about
PJA Select Client List
Phil Johnson
CEO
Phil wants to make PJA Advertising + Marketing great. That leads him to ask a lot of questions. How can we find and develop people so that we're better than we were yesterday? How can we make our agency a valuable destination for our clients? How can we improve on what agencies do?
He sees the ultimate role of agency CEO as a never-ending quest for undiscovered talent. He is a firm believer in hiring better and smarter than himself and is often in awe of the people at PJA. He's fascinated by the technologies that are changing the art and science of marketing, but still believes most answers can be found in understanding what makes people tick. He's relentlessly curious, and spends time writing for AdAge and running a speaker series for the Business Marketing Association of New York. He's frequently overbooked serving on the boards of the Boston Museum of Science, Partners in Health, and the Cambridge Community Foundation. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and two sons, although he needs to be reminded that one son is actually away at college.
Mike O'Toole
President and Partner
I feel privileged to live in these most interesting of times for marketing. While the ends haven't changed at all (make me famous, help me sell), all the means (channels, content, devices, who's in control) are changing constantly. Which means it's a great time to be an agency helping clients figure all this out.
As President, I oversee operations on both coasts, and advise clients on marketing strategy. I'm an occasional speaker and blogger for MarketingProfs, the BMA, and at SXSW. I thoroughly enjoy hosting PJA Radio's "This Week In Digital Media," a two-year old thought experiment where I get to discuss topics ranging from the impact of HTML 5, why humor matters in B2B marketing, and Social Media and the Middle Class Musician.
When it comes to PJA, I'm most proud of the agency's culture, and its collection of people who genuinely like each other, and work exceedingly hard to get clients the credit they deserve.
When it comes to home, I spend my free time coaching soccer, driving around my four kids, and hoping for a Notre Dame football return to glory. Ask me about my family's deep dive into the analog world, the Summer of 72 books.
Hugh Kennedy
EVP, Planning and Partner
Demographic
- 46-year-old male, 20 years marketing experience
- BA from Yale, but don't hold that against him
Work Life
- Works closely with C-level clients on marketing strategy and with Office Manager to ensure Nespresso capsules are stocked in kitchen
- Travels frequently between US cities and between desk and Wakefield schools to drop off and pick up children
Online Media Consumption
- Reads The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CIO, eWeek, Wallpaper and International Wine Cellar
Signature Quote
- "I'm working toward the day when every client is as daring in their marketing as their favorite campaign out in the world."
Doug Powell
Media Director
Doug's first lunch in advertising was at the legendary Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago (cheeseburger and chips-no Pepsi). Although he never went back, he did go on to work on many other iconic brands including Levis Jeans, Taco Bell, Pillsbury, MTV, Amazon.com, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, and Cisco. His curious nature for discovering how media can drive business growth and brand success makes him an asset beyond his profession. Meanwhile, he's also raised the bar significantly on where to go for a good lunch.
Greg Straface
VP, Business Development
As head of Business Development for PJA Advertising + Marketing, Greg leads the agency's efforts to identify and secure strategic partnerships, while expanding PJA's footprint from BtoB to BtoC. Greg brings extensive strategic marketing and business development expertise to PJA having worked with global agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, Publicis, BBDO and most recently Doremus where he helped launch the San Francisco outpost of that Omicom agency. Greg has a driving passion for building relationships and has been able to connect the strategic vision of PJA with innovative brands like Yahoo, Trend Micro, Brother International, CA Technologies, EMC, Boston Scientific, Novell and TE Connectivity.
Greg is most proud of his involvement in PJA being named Agency of the Year by AdAge's BtoB Magazine in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Aaron DaSilva
VP, Executive Creative Director
For more than fifteen years, Aaron has driven creative thinking for numerous companies including Novell, Trend Micro, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Brother International, Chase Sapphire, State Street Bank, TE Connectivity, GE Healthcare, Juniper Networks, VH1 Classic, Jet Blue and Boston Scientific. His work has been honored numerous times by the One Show, Creativity, the Effies, the Telly Awards, The Hatch Awards, ANDY, Print, MITX, and the BMA Awards. In addition to providing creative leadership and direction across all client accounts, Aaron's role is to push the agency to create new experiences that disrupt category conventions and influence audience behavior. His trademarks include his booming laugh, impeccable haircut, and, more recently, white sneakers—which frankly, just isn't normal.
