Madonna Deverson
Research | Trends | Insights | Ideas
Madonna is a respected researcher, strategist and writer – who just happens to own a dachshund named Elvis, star of a national Pizza Hut campaign.
She has worked for famous advertising agencies and infamous media outlets, holding senior and head of department positions at The New York Times, Fox News, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Deutsch LA and Leo Burnett London.
The quintessential globetrotter, Madonna’s world-class approach to research and account planning took her from Melbourne to London, New York, Los Angeles and back again.
Australian by birth, she spent ten years in the strategy departments of some of London’s top advertising agencies, including six years as Head of Information for the Leo Burnett Group. In 2007, she moved to New York and began working in investigative news research at Fox News and The New York Times. She covered the Obama election, the collapse of the global financial system and worked on breaking news like the death of Michael Jackson, Captain Sully’s ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ and the Spitzer sex scandal. Persuaded to return to Adland in 2011, she headed up Information & Intelligence globally for Ogilvy in New York before being headhunted four years later to raise the bar for strategy as Head of Brand Intelligence at Deutsch in LA.
Throughout her career, she has worked on top brands including Amex, Disney, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, IHG, Kellogg, P&G, Unilever, NAB, Optus, Volkswagen and more.
Madonna attended the University of Melbourne and was an Adjunct Professor of Brand Experience in the Branding + Integrated Communications graduate program at The City College of New York.
She is proud to be followed by Barack Obama on Twitter and blocked by Madonna on Instagram.
Now Madonna is bringing her renowned finger on the pulse, business savvy, and intellectual curiosity to the table as a consultant strategist, researcher and content writer with CONTXTURE. She collaborates with clients around the world.
Madonna is able to solve problems extremely creatively – like no other researcher I have ever seen. She can see around corners. I would include her as one of a handful of the most talented news researchers in the entire news profession.
Madonna’s influence has been pivotal in analyzing markets and competitors. It’s hard to get advice that you know is right. She is surprisingly good at evaluating ideas in little time and with very little briefing. The good news is if she agrees with you, then you have a winner.
She ‘gets’ people, she ‘gets’ the consumer. It’s as if she has this extra-sensory hotline into their minds; an x-ray of their fears, hopes and dreams. Be they buyers of cars, nappies, beauty products, clothes, financial services, entertainment or dog food. Traditionalists, Baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials. Everyone.
Her work and thinking was very much appreciated by us and helped us put together a really successful client session.
An unequalled finger on the pulse, business savvy and intellectual curiosity – and she has saved the day several times thanks to her speed in delivering.
The best I’ve met in her field. She’s been instrumental in driving change within the research and intelligence community. Through her leadership, we’ve been able to make research organizations expand their studies to include multicultural audiences
A star – she has that magic touch – engaging and informative.
Madonna knows what is ‘going on’ and is great at not only spotting ‘finger on pulse’ developments with markets, consumers and the media but has the conviction to make these observations, subsequent analysis and recommendations count across all agency disciplines – account teams, creatives, strategists and management.
Driven by curiosity and discovery, Madonna’s abilities to seek and find good ideas can explore new possibilities for any creative team.
Madonna has a brilliant strategic mind, knows US and Australian consumers, and has some really interesting work experiences on her résumé. You should definitely get to know her.
