22SQUARED PROMOTES TWO AND HIRES ONE TO HELP IMPLEMENT NEXT GENERATION OF MEDIA LEADERSHIP

April 24, 2008

22squared today announced two promotions, naming Judy Popky as SVP/Executive Media Director overseeing media planning and Marcia Owens-Reder as SVP/Executive Media Director overseeing media buying. In addition, 22squared hired David Rollo as SVP/Director of Digital Media Strategy managing all digital media practices. 

“22squared is constantly evolving to build better relationships with our clients (partners). Our new “Friendship Model” is an empirically-based approach to create, facilitate and deepen friendships between people and brands. Our clients are embracing this approach and through the thought leadership that Judy, Marcia and David bring to the table, 22squared (and our partners) will meet success at every turn,” said Richard Ward, CEO of 22squared.

Judy Popky manages contact plans for several of 22squared’s largest media clients including Buffalo Wild Wings, Lincoln Financial Group and Orlando Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. During her more than seven years at 22squared, Popky’s touched nearly all of the agency’s clients (past and present). She also has shared responsibility for Atlanta department management and new business. As SVP/Executive Media Director, Popky will lead and develop the media planning team across all accounts at both offices.

Prior to joining 22squared, Popky gained varied experience from her eight years at Ogilvy & Mather across many blue chip clients and categories such as: Food Lion, Krystal, Shoney’s, Martha White Foods, Kodak, McCormick Schilling & Company and Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties. Popky was also responsible for IBM’s 1996 Olympic coordination.

Along with the numerous creative media awards she’s won, Popky was named one of “Newsweek’s 100 Media Stars of the Future.”

Marcia Owens-Reder joined the 22squared team four years ago as the Spot Broadcast Director on the Southeast Toyota account. As SVP/Executive Media Director, she will lead and develop the media buying team across all accounts at both offices (Atlanta and Tampa).

Owens-Reder began her career as an assistant media buyer with Ally & Gargano in New York in 1982.  She moved to Dallas, Texas in 1984 and worked as a media buyer for Tracy-Locke Advertising on the Pepsi, Taco Bell and Frito Lay accounts. During her 17-year stay in Dallas, she also worked for The Richards Group, BJK&E, Doner and Publicis/Optimedia. She learned the ins and outs of the automotive retail business working on Chrysler/Plymouth, Mazda and BMW.

Owens-Reder left Dallas in 2001 to run the spot buying group for Medieaedge:cia in Atlanta, focused on the Lincoln Mercury business. She was there for three years before joining the 22squared team. 

David Rollo is an interactive strategist and creative director with more than seventeen years of experience leading departments, setting strategy and managing initiatives at both agencies and corporations. As SVP/Director of Digital Media Strategy, Rollo will lead and drive all digital media practices across all accounts at both offices and unite all digital strategies with other digital leadership. He will begin working at 22squared on April 29.
Rollo joins 22squared from Fitzgerald & Co. Advertising where he served as VP of Interactive Strategy and worked on (among others) the Aflac, Time Warner Cable, Longhorn Steakhouse and Haverty’s accounts. Rollo also worked for Macquarium Intelligent Communications on the Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Newell-Rubbermaid and UPS accounts. In addition to his agency experience, Rollo worked for The Home Depot at their corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Beaver Lumber Inc. in Canada and Apple Computer Inc. (Canadian Division). Rollo uses strategic thinking to drive success through a multi-channel approach and will play a huge role in building and deepening client relationships at 22squared.

About 22squared:
Based in Atlanta, 22squared was founded in 1922 as WestWayne. 22squared is one of the largest independent advertising agencies in the country, with main offices in Atlanta and Tampa. 22squared is employing a new model built to address a new marketplace that demands it. The model is based on the belief that a brand’s success directly correlates to the depth, strength and longevity of the relationship it has with its customers. “Befriending” consumers in a genuine and meaningful way is the most effective way to drive revenue and profits.

Having spent the past two years conducting extensive research on brand/consumer relationships, 22squared has developed an empirical model that not only characterizes and dimensionalizes the relationship, but prescriptively identifies those points of connection that will best facilitate the relationship.

22squared proudly partners with Ad Council; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar; Caribou Coffee; First Horizon; Florida's Natural Growers; Lincoln Financial Group; Marriott International; Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau; Publix Super Markets, Inc. and Southeast Toyota Distributors, L.L.C. 22squared is headed Richard Ward, CEO and Karen Evans, CMO.

For more information, visit www.22squared.com.