B-to-b agency names Bengt Sjogren President and Ron Klingensmith Chief Creative Officer
Chicago, IL, Oct. 20, 2008— In moves designed to increase both its global capabilities and creative firepower, leading b-to-b marketing agency Slack Barshinger has named Bengt Sjogren its new president and Ron Klingensmith its new chief creative officer, Chairman and CEO Gary Slack announced today.
Sjogren, a senior partner with Slack Barshinger since 1996, is a former Tetra Pak Inc. executive, serving as president and CEO of the global packaging concern in the U.S. from 1990 through early 1996 and previously in senior marketing, sales and management positions around the world, including Asia-Pacific, India and various European countries.
In addition to his Slack Barshinger role, Sjogren was CEO of Interverbum, a Sweden-based global language management company, from 2002 to its recent sale of European operations to AAC Global earlier this year. He continues as owner of Interverbum operations in North America and Asia and will integrate their localization and transcreation capabilities into Slack Barshinger’s global communications skill set.
“Bengt is one of the most marketing oriented and marketing savvy CEOs I have ever known, and in this expanded role he will help our agency better serve our global b-to-b clients in both U.S. and non-U.S. markets,” said Slack. “He will help us bring more strategic and experienced global and region-specific business thinking to our clients, especially those with operations in Asia, Europe and Latin America.”
Klingensmith, a creative director with Slack Barshinger, assumes the chief creative officer role vacated by agency namesake Don Barshinger, who retired to take up teaching in December 2007. A former J. Walter Thompson creative, Klingensmith has been at Slack Barshinger since 1992, serving in ever-expanding creative roles over the years.
“Ron is a consummate creative director and creative leader whose instincts about b-to-b creative strategy and execution we and our clients consistently take to the bank,” said Slack. “Now a full partner, he probably has contributed more to the success of our firm over the years than any other single individual, and that’s saying a lot.”
The appointments are effective immediately, and more information about each executive can be found at Slack Barshinger’s Web site at http://www.slackbarshinger.com and the agency’s blog site, http://www,writtenbyallof.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 generate profitable demand for their products and services. Founded in 1988 with offices in Chicago and Silicon Valley, the agency’s 55-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 2002, 2004 and 2006, the Business Marketing Association named the firm its national Agency of the Year. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, BtoB magazine named the agency one of the nation’s three Top Midsize agencies. Learn more about Slack Barshinger at www.slackbarshinger.com and its blog site, www.writtenbyallof.us.