Bio
Barbie is a communications and marketing leader with over 20 years experience fostering brand growth. Her particular areas of expertise include ad tech, martech, insights, and gaming.
Currently, Barbie serves as the Global Head of App & Game Developer Marketing for InMobi, a leading ad tech platform. Previously, she served as the VP of Marketing for Spiketrap, an audience insights and contextual advertising platform, from its seed round through its acquisition by Reddit.
Prior to this, Barbie has led marketing efforts for a myriad of companies, from tech & entertainment startups to publicly traded enterprises. Notably, Barbie led B2B marketing at consumer insights platform DISQO, served as the head of marketing for advertising agency AUDIENCEX, and led developer facing marketing at mobile advertising platform AdColony.
Barbie is founder of iDigress, a marketing consultancy and creative studio that provides succinct services for better brands. iDigress is also currently working on an undisclosed publishing project to be announced in 2024.
Committed to meaningful audience engagement, Barbie holds a Master’s in Communications Management from the University of Southern California and was a President’s Scholar at Cal State Fullerton, where she attained her Bachelor’s in Communications.
Barbie is an active member of CHIEF, the private network for women in leadership, and is an occasional contributing author to Adweek.
Articles
A more personal glimpse into who I am, in brief, from the folks at Principal Post.
Opinion piece written for Adweek exploring the narrative unfolding in gaming & what marketers must do to foster trust amid acquisitions.
Byline in Adweek discussing the video game industry’s center stage role in popular culture and how the advertising industry is finally starting to take notice.
Byline in Campaign US challenging marketers to dump their demographic assumptions and instead seek deeper audience understanding.
BizReport’s Kirstina Knight interviews Barbie Koelker on how marketers can protect their brands when advertising in high UGC environments.
An exploration into the rise and future of Among Us through the lens of audience conversations across social, streaming, and review platforms.
Byline in Target Marketing Magazine discussing the need for marketers to curate consumer confidence, channel consistency, and conserve character amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feature in WWD discussing the lessons learned from a DISQO study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer attitudes, reported activities, and measured digital behaviors.
Byline in Street Fight Magazine discussing the need for market researchers to foster a relationship of trust with audiences by openly engaging people, diligently protecting their data and privacy, and fairly rewarding them for their participation.
Feature in WWD discussing the results of a DISQO consumer study on ad relevance, which illuminated the need and opportunity for marketers to make their campaigns more interesting and relevant to their audiences.
Interview with MarTech Series sharing perspectives on how the ad tech industry has evolved, advice for other marketing leaders, lessons learned from a DISQO study on the consumer voice, and more.
Interview with ExchangeWire discussing personal experiences in the industry, views on where we’ve been, where I hope we’re going, and advice for people looking to thrive in tech.