We believe in the power of good. That in these hyperbolic times, good actually beats great. A good neighbor. A good friend. A good partner. A good brand. To us, good is what authentic relationships are built on. 89% of modern consumers say they’ll pay more for brands making a positive difference in people’s lives. And purpose-driven brands deliver 10 times greater shareholder value. That’s why we only hire good people who know how to make your communications welcome in people’s lives. And we seek clients who share our belief that in business, in relationships, in anything that matters, good wins.
As granddaughter of one of the original Mad Men, you could say that Jennifer was born to be CEO of Preston Kelly. As a former all-American gymnast, you could also say that she’s uniquely qualified to balance everything that goes with that role: from strategic thought-leadership to cutting-edge campaigns, real-deal client collaboration to a Tsukahara vault with a back salto (nailed it!).
Jennifer is a lifelong hyper-learner with a passion for driving positive change for her teams and clients. Before joining Preston Kelly, she was VP Managing Director at Olson, where she helped lead successes for a huge variety of clients including Minnesota Lottery, Fifth Third Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Johnson and Johnson, University of Virginia, and Allen Edmonds. Jennifer has a way of bringing people together and making great things happen. That’s leadership.
Speaking of, even when it comes to leadership, Jennifer is a leader. She’s asked to speak around the country on strategy and digital trends—and has traveled to 48 of the 50 states. (The average American only visits 12 in their lifetime. Winner!)
Chris joined Preston Kelly in 1999 after 20 years as writer and creative director at four major agencies. Chris’ dream is to build the most iconic creative work in the country. As far as this writer is concerned, he’s doing it.
Clients like Target, OfficeMax, Frontier Airlines, Sub-Zero, Wolf, Medtronic, U.S. Bancorp, Johnsonville Sausage, Taco John’s, Pure Fishing, Coleman, Little Tikes, Minnesota Zoo, and the Colorado Rockies Baseball Team would agree.
Awards include: nine Gold Effies, multiple Cannes Lions, One Show, Clios, Communication Arts, Radio Mercury Awards, Museum of Modern Art, Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame, High School Prom King in a green tux—ha!—snuck it in here.
Chris grew up in Colorado. He loves climbing up mountains and skiing down them. In fact, he’s climbed all but one “fourteener” in Colorado. (In mountain talk that’s over 14K feet. Just Googled it.)
98% of you are thinking, “Digital is so critical to my business, yet so not my expertise.” Yuliya’s got you covered: From information architecture and UX plans to tech assessments and platform launches.
Yuliya knows digital thought leaders are lifelong students. That mentality helped her recently launch two record-setting iOS app games, a patient education site for Medtronic, and a multi-channel, geo-targeted campaign and microsite for InSinkErator. Her work has won multiple Interactive Media Awards in the last two years.
Prior to Preston Kelly, Yuliya helped re-launch Optum’s e-commerce site ShopIngenix.com resulting in 48% more unique visits and a 32% lift in order size. She also managed a Hennepin County Medical Center brand re-launch that increased patient volume by 32%. Yuliya likes making numbers go up.
Since moving to Minnesota in 2002 as an exchange student from Ukraine, Yuliya has earned two degrees, acted as an interpreter for visiting delegations and fallen in love with tennis.
Maybe you don’t know Peter, but he knows you. Peter knows what you do online. Where you go when, how you navigate sites and how much of your workday is spent on Facebook (yikes!).
Peter has been with Preston Kelly for more than 20 years and a student of interactive for even longer—which is hard to believe. Had Al Gore even invented the Internet by then? In addition to being our Creative Director – Digital, Peter has also led art direction for Mall of America, HealthPartners, Medtronic, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Baldwin Hardware. He weaves traditional media strategies and storytelling with digital seamlessly.
Before Preston Kelly, Peter was an art director at Campbell-Mithun and Colle+McVoy and worked on everything from Cinnamon Toast Crunch (delicious) to seed corn hybrids (not quite as delicious).
At home, he’s got a British-style garden worthy of Windsor Palace. When it’s not frozen over by Minneapolis winter.
It only makes sense that a person who’s made her career out of accelerating company’s growth would be a runner, right? Shannon is one of those annoying high-energy endurance specialists. Annoying that is, unless she’s unleashing her run-through-the-pain determination to uncover growth insights in your industry. Then pretty cool. Shannon has spent many of her miles in the zone, pondering issues in retail, CPG, home improvement and healthcare. She knows B2B inside out and came to us directly from a global agency as well as a crack marketing and creative consultancy. At home, Shannon is one of da boys with four sons, a husband and two male dogs named Gilbert and Duke. No wonder she loves to crank up a podcast and get out of the house on those loooong training runs.
At some point along the way, Good Wins ideas have to turn into good work. Beth is the person in charge of making that happen—and wow is she good at it.
During her 10+ years with us, Beth has developed custom processes, checks and balances critical to achieving the highest production standards from start to finish. With Beth, you can be sure all of your brand work will be produced with relentless attention to detail.
Beth is also the head art buyer at Preston Kelly, combining negotiating savvy, resourcefulness and taste. Before joining Preston Kelly, Beth implemented direct mail programs for Allianz, AIG, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Chase and Wachovia. Don’t know if you’ve ever produced direct mail, but it’s not easy. Trust and believe.
In conclusion, without Beth this copywriter wouldn’t have much in the way of a portfolio. Thank you, Beth. You rock.
Even work that would be welcome in people’s lives isn’t worth much if nobody experiences it. That’s why we have Scott. He makes sure everyone sees and engages with your brand―or, more importantly, the right people do. Scott is one of the country’s top connections directors, with recent “Media Plan of the Year” honors in competition against the nation’s media giants. Like Dahlgren and Goliath.
Have you stopped laughing at that last one yet? Scott’s experience includes Stagg Chili, Physicians Mutual, Pure Fishing, Roundy’s, Mall of America, YMCA, Be The Match, Sub-Zero, and 3M. His specialty is digging up added-value media opportunities and playing bigger than budgets would seem to allow. Again with the Dahlgren and Goliath.
Scott proved his never-say-die commitment to Preston Kelly when he broke both wrists in the same game while playing on the agency softball team. On the way to the hospital he kept asking, “Did we win?”
Walk into Maria’s office and you quickly realize its feng has more shui. Its yin/yang balance bodes well though for the one creating logical financial reports, key metrics for growth, practical policies and controls, budgets/forecasts and a supremely human and humane work environment. After 30 years of building her financial foundation at three different agencies, Maria embraces PK’s Good Wins philosophy starting each morning paddling a kayak with a good cup of coffee. Yep, at the same time. What about when the lake is frozen? You’ll have to ask her. But we love having her here. And borrowing the lint roller she keeps in her office due to constant wrassling with her black Labrador, Skye.