CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2007—Having helped grow Slack Barshinger into one of the nation’s best-known and most award-winning b-to-b marketing communications agencies, Executive Creative Director Don Barshinger will leave the agency Dec. 31, 2007, to pursue a full-time career as an independent writer.
Barshinger was with the agency for 19 of its 19-and-a-half years, starting as a freelance writer six months after Gary Slack founded the agency in June 1988, then being hired full time shortly thereafter. He was made a creative director around 1991, had his name added to the door in 1995 and was named president and executive creative director in 2000. He now assumes an emeritus role with the company.
Over this time, Slack Barshinger has grown to its present size of 70 employees and enjoyed considerable recognition within the b-to-b marketing profession. In 2006 alone, Slack Barshinger was named national Agency of the Year by the Business Marketing Association and Top Midsize Agency of the Year by BtoB magazine.
“We will miss Don and be eternally grateful to him for his many contributions,” said Gary Slack, agency founder and senior partner. “With Don’s help and leadership, over the years we’ve attracted a very strong partner group of 12 individuals who will be able to immediately assume Don’s various duties and responsibilities.”
Creative directors Ron Klingensmith, Kelley Fead and Karen Miller—all of whom have been with the agency for a decade or more—already are responsible for most of the firm’s creative work and will assume Don’s leadership role, Slack said. “Plus, they are supported by a creative staff of 25, one of the most talented in the city and nation.”
An agency name change is not in the works anytime soon, if ever, Slack added, noting that many firms in many industries continue very successfully after the retirement or shift into emeritus status of name partners. “Don generously has granted us full rights to continue using his name in perpetuity.”
As for the agency’s future plans, it’s “onward and upward,” Slack said. “Like Don’s name, I will be with the firm in perpetuity. I am as excited about being in this business as I was the day I founded our firm, and I know our best days are still ahead of us.”
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About Slack Barshinger
Slack Barshinger is an integrated marketing communications agency that works exclusively with business-to-business marketers to build strong brands and efficiently identify, create, retain and grow profitable customers. Founded in 1988 and based in Chicago, the agency’s 80-person staff works expertly across the entire marketing communications spectrum, combining deep expertise in demand creation with new marketing technologies to build solutions-neutral programs that deliver predictable ROI. In 2006, the agency was named Agency of the Year by the Business Marketing Association and has been named one of the top three midsize agencies in the country for three consecutive years by Crain’s BtoB magazine.