Bio

Recent Speaking Engagements: Ad Week Asia Ad Week NY Ad Week Elevate: AI Ad Week Elevate: Influencers Ad Club NY BEN Integration Summit NY Brand Innovators Brand Innovators at SXSW BrandStorytelling Cannes Lion CES Cynopsis Webinar PerformanceIn Playlist Live Social Media Week LA VidCon VidCon UK VidSummit Bio: Influencer marketing pioneer Ricky Ray Butler is the CEO of Branded Entertainment Network (BEN), a company that specializes in using AI to deliver cross-platform brand integrations for TV, film, streaming, digital influencers, music, and more. With over a decade of experience in entertainment advertising, Ricky Ray is a passionate advocate for brand integration as the way forward in connecting brands and communities in meaningful ways. He was named to AdAge’s 40 Under 40, and was listed as one of the top 100 people in influencer marketing by Influence Directory. At BEN, Ricky Ray loves helping brands increase engagement, establish product credibility and build active brand advocate communities through the power of product integration. Under his leadership, BEN became the first entertainment company to leverage deep learning neural networks that are backed with four decades of proprietary campaign data for client successes. Rather than simply matching brands with content opportunities, BEN’s AI – now core to the company’s business model – has been trained to provide its clients with predictive analytics that drive actual campaign results. Prior to joining BEN, Ricky Ray founded Plaid Social Labs, a social media creator and influencer product integration company, which was acquired by BEN in 2015. Ricky was one of the earliest entrepreneurs in the influencer space, representing brands and helping them partner with content creators to reach relevant audiences. Ricky Ray and his wife, Dascia, are dedicated to supporting their local community through working with charities such as The Lighthouse via Ventura County Rescue Mission.