campaigns agency-side before landing at Channel 4 to set up their in-house media planning team. She is now Channel 4’s director of media and effectiveness, overseeing media strategy and measurement to ensure campaigns are both impactful and effective.
Mark Bucknell, chief commercial officer, JCDecaux UK
Mark Bucknell is chief commercial officer at JCDecaux, the UK’s leading digital out-of-home media company. Mark leads the company’s commercial strategy across the UK commercial team as well as the international sales team based in London.
Appointed chief commercial officer in 2019, Mark champions the power of creativity and the real-world attention of out-of-home to drive business results, helping brands harness the new digital and programmatic capabilities of out-of-home that are making the medium more accountable, flexible and effective than ever before.
Having joined JCDecaux in 2006 following several years in the out-of-home industry, Mark has held leadership roles spanning investment, agency partnerships, client relationships and commercial strategy. Mark is a committed champion of diversity and inclusion within the industry. He is involved with Bloom Exchange and a qualified Mental Health First Aider.
Brittney Rigby, managing editor AUNZ, Little Black Book
Brittney is managing editor AUNZ at LBB. She is a seasoned journalist with leadership experience across both newsrooms and agencies, including as editor at Mediaweek, deputy managing editor at Mumbrella, and head of communications at DDB Group Australia.
She has also written for industry titles such as Campaign UK, Campaign Asia, and AdNews, and freelances regularly for mastheads like The Guardian and Sydney Morning Herald.
She appears on radio and TV to talk about her work, and in 2022, was awarded a 30 under 30 accolade. She is qualified as a lawyer, and worked in law firms before joining adland.
