Our team is comprised of brand and communication experts with decades of experience with Madison Avenue firms as well as highly nimble and creative boutique agencies. An international team that develops ideas that can scale, we also have in-depth experience with multicultural and global marketing & media.
Ruston is the Founder and CEO of Spurlock and Partners (S&P) LLC, minority owned marketing and media consultancy that advises clients on brand strategy, digital marketing, media strategy and planning. Spurlock is a senior executive with over 25+ years of experience in driving revenue growth for some of the world’s best-known brands. A champion of creativity, diversity & innovation, Spurlock is known as a business leader and team builder who puts his team members in the position to succeed. Ruston has spent over nearly three decades in the advertising business with an expertise in managing global brands and advertising agencies across multiple geographies including Asia, Europe and the United States. Over the years, Spurlock has represented Microsoft, AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, Kraft Carlsberg, Shell, Hennessy, Tylenol & Zyrtec. Spurlock has also served as the Managing Director of Leo Burnett Moscow, General Manager of Leo Burnett New York and Managing Partner of J. Walter Thompson Beijing. He has extensive experience in forming successful partnerships with the C-suite and exceeding Client expectations through successfully implementing business and creative strategies with first rate execution. Spurlock also has a passion for integrating interdisciplinary teams. Ruston is a graduate of University of Virginia with a major in East Asian Studies and a specialization in Japanese Language. Ruston received an MBA in Marketing from Thunderbird, The American School of International Management. Ruston is a Co-Chair of the 4A's Foundation Board and as an advisor to the William H. Gray III Foundation. He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the UVA Ridley Scholarship Fund and the Thunderbird Asia-Pacific Alumni Executive Committee. A ranked tennis player in his youth, he is now a runner and an avid foreign newspaper reader.
Andréa Waite a results-driven strategic marketing leader with over 15 years of diversified experience in delivering revenue for brands, agencies, and platforms. Andrea has extensive knowledge in multi-channel media and has a proven track record for developing and growing client partnerships. She is highly adaptable, curious by nature and a creative problem-solver with a global mindset. A native New Yorker, Andréa spent 13 years with some of the biggest media agencies, including MindShare, Carat, and Starcom. Collectively she has experience in CPG, B2B tech, consumer tech, pharmaceutical, finance, education, and luxury. Shortly after graduating with a M.S. in Integrated Marketing from NYU, Andréa moved to China for 3.5 years. Andréa led local teams of 10+ across a range of multi-national clients including Nokia, Novartis, Otis, UBS and P&G. Most recently Andréa was with Verizon Media (formerly AOL & Yahoo) leading the multi-million Dentsu Aegis Network global agency business. In that role, Andréa was responsible for the strategic and commercial partnership. She established Verizon Media as a select global media partner and helped secure an exclusive first-ever data and tech deal. Shortly after Verison Media, Andréa joined R2integrated, an independent, PE-backed digital marketing firm. There, she was tasked to lead and grow their media service line. In less than one year, she delivered significant YoY revenue growth and improved profit margins; the highest across six business units. Outside of media & marketing, Andréa has a passion for education. She was a guest speaker for Baruch College (CUNY) for seven years, taught a semester at NYU, was a founder of a charter school in Flatbush, Brooklyn, led training programs in China, and is currently working with the IAB on developing a 4-hour virtual training. Andrea lives in Herndon, Virginia with her husband and her two daughters.
Senior Advisor – Digital Media
Andréa Waite is a results-driven strategic marketing leader with over 15 years of diversified experience in delivering revenue for brands, agencies, and platforms. Andrea has extensive knowledge in multi-channel media and has a proven track record for developing and growing client partnerships. She is highly adaptable, curious by nature and a creative problem-solver with a global mindset. A native New Yorker, Andréa spent 13 years with some of the biggest media agencies, including MindShare, Carat, and Starcom. Collectively she has experience in CPG, B2B tech, consumer tech, pharmaceutical, finance, education, and luxury. Shortly after graduating with a M.S. in Integrated Marketing from NYU, Andréa moved to China for 3.5 years. Andréa led local teams of 10+ across a range of multi-national clients including Nokia, Novartis, Otis, UBS and P&G. Most recently Andréa was with Verizon Media (formerly AOL & Yahoo) leading the multi-million Dentsu Aegis Network global agency business. In that role, Andréa was responsible for the strategic and commercial partnership. She established Verizon Media as a select global media partner and helped secure an exclusive first-ever data and tech deal. Shortly after Verison Media, Andréa joined R2integrated, an independent, PE-backed digital marketing firm. There, she was tasked to lead and grow their media service line. In less than one year, she delivered significant YoY revenue growth and improved profit margins; the highest across six business units. Outside of media & marketing, Andréa has a passion for education. She was a guest speaker for Baruch College (CUNY) for seven years, taught a semester at NYU, was a founder of a charter school in Flatbush, Brooklyn, led training programs in China, and is currently working with the IAB on developing a 4-hour virtual training. Andrea lives in Herndon, Virginia with her husband and her two daughters.