Robert Davis
SVP, Digital Marketing
I love working in an era that I see as defined by an interesting paradox: on the one hand, we have the bandwidth and development chops to rapidly create all kinds of digital content and functionality-from sites and social media content to QR codes, cheap video, mobile apps, and on and on. On the other hand, the relative ease with which we can make these things should be the thing that frees us to almost forget about the technology and to think very freely about how brands can behave-in the context of peoples lives-so that we can remove friction from the things they want to get done. So we can identify and suggest connections between things they didn't know to connect, or so we can be engaging enough to compete for their scarce attention or even their affection. It's this idea of finding ways to enable brand behavior that makes me think this is a great time to be a marketer.
Oh, yeah- the details: The list includes Think New Ideas, Ingalls, Chiat/Day, Lintas. Started out as a creative, jumped to strategy and am vain enough to say that's what makes creatives love me. American Express, AOL, AT&T, Capital One, CVS/pharmacy, Dell, EMC, GE, IBM, Infor, Mars, SAP, TE Connectivity. Green vehicles, heirloom tomatoes, assorted pets, my wife and two boys—all in reverse order.
Nicole Ciacciarelli
VP, Finance
Nicole is responsible for the financial operations of PJA, focusing on financial strategy and planning for the company. She sees to it that both our Cambridge and San Francisco operations practice fiscal responsibility in business dealings and ensures the agency is on track for profitability. A 12-year veteran of PJA, Nicole and her administrative team are also responsible for managing pretty much all things infrastructure at PJA including human resources, legal and our famous bottom-less snack bowls—salty and sweet.
Janet Carlisle
VP, Client Services
If you’re looking for someone who can think on her feet, articulate any marketing situation in human terms, or just make you laugh, few compare. Janet began her career over 20 years ago in New York working on consumer brands such as General Mills, Fisher-Price, Perrier, and Gillette. Since that time she's worked at agencies big and small, honing her skills in marketing strategy to deliver results-oriented programs domestically and globally. Most recently, she’s been serving as our trusted advisor to the brand leaders to clients such as Infor, GE Healthcare, Limelight, Iron Mountain, Brother Printers, and TE Connectivity.
When she's not running the client service department or tweeting like a rock star, she keeps us all honest and makes sure we're having a blast while we're at it.
Frank Schumacher
SVP, Managing Director, PJA West
SVP, Managing Director, PJA West
Frank leads PJA's San Francisco office and has more than twenty-five years' experience building global brands and delivering B2B and B2C marketing results, both as a former client and as a strategic agency leader.
In his early career, Frank worked at Apple, directing field marketing, product introductions, and worldwide advertising. His agency experience includes leading the Kodak business at Ogilvy, the global HP business at Publicis and, more recently, a diverse list of innovative clients including Cisco, Yahoo!, Trend Micro, Juniper Networks, Life Technologies, eBay, PayPal, Jamba Juice, SanDisk, Bio-Rad, and Hitachi.
Frank's strategic work has earned three EFFIE Awards (the American Marketing Association's award for marketing effectiveness), but he is arguably most effective at enjoying life in San Francisco.
Latin3
Sao Paulo, Brazil
The leading digital marketing firm for global corporations catering to Latinos in the United States and Latin America, Latin3 creates, develops, and optimizes digital experiences across multiple channels. Latin3 has offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, and Mexico City. Visit Site
The NetworkOne
London, UK
The NetworkOne is an international network of 270 independent agencies in 156 cities across 64 countries. Our relationship gives us the opportunity to custom build PJA's agency partner network using best-in-class specialist agencies in both the technology and health science segments. Visit Site
Chugai
Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China
Founded in 1938, Chugai is Japan's oldest B-to-B agency as well as the first Japanese B-to-B agency officially licensed in China. Visit Site
Phil
Johnson
Mike
O'Toole
Hugh
Kennedy
Doug
Powell
Greg
Straface
Aaron
DaSilva
Robert
Davis
Nicole
Ciacciarelli
Janet
Carlisle
Frank
Schumacher
