Real People. Real Stories. Real Inspiration.

has been Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at JCPenney since 2003. He has overseen the development and execution of JCPenney's brand strategy, including the company's new brand positioning, "Every Day Matters." Mike also oversees the marketing vision for JCPenney's private and proprietary labels. He began his career with JCPenney in 1978 and in 2006 was inducted into the Retail Advertising Hall of Fame.

Mike will talk about marketing: the real focus of a mega-company.

a RAMA Board Member and dynamic lecturer and creative strategist, has been interviewed by CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, and CNN en Espanol. BJ is the co-author of The Power of Cult Branding (Random House, 2002), and author of Why We Talk, a new book exploring the science of word-of-mouth marketing.

BJ will kick off RAC2009 with insights about what it means to be a REAL brand. Learn how to be true to your brand and grow the business at the same time.

serves as SunPower's Chief Marketing Officer and is responsible for driving SunPower's overall brand and communication strategies. He joined the company with more than 20 years of experience building high-growth brands and award-winning communication strategies. Brad spent 12 years in traditional retail marketing with Dayton Hudson Corporation before transferring his experience to help construct one of the nation's most recognized financial services brands as Executive Vice President and CMO for Washington Mutual. He was inducted into the Retail Advertising Hall of Fame in Chicago and was named one of the Top 100 Marketers in America by Advertising Age.

Join Brad as he tells us the real story behind alternative energy and how joining the green scene today can make your company a marketing super power.

is Senior Vice President, Network Strategy and Brand Development for Turner Entertainment Networks, which includes TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Morvies (TCM), truTV, and Peachtree TV.

Jennifer will share tips that shaped the brand for Turner Classic Movies and you will hear what TCM's brand lover, Kim Punk Rock, has to say about being authentic.

founded Life is good, Inc. in 1994 with his brother John when they drove around the Boston area selling t-shirts out of a van. Their simple branding effort included a smiling, pie-faced guy named Jake who lived the good life. Bert is proof that simplicity sells: last year Life is good, Inc. sold 4.2 million $25 t-shirts. Bert says the company does best in years like this one, which are filled with social, economic and political challenge.

Hear how Life is good, Inc. grew from a van full of t-shirts to an operation that supplies more than 4,500 retail outlets with products ranging from mugs to its new green (bamboo and hemp) collection.

is Executive Creative Director and a Partner of Wieden + Kennedy. He works as Dan Wieden's partner in overseeing the creative work of the agency's global offices. W+K's network includes offices in Portland, New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, and New Dehli. He also serves as Co-Creative Director for W+K Tokyo Lab, the independent music label he helped to found in 2003. Prior to moving to Japan, he served as Co-Creative Director on the Nike account and also worked on Microsoft and Coca-Cola in the U.S.

John, a RAMA Board member, has returned many times to the RAC main stage by popular demand from RAMA members. He's an inspiring and entertaining speaker with worldwide stories to tell.

is the Global Practice Leader for Retail Brands at Euro RSCG Worldwide. Under Raj's, leadership, the Euro RSCG retail practice has built intellectual capital with the release of multiple retail-focused publications and white papers on global trends in retail innovation, marketing and strategy. He currently chairs the International Committee on the board of the Retail Marketing and Advertising Association (RAMA), North America’s leading retail organization, and is a Partner/Advisor to the Global Retail Marketing Forum. The clients he has worked with in the sector include Amazon, Circuit City, Sears, Home Depot, Pizza Hut, Sprint, Western Union, Valspar and Citi Bank.

Zain, a RAMA Board member, will share his view on how brands should be utilized in a different way, while focusing on consumer behavior first, in order to successfully bond consumers for life.

is President of the New York flagship office of McCann Erickson Worldwide, the world’s largest advertising agency network. With a background in both strategic planning and account leadership, she has helped drive demand for some of the world’s most famous brands, ranging from technology to packaged goods to retail to travel. She has conceived and launched initiatives aimed at leveraging traditional and digital communications channels - including TAG, McCann’s innovative young adult marketing specialist unit, now a global practice. In her current post, she is credited with building a strong culture of thought leadership and accountability across all client businesses.

Lori will talk about the "Verbing of Brands" and how contemporary brands are re-writing the rules of marketing.

is Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer of McCann Erickson in New York, a position she assumed in 2004. In this post she is creatively responsible for all accounts handled by the New York agency, the flagship and largest single office of McCann Erickson Worldwide, the world’s largest advertising agency network. One of the creators of McCann’s famous "Priceless" campaign for MasterCard ("There are some things money can’t buy…for everything else there’s MasterCard"), Ms. King Thomas has overseen the campaign since it debuted in 1997 and continues to be globally responsible for the work which now runs in over 100 markets around the world. In addition, in her previous post of Executive Creative Director of the agency, she co-wrote the award-winning launch campaign for Lucent Technologies and oversaw creative development on other high visibility campaigns, including those for Verizon Wireless, Staples and Nikon. Ms. King Thomas joined McCann in New York in 1995 as Senior VP, Group Creative Director and was named Executive VP, Executive Creative Director in 1998. She began her advertising career as a writer in the Midwest, before moving to New York for creative posts at Wells Rich Greene, then Young & Rubicam, then Wells Rich Greene again, where she rose to Creative Managing Partner. With over 20 years in the business, she has created advertising for virtually every category - from travel to packaged goods to technology to financial. Accounts she has worked on include Marriott, Gateway, Braniff, Pan Am, Kraft General Foods, Colgate, ITT Sheraton, American Greeting Cards and Chase Manhattan Bank.

Joyce will talk about the "Verbing of Brands" and how contemporary brands are re-writing the rules of marketing.

is a passionate entrepreneur and visionary who is best known for his creation of lululemon athletica. Chip founded the dynamic, yoga-inspired athletic apparel company in 1998 with its mission to help people live longer, healthier, more fun lives. headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, lululemon manufactures, distributes and retails its products in more than 35 North american and international stores.

Chip, who is the company's Chief Product Developer, will share the secrets of found a golden brand.