...that drive measurable success. Of course, consumers (aka you, me, your aunt, your wife, your dad) have always been and will always be the key.
When I started in advertising this is one of the first lessons I was taught. I had an amazing group of teachers at both Grant/Jacoby (Chicago) and Young & Rubicam (Chicago & New York). From the very beginning they immersed me in the planning process and as such I've been lucky to cut my teeth on a myriad of strategic brand challenges (positioning, restages, line extensions, portfolio management, global brand management, etc) with a diverse list of clients like: S.C. Johnson, United Airlines, Navistar, Monsanto, Nutrasweet, Archway Cookies, Rayovac. Each step of the way, it's uncovering that key/unique consumer insight that drove us. It's what led to some wonderfully effective advertising for Rayovac which resulted in two Effies. The teams I've worked on have won quite a few awards but these Effies have always been the most important to me.
It's always fascinating to me how easy it is to lose sight of the simple fact that our answers need to come from consumers. Consumers buy (recommend, share information about, evangelize, etc) our clients' products and services. Or, don't buy. If we don't know why, then its time to start at the beginning. If we don't know why, we can't consistently (everyone can get lucky once or twice) do great work. To us, great work means changing behaviors and perceptions that lead to more people buying our clients products/services (or even the same people buying even more of those products/services). Its this simple philosophy that guides me and our agency's work with our clients. It's why we have focused so much effort to establish a Persona Development & Application Methodology that is second to none and has been recognized as such by Forrester three years running.
We work with a wonderful group of clients today. Hopefully, sharing our past and present experiences and opinions as a result of those experiences will help you and your business.
...Josh has been developing and producing content for eleven years. He currently oversees all aspects of online and offline content creation, production, and strategy for WhittmanHart’s roster of clients. He spends more time on set and in an editing bay than he does in his office.
In his current position he oversees all WHi Chicago creative including information architecture and rich media development. His main clients include Harley-Davidson, SC Johnson, Save-a-lot and Haworth.
Before joining WHi, Zac spent 9 years with Leo Burnett's digital agency Arc Worldwide. There he led digital efforts for the US Army, Cadillac, Disney, Capital One, Purina and Raytheon.
Zac has a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. Specifically a degree in drawing–the value of which never ceases to amaze. Maybe one day he will draw you.
...of over 15 years in both traditional and digital advertising and marketing for some of the world's largest brands such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Red Bull and Microsoft. Alexander worked several years with McCann Erickson Worldwide throughout Russia, Switzerland and Austria then dedicated three years to partnering in his own agency, Lunch Advertising, where his innovative leadership endowed Lunch Advertising with the Red Bull Communication Assignment and $65Million in billings by the 2nd quarter of the first year. These accomplishments not only landed Alexander and his partners on the cover of AdWeek but also led to the successful acquisition of the company by Kastner & Partners in 2003.
With astute trend foresight, Alexander made the move to digital advertising in 2002 taking positions with MRM Interactive and McElroy Interactive. As Vice President & Group Account Director at MRM Worldwide, he managed and grew all business, fiscal and operational aspects of MRM's Los Angeles office. This encompassed a broad range of business development efforts including leading global & regional communication strategies, launching product campaigns, and managing large accounts & billings for clients such as Microsoft, Applebee's and Avery-Dennison. He joined MRM from McElroy Interactive, where he was responsible for the agency's most significant accounts including Juicy-juice, Nesquik, Jim Beam, Nestea, & ACT! Software.
After graduating with honors in Business Administration from The University of London, Alexander was 1 of only 5 applicants recruited from a field of 4,000 to become an Account Executive at Bates Dorland. He was also member of the 1988 British Olympic Rowing Team and credits much of his determination and commitment to the intense training he received while preparing for the Games.
Coming up with new solutions, conquering the challenges of the implementation, and launching a great user experience is what makes it!
I was born in Project Management, but raised in Account Services. Starting out with the discipline of a Project Manager, it really allowed me to understand the importance of keep projects on time and on budget, as well as the necessary communication between clients and internal team members. While still having a solid foundation of the project details, moving into an Account Director role allowed me to think bigger picture and not just about the daily details of the work. Throughout my career, I've had the pleasure of working with great brands and clients such as Turner Entertainment (TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network), AT&T, Regal Entertainment, Tupperware, Coca-Cola, Cox Media Group, and I Love NY. I've found that the most rewarding part is the relationships I've forged along the way. Working with clients over many years and creating strong and trusting partnerships is extremely important to finding success.
