David Shing
{{Short description|Australian marketing executive}}
File:David Shing (AOL) (8704851254).jpg
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.marketingweek.com/2015/07/09/aols-digital-prophet-david-shing-on-that-job-title-and-why-brands-shouldnt-treat-consumers-like-idiots/|title=AOL's digital prophet David Shing on 'that' job title and how brands can be the 'calm in the chaos'|work=Marketing Week|date=9 July 2015 }}
Personal life
David Shing grew up in suburban Australia. He studied at Billy Blue design school in Sydney.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com.au/a-brief-biography-of-david-shing-the-australia-born-aol-digital-prophet-who-has-the-internet-buzzing-2014-2|title=A Brief Biography Of David Shing, The Australia-Born 'AOL Digital Prophet' Who Has The Internet Buzzing|author=Sarah Kimmorley|work=Business Insider Australia|access-date=2016-04-28|archive-date=2016-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512082736/http://www.businessinsider.com.au/a-brief-biography-of-david-shing-the-australia-born-aol-digital-prophet-who-has-the-internet-buzzing-2014-2|url-status=dead}}
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{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/margaretperlis/2014/06/16/aols-david-shing-deconstructed-digital-prophet-or-marketing-profiteer/#18ad1fc83887|title=7 Of The Next Big Things From David Shing, AOL's Digital Prophet|author=Margaret M. Perlis|date=16 June 2014|work=Forbes}} by speaking at conferences and events, including SXSW{{cite web|url=http://schedule.sxsw.com/2014/events/event_MP21332|title=Schedule - sxsw.com|work=SXSW Schedule 2014}} and TEDx.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-sw4CjZnqM|title=Re-Order The Digital Landscape: David Shing at TEDxUTSC|date=11 February 2013|publisher=|via=YouTube}} He stayed on at Oath and later Verizon Media after AOL's purchase by Verizon. He left in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Sternberh |first1=Josh |title=After 12 Years as a Digital Prophet, David Shing Is Moving on From Verizon Media |url=https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/after-12-years-as-a-digital-prophet-david-shingy-is-moving-on-from-verizon-media/ |work=Adweek |date=7 August 2019}}
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 nebulous role within AOL (with The Guardian{{'}}s Adam Gabbatt stating, for example, that the definition of a Digital Prophet "remains unclear").{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/11/who-is-shingy-aols-digital-prophet|title=Who is Shingy, AOL's digital prophet?|author=Adam Gabbatt|work=The Guardian|date=11 November 2014 }} His appearance on MSNBC{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/watch/the-digital-prophet-predicts-our-future-141561923586|title=The 'Digital Prophet' predicts our future|work=MSNBC}} and the follow-up article in The New Yorker{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/17/crystal-ball-3|title=Crystal Ball|author=Andrew Marantz|date=17 November 2014|magazine=The New Yorker}} made him the focal point for a conversation around the meaning behind buzzwords in the media industry.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/11/14/aols-digital-prophet-is-everything-wrong-with-corporate-america-today/|title=AOL's 'digital prophet' is everything wrong with Corporate America today|author=Matt O'Brien|date=14 November 2014|newspaper=Washington Post}} Some have gone so far as to describe his lectures as "pure gibberish,"{{cite news |last1=Sherwin |first1=Adam |title=AOL 'Digital Prophet' Shingy Dazzles Conference With 'Insane Gibberish' Lecture |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/aol-digital-prophet-shingy-dazzles-conference-with-insane-gibberish-lecture-9289221.html |accessdate=9 November 2020 |work=The Independent |date=26 April 2014}} though they are defended as "less outlandish in context" by the advertisers he works with.{{cite news |last1=Feldman |first1=Brian |title=Shingy, the Digital Prophet, Reflects on His Time at AOL and What's Next |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/shingy-reflects-on-his-time-at-aol-and-whats-next.html |accessdate=5 November 2020 |work=New York Magazine |date=2 October 2019}} Although he has been described as a symbol of AOL's "uncertainty and aimlessness" and even "everything that's wrong with corporate America,"{{cite news |last1=Poulos |first1=James |title=All Hail Shingy, AOL's Goblin King |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/all-hail-shingy-aols-goblin-king |access-date=24 January 2021 |work=The Daily Beast |date=14 April 2017}} it has also been argued that the Digital Prophet moniker disguised a "fairly standard role" within the company.
In popular culture
A character named "Shangy", transparently parodying Shing, appears in the comedy sketch show W/ Bob & David.{{Cite magazine|title = Mr. Show Rides Again: Bob Odenkirk and David Cross Re-unite for New Netflix Sketch Series|url = http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/08/david-cross-bob-odenkirk-netflix-comedy|magazine = Vanity Fair|access-date = 2016-01-21}}{{cite news |last1=Hawkins |first1=Andrew J. |title=Review: Netflix's W/ Bob and David is like Mr. Show 2.0 in the best possible way |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/13/9725044/review-netflix-with-bob-and-david-mr-show-HBO |access-date=24 January 2021 |work=The Verge |date=13 November 2015}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.shingy.com}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shing, David}}