Marketing Drives Hires SVP and Creative Director
Marketing Drive has added to its staff, hiring Ronnie Tucker as senior vice president and Chris Kelman as creative director, both newly created positions.
Tucker will lead the account management team for Pernod Ricard, USA. Pernod includes Absolut Vodka and Plymouth Gin. She will also be responsible for the spirits and cordials portfolio—which includes Jameson, Malibu, Kahlúa and The Glenlivet—and wines and champagnes, working on Jacob’s Creek, Brancott and Perrier-Jouët among others.
Most recently, she worked as the senior director of partnership marketing, for the United States Tennis Association. There she managed the strategic planning and activation of sponsorships for all professional tennis events in the U.S. She worked with such Fortune 500 companies as American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Lexus, IBM, Evian, Heineken, Olympus and Tiffany & Co.
Kelman was hired to oversee the Absolut account. He will work as the creative director for Absolut, Malibu and Kahlúa and contribute to agency-wide concepting. He will report to Chief Creative Officer, Gene Chmiel.
Prior to joining Marketing Drive, Kelman worked for Catapult Marketing as vice president and creative director working on accounts such as Dannon, Subway, Masterfoods, Perdue, Timex and Novartis. During his career, he has also had a hand in creating several Reggie-winning campaigns: Excedrin/The Amazing Race, Pedigree/Pedigree Dog Adoption Program, Mott’s/Get Apple Healthy With The Wiggles.
The two joined the firm last month.
