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The Brand Leader, a branding agency specializing in strategy and design headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, recently announced the addition of two new members to their growing staff. Katie Walling and Ben Hungerford have joined the team as Marketing Manager and Junior Web Developer, respectively.
Walling comes to The Brand Leader as the agency’s Marketing Manager, to lead marketing initiatives for the agency’s brand. Her experience managing national brands’ marketing departments lends itself to leading The Brand Leader’s marketing, public relations, and communications efforts.
“As we’ve grown over the last 18 months, it had become evident that we needed more focus and expertise in the marketing of our own agency, not just our award-winning clients. Katie is someone who can not only grow this department, but lead major efforts for the agency itself,” said Executive Creative Director/Agency Director, Kyle Duford. “Her proven ability to build marketing departments from a team of one to a team of many will prove to be a key factor in driving the growth of our agency.”
Additionally, Hungerford joins the team as a Junior Web Developer. He joined the team in a fractional role in 2020, working with the agency’s development team to create and support websites.
“Ben has already proven himself to be an asset to The Brand Leader’s development team and culture as a whole, so we are thrilled that he is joining our team full-time to help move the needle for our clients,” said Aram Tchividijan, Director of Development.
Through recent growth coupled with launching a new Active Lifestyle Brands Division in 2020, the Agency also promoted Ashley Galloway to Accounts Director, and Kyle Duford to Executive Creative Director/Agency Director, both serving key accounts internationally.
“With our recent growth, we recognized the need to expand our capacity, specifically at the senior level of leadership,” said CEO and Founder Geoff Wasserman. “Kyle and Ashley’s prior experience leading brands from both a service and strategic perspective have accelerated our transition to focus primarily on national and global brands, and were a driving catalyst behind launching our new focus.”
Galloway joined the agency as Senior Brand Manager in mid-2020. With her promotion to Account Director, she will be responsible for leading the account management team, expanding the agency’s product offerings, level of service, and key client initiatives. Galloway’s prior experience includes over 15 years of experience in client leadership and brand strategy for companies like Mercedes Benz, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), 3M Graphic Manufacturers, Perception Kayaks, Dagger Kayaks and Zaxby’s Quick Service Restaurants.
Duford, who was named Agency Director in 2019 to lead day-to-day operations, now formally adds the Executive Creative Director position to his role with the Agency. “Kyle’s done a remarkable job at leading the growth of our agency,” said Wasserman. “His prior experience of leading brands both strategically as well as creatively are a rare blend that benefits our national and global clients. Working with our Creative Director and team have helped him deepen our work, and the ECD role allows him to expand our capabilities both with serving global brands, as well as attracting top creative talent from around the world.”
To learn more about us, visit our Team page. If you'd like to contact us, shoot us a note at hello@thebrandleader.com.
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