Collaboration with clients is vital. As an agency, we strive to come up with new and innovative solutions, but a key ingredient to making that work is a strong partnership with our clients. It's exciting to sit down with a new client and learn about their challenges, and then work together to come up with ways to overcome them and drive business. I've learned that listening goes a long way – whether it be from the consumers, the clients, or the data. We can't come up with the "how" if we don't understand the "why." What comes after that is the magic!
...in all WH offices nationwide (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Milwaukee) to evolve and refine our process and production tools to improve efficiency and client service. In addition, Jennifer provides executive oversight and guidance on accounts including Black & Decker, DEWALT and Anheuser-Busch.
On joining WhittmanHart in 2000 as a Site Producer, she oversaw the entire web site design process on a daily basis, from development through site launch, and served as liaison between clients and the company's production staff. She has produced sites for Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Busch Entertainment Corporation, Universal Studios, Miramax and Project Greenlight.
In April 2001 she became Director of Production and supervised our production team in Los Angeles while continuing to produce sites. In 2003 she became Director, Project Management – overseeing Project Management in our LA, Milwaukee, Atlanta and Chicago offices and supervising the teams on our Anheuser-Busch, Sony Pictures, Harley-Davidson, Cingular Wireless, Tupperware, Nikon and Toyota accounts, among others.
Jennifer has an BA in Comparative Area Studies and French from Duke University.
...or seeing the first order flow through a newly launched ecommerce site. Fortunately, my role provides me with the opportunity to assist clients with varying business and technical challenges on a regular basis, thus satisfying my desire to help others through creative problem solving.
Like many others in the Technology world, I earned my degree in engineering but then went on to apply my analytical skills to a very different set of problems within the world of software development and the World Wide Web. During my years as a technology manager at Accenture, I primarily focused on the retail industry, designing and building out ecommerce websites as well as other internal web-based applications such as point-of-sale, predictive pricing, and assortment optimization. My clients were similar yet different, including Home Depot, McDonalds, Walgreens, Sears Holdings Corporation, and Benetton, among others. While many clients had similar business issues to address, the problem being addressed inevitably varied in some way, making each project unique and a challenge in and of itself. And thanks to the constant evolution of technologies and ways to apply those technologies, options to address those challenges also evolved year over year, opening the doors to more advanced solutions.
With that being said, it's refreshing to work for an agency whose approach to technology is that it enables the solution, rather than drives the solution. While this agnostic approach to the "right" technology means that my team spends more time upfront with the creative, strategy and account teams to understand requirements and assess potential technical approaches, it also means that we stay on top of the latest technology options and are able to deliver on the creative / strategic vision without compromising it based on limited technology skills. Having the ability to implement the right approach for each client is what makes my job rewarding at the end of the day — it's not only interesting, but seeing the end result is oh, so satisfying.
...has found a home in interactive. It was my first paid search marketing campaign that decided my future as an interactive marketer. The complexity of the planning paired with detailed measurement drew both my analytical nature and strategic way of thinking. I've become a fanatic about marrying performance to each and every campaign. Working client-side and in various agencies, I've led successful interactive initiatives by building cutting-edge campaigns, including search, display, SEO, social, web apps and PR. My client portfolio features Hoffman-La Roche Pharmaceuticals, CSL Behring, Johnson & Johnson, SC Johnson, Save-a-lot, Amway, The Wharton School, David's Bridal, After Hours Formalwear and various other healthcare, retail, legal and CPG companies.
With over ten years of interactive marketing experience, I bring to WhittmanHart a wealth of ideas and results-driven perspective. Partnering with strategy and creative, I enjoy big-thinking and solving problems. That's not to say I focus only on the numbers. People are the heart of what I do. Consumers drive our business. The relationships I've formed over my career have been invaluable to my learning and success. Media and analytics are truly my passion.
For better or worse, branding and media have been part of my make up all along. On the wall of my mom's office is a framed watercolor I did in the 4th or 5th grade picturing me, of course, playing tennis in front of TV cameras, sporting an iZod outfit, and wielding a Dunlop racket, whilst being filmed and being communicated around the world via satellite dishes atop the announcer booth. Yes, it's pretty pathetic. I blame my parents and siblings for the materialism and the narcissism. But in earnest, it is a holistic scenario that portrays my enthusiasm for products, technology and achievement.
