Creative

Cases

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  ShopRite Whole Brand Case Study

  ShopRite

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  Winnebago: On the Road Again Case Study

  Winnebago

News

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  Kathy Najimy Predicts Serious Legal Woes in Funny ARAG Ads

  These major setbacks are going to require a little more than hocus pocus.

  AdWeek, 08/24/2022

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  An Open Letter to Whole Brand Thinkers: Let's Take Over the World

  “Let's build a new kind of capitalism, one that doesn't reward brands doing whatever it takes to be successful. Brands should actually add value to people's lives — for consumers and employees alike, in ways that don't deplete the Earth, in ways that matter more than neutrality. It's time for a version of reality where whole brands and whole brand thinkers rule. Let's go make that world.” Read more in The Muse by Clio — "An Open Letter to Whole Brand Thinkers: Let’s Take Over the World," by Tim Galles, Barkley’s chief idea officer and director of The Whole Brand Project.

  Muse by Clio, 12/08/2021

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  Anatomy of Home: How the pandemic changed our four walls forever and how brands can win. – Barkley®

  The past year and a half yielded an unprecedented experiment in which our entire nation was forced to spend more time at home than at any point in their lifetimes — a change of pace, of place and of perspective, impacting every single person in America, across every generation and demographic. The result: a more intimate understanding of the role home plays in our days, in our lives and in our overall health. This experience will shape the very anatomy of home for the future. Brands can either tap into this understanding or ignore it.

  Barkley®, 09/08/2021

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  Nicole Kidman tempts you back to the movies in AMC campaign

  Nicole Kidman Joins AMC Theatres in $25 Million Campaign to Get You Back in the Multiplex

  Ad Age, 09/17/2021

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  The World’s Most Expensive Advertising Book on Amazon is Selling for $1,000,000 Dollars

  Little Black Book, Barkley chief engagement officer Jim Elms launches 'The Media Advantage' with tongue-in-cheek campaign

  LBBOnline, 06/23/2021

Clients

About

We’re Barkley, an independent idea company known for our heart, hustle, and relentless pursuit of what’s next. We’re out to prove the power of creativity: ideas are our business, independence is our secret weapon.

As a full-service advertising and marketing agency, we focus on creativity and innovation for clients. We’re committed to knowing modern consumers better than anyone because we believe the only brands to survive will be the ones that evolve at the rate of the consumer.

People

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  Jeff King

  CEO

  Jeff is surely one of the few ad guys to start his career as an intern at the same agency he now runs, though his journey to the helm of Barkley had a few stops along the way. His experience at GSD&M and Fletcher Martin led him to Three Wide Marketing and brought Jeff back to Kansas City in 2003. In 2009, he was named CEO. Jeff has not only helped transform the 55-year-old agency into one of the most sought after authorities on modern brand-building, he has also nurtured a purpose-driven culture that inspires Barkley’s best work: since 2011, Barkley has enjoyed its most rapid growth in company history, with 2020 setting the record for its best year ever. As a member of its national board of directors, Jeff leads Barkley’s partnership with the BrandLab, a nonprofit dedicated to changing the face of the marketing world by preparing students of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds for careers in advertising. He also serves on the Regional Board of the 4A’s and is the incoming Board President for Big Brothers Big Sisters Kansas City.
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  Dan Fromm

  President

  As president, Dan plays an active role in helping Barkley scale to serve clients across a wide spectrum of ideas. After six years and two Emmy awards with ESPN, Dan co-founded Three Wide Marketing, purchased by Barkley in 2003. Dan serves on the National Advertising Review Board, chairs the regional board of Teach For America Kansas City and recently joined the non-profit board of Project Scientist, focused on engaging and empowering girls who have the interest and aptitude for STEM.
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  Suzanne Williams

  Chief Operations Officer

  Suzanne oversees all financial operations, including HR, IT, facilities and project management and plays a strategic role in overall company management. During her tenure she has transformed the accounting team into a cutting-edge finance organization, which helped achieve record-breaking top- and bottom-line results. Prior to Barkley, Suzanne led corporate-wide financial planning processes for Sprint. Her leadership was recognized as a Women Who Mean Business Award Recipient in 2018 by the Kansas City Business Journal. She also serves on many nonprofit boards including Kansas City Rep Theatre, KU Medical Center Advancement Board, The Family Conservancy, The Children’s Place, and Alzheimer’s Association.
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  Katy Hornaday

