David Shing

David Shing (born 1970), also known as "Shingy", is an Australian marketing executive. He held various senior marketing positions at AOL between 2007 and 2019.[1]

David Shing

Personal life

David Shing grew up in suburban Australia. He studied at Billy Blue design school in Sydney.[2]

Career

In 2007, Shing began a long relationship with AOL as the Marketing Director for AOL Europe. In 2010, he was promoted to VP Media and Marketing for AOL international. In 2011, he became the company's self-named "Digital Prophet". He was charged with promoting the company[3] by speaking at conferences and events, including SXSW[4] and TEDx.[5] He stayed on at Oath and later Verizon Media after AOL's purchase by Verizon. He left in 2019.[6]

Public image

Shing has spoken at many live events, the coverage of which has focused on his unusual fashion sense, his idiosyncratic speaking style and his unclear role within AOL (with The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt stating, for example, that the definition of a Digital Prophet "remains unclear").[7] His appearance on MSNBC[8] and the follow-up article in The New Yorker[9] made him the focal point for a conversation around the meaning behind buzzwords in the media industry.[10] Some have gone so far as to describe his lectures as "pure gibberish,"[11] though they are defended as "less outlandish in context" by the advertisers he works with.[12] Although he has been described as a symbol of AOL's "uncertainty and aimlessness"[12] and even "everything that's wrong with corporate America,"[13] it has also been argued that the Digital Prophet moniker disguised a "fairly standard role" within the company.[12]

A character named "Shangy," transparently parodying Shing, appears in the comedy sketch show W/ Bob & David.[14][15]

References
  1. "AOL's digital prophet David Shing on 'that' job title and how brands can be the 'calm in the chaos'". Marketing Week.
  2. Sarah Kimmorley. "A Brief Biography Of David Shing, The Australia-Born 'AOL Digital Prophet' Who Has The Internet Buzzing". Business Insider Australia.
  3. Margaret M. Perlis (16 June 2014). "7 Of The Next Big Things From David Shing, AOL's Digital Prophet". Forbes.
  4. "Schedule - sxsw.com". SXSW Schedule 2014.
  5. Re-Order The Digital Landscape: David Shing at TEDxUTSC. 11 February 2013 – via YouTube.
  6. Sternberh, Josh (7 August 2019). "After 12 Years as a Digital Prophet, David Shing Is Moving on From Verizon Media". Adweek.
  7. Adam Gabbatt. "Who is Shingy, AOL's digital prophet?". The Guardian.
  8. "The 'Digital Prophet' predicts our future". MSNBC.
  9. Andrew Marantz (17 November 2014). "Crystal Ball". The New Yorker.
  10. Matt O'Brien (14 November 2014). "AOL's 'digital prophet' is everything wrong with Corporate America today". Washington Post.
  11. Sherwin, Adam (26 April 2014). "AOL 'Digital Prophet' Shingy Dazzles Conference With 'Insane Gibberish' Lecture". The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  12. Feldman, Brian (2 October 2019). "Shingy, the Digital Prophet, Reflects on His Time at AOL and What's Next". New York Magazine. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  13. Poulos, James (14 April 2017). "All Hail Shingy, AOL's Goblin King". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  14. "Mr. Show Rides Again: Bob Odenkirk and David Cross Re-unite for New Netflix Sketch Series". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  15. Hawkins, Andrew J. (13 November 2015). "Review: Netflix's W/ Bob and David is like Mr. Show 2.0 in the best possible way". The Verge. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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