Brooklyn-based Douglas Davis enjoys being one of the variety of voices needed in front of and behind the concept, marketing plan or digital strategy. His approach to creativity combines right-brained creative problem solving with left-brained strategic thinking. This unique mix of creative strategy, integrated marketing, and art direction is what Douglas brings into the boardroom or classroom. Douglas leverages his experience as a faculty member in the Communication Design department at New York City College of Technology, on the graduate level in the Branding and Integrated Communications (BIC) program at The City College of New York and digitally as a HOW Design University course contributor. His HOW Design University class, Creative Strategy and the Business of Design was published as a book in June 2016. Douglas has found an international audience through his relationship with HOW, as a judge of The Best Brand Awards and publishing in the European Business Review. Douglas enjoys interacting with creative people and presents at industry conferences throughout the U.S., Canada, India and Russia. In addition to client work and giving back in the classroom, Douglas was appointed to serve on the 4A's education advisory board. During his 10 years of service on the committee, his advertising and academic experience aided him in authoring the 4-year curriculum for New York City's High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media (IAM), the only public advertising high school in the country. As a follow up, Douglas was also instrumental in developing the second 4A's industry supported school, Manhattan Early College School for Advertising (MECA). Douglas holds a B.A. in Graphic Design from Hampton University, an M.S. in Communications Design from Pratt Institute and a M.S. in Integrated Marketing from New York University.
Senior Advisor - Learning & Development & Design
Al has been a media planner and marketer for 15+ years developing plans for Fortune 500 brands that increased sales, market share and ROI. Mentoring is important to me to help inspire and guide youth and young professionals. The blending of my skills and passion has led me to successful endeavors in advertising, diversity and inclusion as well as learning and development. In the last few years, he has has worked with c-suites, executives, human resources, vendors, college/HS administration and my favorites (students) to identify talent development opportunities across levels, which was reflected through: internships, job-shadowing, lectures, professional engagement, mentoring, career coaching, competitions, curriculum development, content creation, networking and online training.
Senior Advisor - Media
Al Benoit is a native NYer who grew up in Queens, graduated Baruch College with a BA in Marketing and joined his first agency, Young & Rubicam. Over the next 7 years he developed award winning plans and drove revenue growth at full-service agencies. He worked on brands like Advil, CDC and MLK Jr. Memorial encompassing a breadth of business goals and targets. From 2005 to 2015 he worked at media agencies, honing his skills across media channels on a range of accounts including Amex, Dell and Subway. During those years, he also found new ways to give back to the community by joining Big Brother Big Sister, teaching at NYU and coaching youth football. In 2015, he began working at the 4A’s, leading the youth pipeline which encompassed developing advertising curriculum, industry engagement, fundraising, partnerships, creating mentoring and internships for NYC youth. In, 2021, he returned to the ad industry, working as SVP, Group Media Director at Mediahub, leading the NBA account. He credits his success to growing up in the most diverse county in the world, a strong work-ethic, a growth mindset and the edict of putting more in than you take out. Led by a consumer-centric mindset, Al believes that creativity and data science are complementary, not opposites. During his free time, Al enjoys all sports including skydiving, whitewater rafting and surviving a Gen Z daughter. He prefers Batman to Superman, Giants over Jets and TV the show ‘This Is Us’.
Magnus delivers improved strategies to help businesses to survive and prosper in a rapidly changing world. Improved profit levels focusing on the revenue side. He is a Swedish Market Economist specialised in Business Strategy, Marketing and Brand Management. More than 25 years of international experience including several industries and clients, stretching from FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and Retailing, to pure B2B (Business-to-Business). This includes employers like Ogilvy Worldwide, Inter IKEA Group and Dairy Farm Group in Hong Kong among others. I sit on boards, work hands-on operationally or as an advisor to executives, management teams and line managers. Passonate proponent on education, Magnus, conducts trainings and coaches talents on all levels from junior trainees to top management, and is a frequently requested speaker all over the world.
Senior Advisor - Marketing & Branding
Magnus is a Swedish Market Economist & Strategist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. With 25+ years’ experience in various executive and consultative roles, some of his previous employers include the global agency Ogilvy Group, Inter IKEA Group and Dairy Farm Group. Magnus has lived in Sweden, Taiwan, Belgium, Denmark, Hong Kong and has worked on various assignments in B2B, B2C and Retailing across all continents. Magnus specializes in Business Planning, Market Strategy, Expansion Strategy, Brand Management & Digital Marketing. Often requested as a speaker at Universities, Chambers of Commerce, Trade Councils, and various forums worldwide, in smaller boardroom meetings as well as larger kick-off forums with hundreds or even thousands of participants. Some of his engagements include the Vodafone Brand Academy in Dublin, the IKEA Global Supplier Conference in Älmhult, the Dairy Farm Group across many different Asian markets, the Jardine Group in Hong Kong, MEGA Malls in Moscow, the Innovation Center of Japanese SONY and for WRC World Retail Congress in Madrid and Amsterdam. Whether to understand the complicated rules and regulations in any country’s pharmaceutical industry, to expand the product range of a global personal care brand, to communicate female intimate products in a Muslim market, or to understand how teenage boys relate to cooking wares vs. sneakers, Magnus insists to get under the skin of the consumers, to understand the real driving forces. The same determination is used when tying a bowtie or drinking snaps.
