ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - Jul 15, 2014) - IZEA, Inc. (
Mr. Church most recently served as Vice President of the Interactive Ecosystem for Darden Restaurants, Inc. In this role, Mike led teams focusing on Digital Marketing, CRM, E-Commerce and Corporate Gift Card Sales. The Interactive Ecosystem team partnered with Darden's portfolio of brands and other key functions to lead Darden's multimillion-dollar Digital Transformation, including the successful launch of web and mobile platforms, online ordering, CRM infrastructure, and electronic gift cards. Mike also worked closely with Darden's media and creative agencies to help launch new communications strategies and digital marketing programs across Darden's entire portfolio.
"I look forward to being actively involved in IZEA's continued expansion," said Mr. Church. "The company has firmly established itself as the leader in the social sponsorship space, and I am impressed by the organization's forward thinking and culture. I await the opportunity to work with the IZEA leadership team and assist them in cultivating additional relationships with leading brands and media companies."
"We are pleased to have Mike's insight and industry prowess available to us as we continue to develop our IZEAx platform," said Ted Murphy, Chairman and CEO of IZEA. "His experience and relationships as both brand marketer and media technology provider will be invaluable to us, and we appreciate his involvement."
Prior to Darden, Mike served as the Vice President of Customer Solutions at AOL in New York. There he launched and led AOL's Client Solutions organization, supporting the advertising goals of AOL's FORTUNE 500 clients. Before AOL, Mike served as National Head of Sales Development and Cross-Platform Solutions at Google, where he launched sales development, creative services and media strategy teams that helped deliver hundreds of millions in digital media sales.
Previously, Mike worked as Media Director for Diageo North America, the world's leading premium-drinks company, where he led strategic media planning, CRM and digital marketing for the company's priority brands, including Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Captain Morgan. He has also held a variety of digital-media and product positions at such companies as Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios, Inc.
With proficiencies in both Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian, Mike holds a bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from New York University with an emphasis in Strategy, Marketing and Entertainment Media Technology. He also holds a certificate of Japanese studies from Tokyo's Waseda University.
About IZEA
Founded in 2006, IZEA is the pioneer of Social Sponsorship. The company builds cloud-based marketplaces that connect brands with creators who blog, tweet, pin, and post on their behalf. Brands receive influential consumer content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness. Creators are compensated for their participation and partnership. For more information about IZEA, visit http://corp.izea.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based largely on IZEA's expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond IZEA's control. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, competitive conditions in the Sponsored Social segment in which IZEA operates, failure to popularize one or more of the marketplace platforms of IZEA, inability to obtain additional capital, and changing economic conditions that are less favorable than expected. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information contained in this release will in fact occur. Please read the full statement and disclosures here: http://corp.izea.com/safe-harbor-statement
