GodwinGroup, one of the South’s oldest and largest advertising agencies, on July 1, 2009 announced leadership promotions. Based on the changing needs of the current market, GodwinGroup is reorganizing its staff to focus on three key services - Branding, Integrated Marketing and Reputation Management.

“This restructuring flattens our organization to allow the partners and senior staff to stay more closely involved with our clients,” said President and CEO Philip Shirley. “It supports our transition into a firm where digital and traditional marketing are now fully integrated.”

In the process of making these announcements Danny Mitchell, who serves as chairman and senior partner of Godwin, explained that the reorganization is a result of the firm’s move to deliver value to its clients in today’s constantly changing environment, where the market evolves as fast as technology.

New management promotions include:

John McKie, Executive Vice President, has assumed the role of Godwin’s Managing Partner. McKie, who joined GodwinGroup in October 2000 as Vice President of Customer Relations Marketing, became a stockholder in 2007. His experience in consumer intelligence and interactive marketing has benefited clients in tourism, banking, healthcare, and the professional services industries. He will lead the agency’s integration of traditional advertising channels with emerging digital technology. Prior to joining Godwin, McKie worked at McRae’s, a division of SAKS, Inc. for more than 20 years. He received his degree in marketing from the University of Southern Mississippi and an MBA in marketing from Mississippi State University.
Jeff Russell, Executive Vice President, has been named Partner-In-Charge of Client Services. For the last two decades, Russell has worked as a strategic marketing planner for a variety of accounts focusing on bringing creative solutions to marketing problems primarily in the fields of energy, economic development, health care and financial marketing. He began his advertising career as a staff artist at a small agency and then returned to Delta State University where he received an MBA with an emphasis in marketing. Russell became a GodwinGroup stockholder in 1990 and assumed responsibility for the agency’s account management/account services component in 1992.

Donna Ritchey, Executive Vice President, was named Partner-In-Charge of Reputation Management. Ritchey specializes in issues management and crisis communication, working with industrial, banking, healthcare, energy and service sector clients on a regional and national basis. She is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF) and was named a Senior Practitioner by SPRF in 1992. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and also studied at the London School of Economics. She joined GodwinGroup in 1989 and became a stockholder in 1995.

Susan Graves, Executive Vice President, has been named Chief Financial Officer. Graves began her career at Magnolia Federal Bank for Savings in 1987. She served for six years as an Assistant Treasurer, SEC Reporting Supervisor. In 1998, Graves joined GodwinGroup as Accounting Supervisor and most recently held the position of Comptroller before being promoted to CFO. Graves graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a degree in Accounting.

GodwinGroup, founded in 1937, is headquartered in Jackson, Miss., with offices in Biloxi and Miami, Fla., serving clients nationwide in the areas of branding, integrated marketing, advertising, strategic planning, research, Web marketing, direct marketing, public relations and reputation management. For more information go to www.godwin.com.