As a Senior Director at ViacomCBS, Karen leads the social foresights and intelligence team at Velocity – ViacomCBS branded content studio. As a cultural strategist, Vega and her team sit at the intersection of what’s happening in culture and what matters to marketers, her and the team are tasked with developing thought leadership and marketing insights by leveraging cultural, audience and social data to inspire creativity, connect brands to culture, and to measure branded content effectiveness.
Being a connector is inherently part of her DNA, whether she’s striking new partnerships with intelligence vendors or drafting a social media strategy for fortune 500 brands- Karen is a dynamic marketer who has 10+ years of experience in paid, owned and earned strategies working at both the agency and client side. She has led award-winning social media campaigns for brands like Wyndam Worldwide, The Daytime Emmy® Awards, Taco Bell, and Pepsi. Most recently her team was awarded an AdWeek Arc Award, a Clio, and a Shorty award for Beats by Dre branded content campaign on MTV.
Karen’s debut into the media and entertainment industry began with radio and publishing experiences at IheartRadio and Billboard Magazine holding digital and experiential positions to help drive consumer retention and connection through content.
A first-generation native of Bogota Colombia, Karen holds a B.A. in Communications Studies with a concentration in PR and a minor in Spanish Studies/ She is a frequent speaker at content marketing, social media, and social technology conferences and resides at Frank Sinatra’s hometown of Hoboken, N.J. with her husband and her active 2 year-old Jace.