Matt Rednor
Founder + CEO

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Matt was suffering from the epidemic of “Modern Marketing.” Pffft. Modern. Not even close. For as much time as he had spent in the traditional agency world, and all the time he invested in the new upstarts of digital and social media, the problems he saw were systemic, self-fulfilling, and frustrating. For Matt, it was time to break the vicious cycle.

In 2014, he made the leap, and parlayed all his experience building disciplines, advising CMO’s and wading through emerging media into being Founder & CEO of Decoded Advertising – his solution to the “modern” problem. He wanted to build an agency that reflected the changing landscape and needs of clients, from scratch, as opposed to band-aiding the problem. He cherry-picked his team to bring in new perspectives, traditional skill sets, but futurist mindsets to surround himself with those who would challenge every marketing convention they’ve ever seen. And the result was industry shaking. And good thing too, because the industry was in desperate need of a solid shake.

Previously, Matt was the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at MRY, where he shaped the vision and service offerings for one of the world’s premier digital and youth marketing agencies. As CSO he led digital and social transformation for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Visa, Coca-Cola, Volvo, AT&T and Microsoft. Prior to MRY, Rednor worked his way up through BBDO, helping to manage some of the visible global campaigns for P&G’s Gillette and served a stint at smaller innovative experiential marketing company, Cunning, as strategy lead.

Matt is also an advisor and investor to startups in the digital, social and mobile technology space. He leads social training workshops and is a frequent speaker at conferences on emerging trends.

Addie Conner
Chief Experimental Designer

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Addie Conner is the smartest person you will ever meet. Simply put, Addie redefines strategy at Decoded, developing new methodologies and analytics to change how the creative process works. A pivotal theme in her ongoing product innovation is understanding the intersection of content and ads, and how to effectively merge EQ and IQ. It’s this change that helps revolutionize the work clients make. Creative direction no longer comes from artists and ideators alone, it is coupled with Addie’s learning agenda and campaign planning. Conner’s at Decoded because she’s changed the industry once, and she’s about to do it again.

Prior to Decoded, Addie was Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of SocialCode, a top social advertising company working with over 30 Fortune 100 firms. Prior to SocialCode, Addie was the VP of Advertising for Avenue100, a performance marketing company for educational institutions acquired by the Washington Post in 2007. Addie holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Vermont.

Given the chance to meet Addie, don’t forget to ask her about her encyclopedic knowledge of farm animals, flora and fauna and anything having to do with nature, outdoorsiness and eating right.

David Weinstock
Chief Creative Officer

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With nearly 20 years in the marketing world, David isn’t afraid to admit that it’s finally time to forget everything he’s ever learned. But the thing about David is that he doesn’t need to. He’s been a coder, a writer, a digital creative director, a traditional creative director, and a tinkerer. He’s been a small business owner, a full-timer and a freelancer. He’s seen it all. And while the Formal Life of the Advertising Creative is dying a data-led digital death, all his experience has come in handy in wading through this ever-evolving, never-going-back world. It is his belief in this new form of creativity that is rising like a phoenix from the ashes of traditional thinking that excites him for the future of marketing.

So being CCO and Managing Partner at Decoded Advertising has afforded David the opportunity to draw on all his raw skills, and mash them up with new methodologies to continue to stay ahead of the curve.

Prior to Decoded Advertising, Weinstock was Chief Creative Officer at MRY overseeing a rich cache of clients including Visa, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, J&J and Adobe. Before MRY, he was Creative Director at EuroRSCG (now Havas) working on the Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World campaign, Kraft, Reckitt Benckeiser, and Volvo. He remembers fondly of a time he and his clients argued about the humor value of a lion vs a yak, which to this day, he still asserts is a 10x return on the yak, no questions asked.

Throughout the years, David has been fortunate enough to be honored by Cannes, D&AD, The One Show, the Radio Mercury Awards, the United States State Department, and many many others. From Dos Equis’ TV and Radio to Kraft’s Home Farming Movement, to Visa’s support of Michael Sam’s bid as an NFL hopeful, Weinstock loves when he puts work out that can have a meaningful, cultural impact. But his proudest moment ever is when his son used irony correctly.

David graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Anthropology which he continues to try to say is relevant to what he does now, but the truth is, it’s not.

Lola Barksdale
Artist-in-residence

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With over 85k followers on Instagram and ever-growing SnapChat community, Lola Barksdale, @lolabarksdale, is Decoded's artist-in-residence. She's been featured in work by Budweiser, Bark Box, Dollar Shave Club, Visa and Kenneth Cole. But her time isn't simply spent rubbing elbows with big brands and the internet elite, she also donates a great deal of her time on charitable causes important to canine-kind - including pet adoption, and pet fitness with her #bodybylola inspirational posts.

As a French Bulldog living in the heart of New York City, she feels it's her duty to stand as a role model for all dogs around the world, and to that end, she makes sure that her parents always pick up after her.

At Decoded, Lola is the social media lab rat. She is the master of engagement, stopping to say hi to everyone on the street, and can easily be persuaded with cheese or mango. And if you’re really lucky, you can get her to share her strategy for how to build engagement in social.