  Chief Creative Officer

  As CCO, Katy leads all creative across the agency. From TV and digital to social and experiential, Katy relishes helping our brands discover their biggest possible future. She brings a unique, positive energy that supercharges everything we do at Barkley and our clients like Planet Fitness, Dairy Queen, Terminix, ShopRite, At Home, and many more. Katy likes to say she was "born and raised" on retail advertising. She started her career at CP+B working on Old Navy. She then moved to Boston to run Zappos and Jet Blue (among others). Her relentless positivity that has led to numerous industry awards and to being named one of Business Insider’s most creative 30 under 30.
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  Tim Galles

  Chief Idea Officer

  Tim oversees the creation and connection of ideas between Strategy, Creative, Design and Engagement, constantly working to reinvent what a creative idea company can and should be. He brings together strategic insights and creative actions to create breakthrough ideas that redefine products and categories, all centered around a powerful brand idea. He has a passion for inventing unique ideas that go beyond traditional and nontraditional definitions. Prior to Barkley, Tim lead integrated ideas at TBWA/CHIAT/DAY, Leo Burnett and JWT New York. His brand experience includes Christian Dior, Reebok, Yoplait, Smirnoff, Target, Smart Car, Kleenex, Microsoft, Ford, GM, Nestlé and Kimberly-Clark.
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  Jason Parks

  Chief Growth Officer

  The challenge of building underdog brands is what drives Jason as a strategist, collaborator and prime mover of new business at Barkley. Jason is one of the agency’s many boomerangers, starting his career here but jumping off to other opportunities before coming back home. In a 5+ year stint at Adamson, he worked his way up to partner, cultivating just about every brand in the shop. Among other awards, Jason was named by Ingram’s as one of Kansas City’s 40 most influential business leaders under 40. He’s used that influence here for more than a dozen (cumulative) years, leading strategy for brands like Hershey, Target, ESPN, Dairy Queen, Nestlé Purina and H&R Block. Jason oversees all account leadership and agency relationships, but sees his main job as making sure everything we do for each client drives business results.
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  Stephanie Parker

  Chief Client Experience Officer

  Stephanie has made a career of chasing the thrill of big ideas that change the trajectory of brands. In her role as head of the Brand Leadership team, Stephanie is responsible for optimizing client experience and integrating teams across Barkley. That means a keen sense for spotting opportunities and the business and brand know-how to create ideas with impact. She loves the momentum of getting to a big brand idea that fuels and inspires our work. Stephanie has deep experience in retail and restaurant including working on Sonic Drive-Ins, Quiznos, Applebee's, Ihop, Noodles & Company, Dairy Queen and Wingstop. In her spare time, she's passionate about mentoring talent, honing her skills as amateur chef and traveling with her husband and twin toddlers.
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  Chris Cardetti

  Chief Strategy Officer

  Chris Cardetti is the Executive Strategy Director at Barkley where he leads a group of "no handoffs" strategists and intelligence experts that execute across the entire brand spectrum, from high-level business and brand strategy projects to advertising and creative strategy to workforce and brand culture efforts. Along with his team, Chris fuels Barkley's modern consumer expertise through proprietary research and insights, and he has used his blend of "art and science" strategy in just about every vertical throughout his career, including retail, restaurant, CPG, travel, healthcare, and non-profit. He's led a series of "American Brand" revitalization efforts including Dairy Queen, Russell Athletic, Ball Canning, and most recently, Motel6. He's tapped into the power of purpose and culture with brands like Planet Fitness and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. And has led whole brand transformation efforts for brands like Spirit Airlines and E&J Gallo Winery.
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  Joe Sciara

  EVP, Growth

  Joe Sciara has been helping brands reach their greatest potential for more than 25 years. His expertise is broad and deep including brand positioning and marketing consulting, engagement planning and a deep understanding of marketing research methodologies. He has secured and maintained successful relationships with major national and international brands including McDonald's, TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods, Darden (Olive Garden, Red Lobster), Sonic Drive-Ins, Coca-Cola, 24 Hour Fitness, Tractor Supply Company, Big O Tires, and many more. He has a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Missouri Bloch School of Business.
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  Sara Buck

  EVP, Partner Experience

  After two decades in the business, Sara has learned one central lesson: it’s all about the people. Whether working with pet food, telecom, power tools or women’s lingerie, it all comes down to the people you work with and the people you’re serving. This passion for people led Sara to co-found the Barkley women’s group and to lead the Balanced Life workshop in 2017, providing networking opportunities and leadership training to encourage the female staff to grow and learn in their careers. In her role as EVP/Partner Experience, Sara is responsible for connecting all agency disciplines to the overall vision of Barkley as a creative idea company. This role has responsibility for agency workflow processes and project management, ensuring that our people practices (such as on-boarding and training match our vision, contribute to our culture and are communicated well. In addition, she is involved with clients day-to-day, not only running accounts but also leading new client on-boarding and scope development.