ADVERTISING AND MARKETING FIRMS, RANKED BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
BUSINESS SERVICES
Top 10 LANETERRALEVER 725 W. McDowell Road, Phoenix, 85007 // 602-258-5263 // laneterralever. com AZ EMPLOYEES 92 PRINCIPAL Beau Lane, CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Isabelle Jazo, senior vice president brand strategy RIESTER 3344 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, 85018 // 602-462-2200 // riester.com AZ EMPLOYEES 90 PRINCIPAL Tim Riester, partner and CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Mirja Riester, partner and chief strategic officer LAVIDGE 2777 E. Camelback Road, Suite 300, Phoenix, 85016 // 480-998-2600 // lavidge.com AZ EMPLOYEES 68 PRINCIPAL Bill Lavidge, CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMEN Alicia Wadas, chief operating officer; Sandra Torre, chief financial officer CRAMER-KRASSELT 1850 N. Central Ave., Suite 1800, Phoenix, 85004 // 602-417-0662 // c-k.com AZ EMPLOYEES 42 PRINCIPAL AND HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Kristin Bloomquist, executive vice president, general manager ZION & ZION 432 S. Farmer Ave., Tempe, 85281 // 480-751-1007 // zionandzion.com AZ EMPLOYEES 38 PRINCIPAL Aric Zion, CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN DuGue Zion, chief operating officer MOSES, INC. 20 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, 85003 // 602-254-7312 // mosesinc.com AZ EMPLOYEES 35 PRINCIPAL Louie Moses, president/creative director HIGHEST-RANKING WOMEN Diana Moore, V.P. administration & HR; Jodi Elle, V.P., director of accounts and consumer engagement BIG YAM, THE PARSONS AGENCY 7707 E. Marilyn Road, Building 5, Scottsdale, 85254 // 480-998-3154 // bigyam.com AZ EMPLOYEES 32 PRINCIPAL AND HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Marianne Curran, CEO OFF MADISON AVE 5555 E. Van Buren, Suite 215, Phoenix, 85008 // 480-505-4500 // offmadisonave. com AZ EMPLOYEES 30 PRINCIPAL David Anderson, CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Lorraine Murrietta, chief financial officer ARROWHEAD ADVERTISING 16155 N. 83rd Ave., Suite 205, Peoria, 85382 // 623-979-3000 // arrowheadagency.com AZ EMPLOYEES 25 PRINCIPAL Kyle Eng, president HIGHESTRANKING WOMAN Michelle Shepherd, chief financial officer KNOODLE ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 4450 N. 12 St., Suite 120, Phoenix, 85014 // 602-530-9900 // knoodle.com AZ EMPLOYEES 13 PRINCIPAL AND HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Rosaria Cain, CEO
INNOVATE IN NEW WAYS The ability to create compelling content that connects with target markets made RIESTER one of Advertising Age’s 20 agencies to watch in 2001. It also earned Principal and Chief Strategic Officer Mirja Riester the honor of being named 2016 Ad Person of the Year by Phoenix Ad Club. “My focus has been on the planning side,” Riester says. “So I do a lot of the consumer research, trying to identify the emotional relationships consumers have with a specific brand, product or service we are to solve problems for.” As part of her master’s degree studies in marketing and psychology at the University of Hamburg, Reister apprenticed at DDB Needham, now DDB Worldwide, where she worked on international accounts including Panasonic, Volkswagen and Guinness. Her work today is much more challenging, Riester says. “The ever-evolving technology is pushing us to create more content more quickly and to make sure we connect it.” She likens emerging digital channels, platforms and practices such as geo-fencing, which uses GPS to trigger when a customer enters a geographical boundary such as a retail store or a mall, to different trains. “Historically, it was okay to be on one train, because that’s where everybody was, and much of that was TV,” she says. “Now, it is all online. We have multiple people who just follow which trains people are on, and we constant-
ly have to jump from one train to the next to make sure we are where they are and change the content depending on where they go.” Riester moved to the United States to lead marketing for Heel, a homeopathic pharmaceutical company. In 1997, she joined the agency her husband, Tim, launched in his garage. Today, Riester oversees research, strategic planning, and the integration of the agency’s full range of services, including brand planning, web and mobile marketing, advertising, media planning and buying, social media and public relations for clients such as Aramark Corporation, Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation and Motorola. “I think what is most challenging for us is to constantly seek new ways to innovate in the way we communicate,” she says. Reister leads by setting a high bar for her staff, calling her style tough, but fun. “We want to win and we also want to be able to provide a fun environment for people and allow them to participate in meaningful projects,” she says. “All of that doesn’t happen if you aren’t creating good work.” Outside of work, Riester can be found cheering on the sidelines of her sons’ soccer games. She guides the boys, ages 12 and 14, using the philosophy that defines her own life: “You won’t be successful unless it’s something you do with your whole heart.”
MIRJA RIESTER PRINCIPAL AND CHIEF STRATEGIC OFFICER BY JOYCE HADLEY COPELAND
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