WHO’S CLARK KOKICH?

Clark Kokich used to be in advertising.

Then in 1999 he joined Avenue A in Seattle. Over the next ten years, Clark found himself smack in the middle of the Internet revolution, first as president of Avenue A, then c.e.o. of Avenue A/Razorfish, and now as chairman of Razorfish, one of the world’s largest digital marketing and technology firms, with over 2,000 employees in eight countries.

Along the way, he’s had the great fortune to work alongside some of the brightest and most successful digital marketers in the world, including Nike, Coors, Best Buy, Disney, Microsoft, JCPenney, and Levi’s.

Razorfish was the largest operating division of aQuantive, Inc., which was sold to Microsoft in 2007. This fall Razorfish found a permanent home when it was acquired by Publicis, the Paris-based marketing-services giant.

Razorfish works with over a quarter of the Fortune 100. These global brands are facing a fundamental change in the world of marketing and media. The emergence of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media means that marketing is no longer a one-sided conversation. For better or worse, whatever a company chooses to say about itself is now instantly subject to regard or reproach in the court of public opinion.

Not only are consumers in control, they’re living on an ever-expanding array of digital devices. Yes, they still surf the web, but just as often they’ll be consuming content on mobile phones, kiosks, iPods, touch-screen tables, in-flight screens, gaming consoles, and video walls. They’re looking to find the content they need, when they need it, wherever they may be in the world.

In this world it’s not enough to say something important about your brand. Now it’s essential you do something important. You must do something meaningful and relevant. You must do what good friends have always done: converse, support, sympathize, and cheer on. Consumers aren’t waiting to hear you boast about your product or service. They’re waiting to see if you can do something useful.

So that’s why Clark likes to say he used to be in advertising. Now he’s busy doing things.