Forrester

Jim Nail is a principal analyst at Forrester Research serving marketing leaders and leads Forrester's coverage of online video, the evolution of television advertising, the digital transformation of advertising agencies, and marketing optimization. In his 30-year marketing career, Jim has been at the forefront of applying new technology-enabled strategies to marketing. He was an early pioneer of online advertising, joining AdSmart, a startup online ad-serving technology firm, in 1995.

Jim was a senior analyst at Forrester from 1997 to 2005, advising clients on how to deploy online advertising, email marketing, marketing measurement, and word-of-mouth marketing to improve marketing effectiveness. Before returning to Forrester in 2012, Jim served as chief marketing officer of social media listening platform company Cymfony, pioneering the use of social media as a consumer insight and brand-tracking tool.

Jim has served as a board member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, where he chaired the ethics subcommittee. He has spoken at major industry conferences, including AdTech, Advertising Research Foundation, the Association of National Advertisers, and the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Jim has a B.A. degree from Williams College.