Dan set up creative practice Not Actual Size back in 2007. The earlier part of his career included a stint as Head of PR at Sony Interactive Europe where he handled the Playstation launch, and 5 years as a board director at the global PR giant Hill & Knowlton where he ran the global Adidas, Carlsberg and Gillette business. He is also a regular speaker and judge on award juries for both the advertising and PR industries (including D&AD, and PR Week).
London, UK
Maria spent over 10 years in advertising and research agencies (including ACNielsen, Publicis, BBDO), where she worked mainly as Media Research Director. She completed a dissertation on visual semiotics in 2004 and after that started working as a freelance semiotician with several international companies. She enjoyed the methodology so much that in 2009 she decided to make it her main field of specialization and founded semiotic and cultural research agency LocalTalk. Maria holds Masters (Hons) degree in Sociology and PhD in Social Psychology from State University of Management, Moscow.
Moscow, Russia
Vivian Shi is Director of Insight at Wisdom Asia-Rising Sun Marketing & Research Consulting in Shanghai, China. She has extensive experience in the area of applied semiotics and cultural analysis, tracking cultural trends in China and analysing advertising, packaging and digital communications across a wide range of categories. Vivian combines her semiotic interests with direct day to day work with consumers.
Shanghai, China