JOEL BENAY

248.933.4234 joel.benay@gmail.com | www.creativethrowdown.com | www.linkedin.com/in/joelbenay

Creative Director, Brand Marketing A creative leader with an entrepreneurial passion for solving brand-building problems by executing strategy-driven solutions that create velocity and a brand experience, resulting in bottom line results. Your company and its advertising agency partners may develop 360 marketing solutions that create product communities through advertising, direct marketing, CRM, B2B, B2C, and social media, but you may Have creative teams that are not working from an agreed upon strategy. Be unable to maximize client deliverables with bottom line results. Suffer from lack of momentum and passion on the team. Have difficulty collaborating creatively with other stakeholders in the company.

With a track record of providing successful marketing campaigns to growing businesses, I can add value by: Revitalizing the review process to deliver a more consistent, targeted creative solution. Streamlining the creative process by being more client and customer centric, producing incremental business and effectively reducing costs. Spearheading the creation of brand experts, delivering a more effective brand experience. Establishing top-down creative leadership relations to produce a focused effort of success.

If you would like to brainstorm or collaborate on any of these perspectives, please call me at 248.933.4234. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS SONIC AUTOMOTIVE (NYSE: SAH), Detroit, MI 2011 Present $2.2 billion, Fortune 500 company and member of the Russell 2000 Index, is among the largest automotive retailers in the United States. Creative Brand Marketing, Sales Responsible for leveraging automotive ad agency experience to market an iconic luxury brand directly to the consumer. Surpassed yearly sales goal, generating $4.8 million in sales revenue. Achieved "Mark of Excellence" award from General Motors. Launched Cadillacinsider.com blog adding value to the Cadillac brand. Applied sales and marketing experience including Digital, Direct, CRM, B2C, as well as traditional advertising, helping the customer believe in the brand and creating a fulfilling purchase experience. CAMPBELL-EWALD, (Currently, Lowe Campbell Ewald) Detroit, MI 1999 2010 $121 million full-service fully integrated advertising and marketing communications agency specializing in Considered Purchase, Automotive, Government, Lead Generation, CRM, B2B, B2C, Social Media, and Direct Marketing. Senior VP, Creative Director, Brand Marketing Led and inspired a staff of 25 team members, comprised of ACDs, art directors, writers and UX designers. Championed the creative direction of the GM Direct Mail Loyalty Program, generating an increase of 460,000 vehicles and $11.5 billion in revenue within 12 months. Launched $3.9 million marketing campaign for GM UPromise college savings program, generating a 6% increase in incremental sales of 27,500 vehicles.

Led $2.5 million marketing campaign of direct mail, dealer POS, print ads, on-campus print materials and website for GM College Program directed at college students, generating incremental sales of $650 million on 35,000 vehicles. Directed the creation of the USPS Message Maker website, a turnkey interface empowering B2B clients to create customized, cost-efficient, branded communications, printing more than 100 million custom pieces. Managed complex GM mailings, tailored to as many as 43 variable cities, with distribution as wide as 18 million pieces. Invigorated US Navy recruitment campaign, achieving recruitment goals for 35 months straight. Led $3.8 million Batman OnStar direct mail campaign, contributing to 43% increase in purchase of additional OnStar services. Creative Director, Brand Marketing 1994 1999 Developed strategic creative solutions for direct mail, POS, B2B, B2C, CRM, which focused on a brand experience that effectively demonstrated the product. Assignments included: GREY DIRECT, New York BACKER SPIELVOGEL BATES, New York RAPP COLLINS, New York Recruited to revitalize brands including: CBS, Chase, Club Med, Kmart, Sprint, U.S. Navy Recruiting and Weekly Reader. Rejuvenated the U.S. Navy direct mail account, winning new business and a commendation from the Navy Commander. WELLS RICH GREENE BDDP, New York 1990 1994 Full service advertising agency. Senior VP, Creative Director, Brand Marketing Staffed and supervised a group of 10 art directors and designers working on national accounts including: Citibank, Continental, D&B, Hefty, Hertz, IBM, Jack in the Box, Midas, Philip Morris, Sheraton and Sunoco. Designed and created incremental brand campaigns, as well as work on Benson & Hedges, to grow revenues by $50 million. EDUCATION PRATT INSTITUTE, Brooklyn, New York, NY BFA, Advertising Design Communication AWARDS The Andy Awards Art Direction Magazine Creativity 35 Art Directors Club of New York Caddy Awards Caples Awards CE Chairmans Award David Ogilvy Gold Medallion David Ogilvy Silver Medallion DMAA Direct Mail Award The ECHO Award Effie Gold Award Franklin Typography Award Graphis Annual Graphis Photo Annual IMCA International Typographic Association Lindenmeyer Paper Library of Ideas Marketing Effectiveness AME Awards Mobius Awards New York Festival The One Show Print Magazine Smithsonian Permanent Collection Target Awards Typography Award William A. Robinson Best Promotion of the Year

OTHER ACTIVITIES Guest Lecturer for Direct Marketing Association & DMA of Detroit. Trained in FranklinCovey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Mastery of InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Expert knowledge of print production. MEMBERSHIPS AIGA Art & Design Communication Arts CPG Branding and Marketing Forum DMI Design Management Institute eMarketing Association Network Experiential and Non-Traditional Marketing Fuse: Design & Culture, Brand Identity & Packaging Future Trends Green TED: Ideas Worth Spreading Habitat For Humanity