Sports, for me, served as a profound gateway to image and product design. It's a matter of function, right? Who doesn't want shoes that help you run faster, balls that will fly further and any number of hop-ups that could potentially deliver maximum Schwinn Stingray bmx ecstasy and thus lead to local stardom? My tween-teen years as a motocross racer taught me the fundamentals about swapping out pistons (technology), getting sponsored (advertising) and the results of using highly flammable and toxic petroleum-based cleaning solvents in a small confined shed (dial 911). That led to getting paid to devour untracked pow-pow, pioneer log slides and shoot vids as a professional snowboarder. Livin' the pro dream I was fortunate to shape Blackcomb's first halfpipe on the glacier and design the world's first permanent snowboard park at Breckenridge Ski Area and the industry's first snowboard bag guaranteed not to disintegrate on your first trip to Europe carrying four boards. Coming off the hill, as a Product Designer and, eventually, Marketing Director, a dream came true to as I was granted the opportunity to design, develop and bring to market three distinct product lines at Apocalypse Snowboards. Each board line carried its own attitude, image and price point. The product designs included several industry firsts in photo-sublimation, plastics, features and functions. By knowing first hand how magazines, videographers and photographers work together, on a nominal budget, we garnered such a strong media share for our team riders that we likely delivered them the pinnacle year of their careers. When we took the products to the SIA tradeshow in Las Vegas, we garnered the company's largest sales figures to date.
I think it was working with the guys at the snowboard design offices, both from both an artistic and engineering perspective that made me realize that the digital age was the next big wave. That was fifteen years ago, and my enthusiasm for collaborating and innovating on all things digital has yet to wane. And, why not? The online space epitome of uncharted territory (aka ‘freshies’) and orchestrating brand performance online includes all of the goods; exploration, invention, differentiation and performance.
...beautiful and functional. But most of all, I love checking off my task list.
These passions have always made me a very effective project manager throughout my career. An innate attention to detail was the initial catalyst that introduced me to the world of digital project management in a small web shop called Designstein (Minneapolis.) During my tenure, I immersed myself in learning good customer service — client expectations, team management, schedule development and quality control. I was most proud of my leadership on several projects with 3M that led to a real passion for this job.
In joining Whittmanhart in 2006, my skills have grown immensely and have developed the dubious nickname "Hawkeye" within the Atlanta office. My clients have grown to include AT&T, Regal Entertainment Group, OG&E, Tupperware, Kelloggs and Russell Athletic, each solving unique issues within their respective projects. I have furthered my passion for this gig by becoming PMP certified in 2009, and the job never has a dull moment!
I believe in providing sharp customer service for our clients and strive to ensure Whittmanhart exceeds client expectations.
It's interesting to see what drives a particular site, what publishers are finding or assuming about their audiences and comparing that perspective to my own personal experiences as a consumer. This is the personal fun I find in my job, and it's all part of the excitement surrounding the planning process.
When I first started with WHITTMANHART we were knee deep in planning for a number of clients, including Centocor, Aveeno, Tide, and Bounce. The most important thing I learned upon walking through the front door was the value of our research and consumer insight. Understanding the brand you're planning for and the audience you want to reach impacts everything you do. Once you have a grip on the history, identity, and objectives, you're able to move forward full force in a frenzy of goal setting, vendor RFP reviews, and finally launching plans!
Today our department is busy planning both display and paid search media campaigns for clients spanning many industries; from Roche and CSL Behring to Save-a-lot and S.C. Johnson. With so many partners targeting a myriad of audiences - everyday is a learning experience and offers a chance to view first hand the ever changing landscape of the web.
It all started during the summer of 1995 in Ann Arbor, MI. That's when I created my first personal site, and instead of prepping for the LSAT I found myself walking around to every rinky-dink business in Ann Arbor trying to convince them they too needed a "business card on the internet" that could be viewed by an unprecedented 2 million people. Truth be told it was a pretty lame pitch, and not surprisingly I didn't have any takers that summer. I seemed destined to be Todd Levy, Esquire.
But a few months later I got a call that would change my life. Someone at an ad agency in Boston had seen that personal site, and get this, they wanted me to interview for a job. Seriously, you could get paid by an agency to make websites for their clients. Who would've thunk it?
Well fortunately someone did think it, and fortunately I got that job.
Today, almost fifteen years later I've had the opportunity to work on websites for some of the most well-known brands in the world... brands like Harley-Davidson and SC Johnson to name a few. Fifteen years later those 2 million people are more like 2 billion people. And fifteen years later those once fledgling "business cards on the internet" have come alive with audio and video, rich interactivity, social networking, and much more.
But the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Fifteen years later the goals are unchanged: have a purpose that people care about, communicate that purpose effectively, and make sure people can use the thing.
I hope that 15 years from now I'm still constantly surprised by new ideas and new technology.
And I know that 15 years from now good design will still be about balancing form and function to serve a purpose.
I'm just happy to be along for the ride. It sure as heck beats being a lawyer.
