Draft:Ricky Ray Butler
Ricky Ray Butler (born January 4, 1983) is a digital entertainment marketing and social media advertising professional. He is known for being one of the first to promote influencer marketing.[citation needed] He is the founder of Plaid Social Labs, CEO of Branded Entertainment Network (BEN) Group, member of Forbes Agency Council,[1] and among the AdAge’s 40 Under 40.[2][3]
He also co-hosts a podcast “Creative Disruption Podcast.” [4]
Career[edit]
In 2009, he founded Plaid Social Labs,[3] a social media influencer marketing company, to connect advertisers with social media influencers. Through his platform, he worked with David Dobrik and MrBeast. He also worked with companies, including Orabrush and Will it Blend. He was referred to as YouTubers’ “favorite rich uncle” by Forbes.
In 2015, it was acquired by BEN Group, a Bill Gates company. Within one year of the acquisition, Bulter became the Global CCO[3] and worked with Microsoft, Ubisoft, Disney, the Gap, Dyson, and General Motors. On June 1, 2018, he was appointed the company's CEO.
With AI Dungeon, he works on applications of natural language generation in gaming, and with Zeff, a subsidiary of DataRobot, he works to power automated machine learning using unstructured data.
He is a contributor at AdAge, Adweek, The Drum, and Campaign.[5][6][7]
Recognition[edit]
Butler is one of AdAge’s 40 Under 40 and among the Top 50 Persons in influencer marketing of Influence Directory.[8] He was also featured in Derral Eves’s The YouTube Formula: How Anyone Can Unlock the Algorithm to Drive Views.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ "Ricky Ray Butler". Forbes Councils. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ Marfo, Amma (July 9, 2021). "Why Art Needs Automation to Thrive". Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ a b c "Branded Entertainment Network Taps Butler As CEO". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ "Top 11 YouTube podcasts". Online Hikes. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ "Ricky Ray Butler on Ad Age". Ad Age. 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ "Ricky Ray Butler". The Drum. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ "Ricky Ray Butler". Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ "100 Influential People In Influencer Marketing". influence.directory. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ Eves, Derral (2021-02-24). The YouTube Formula: How Anyone Can Unlock the Algorithm to Drive Views, Build an Audience, and Grow Revenue. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-119-71602-0.