Baldwin& Names Kelly M. Reed as Senior Brand Strategist

Baldwin& is announcing today that Kelly M. Reed has joined the agency as senior brand strategist. Effective immediately, Kelly will lead strategic creative teams across new business and agency clients, including Lansinoh, KIOTI Tractor, and Downtown South. 

In this new position, Reed reports to partner, director of strategy Ashley Yetman. She joins Baldwin& from the brand side, where she led the copy efforts for Curology anti-aging skincare products in San Francisco. Prior to Curology, Reed was marketing campaign manager for Chicago-based music gear marketer Reverb.com. On the agency side, she has held creative leadership positions at Aisle Rocket in Chicago and Rule29 (a Certified B Corporation), working with brands ranging from KitchenAid, Bankers Box, and Allstate Insurance to CDK Global, USG, UNICEF, and Make-A-Wish Foundation.  

“Kelly’s the magic dream combination of ‘strategic’ and ‘creative’ we’ve been searching for,” said Ashley. “Her background leading cross-functional teams in both campaign strategy and execution will be the perfect addition to Baldwin&’s non-traditional strategist/designer team approach. Kelly is multi-talented both professionally and personally, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be adding her to our family.”

Kelly’s hire follows on the heels of Mitch Bennett joining Baldwin& as executive creative director last month. Mitch joined from Luckie where he was chief creative officer. And director of new business Alexa Tesoriero notes there will be more hiring to come as the agency builds on the momentum of winning five new clients, including AOR duties for Zulily plus being named Social AOR for Volvo Trucks North America and Bridgestone Motorcycle Tires.

Along with the new hires, the agency also announced key promotions and additions to its leadership team. Emily Watson and Katharine Belloir have been named group creative director and group account director, respectively. 

“Emily and Katharine both personify the ‘senior by design’ structure that is a big part of Baldwin&’s success,” said director of account management Jen Hazelett. “They possess the ability to see both the forest and the trees, which has been crucial to our agency’s growth. It was a very easy decision to promote them.” 

Agency veteran Katharine has managed businesses like Burt’s Bees, Cree, Cisco, Volvo Trucks, Lansinoh, and Wolfspeed. And Emily leads creative for KIOTI, Long John Silver’s, and Zulily. Since joining the agency in 2019, Emily has played an integral role in new business and is the creative mastermind behind the Baldwin&-inspired TAKE YOUR SEAT brand. TAKE YOUR SEAT is a for-profit social venture company committed to diversifying America’s boardrooms.

In addition, Emily has been appointed to the Baldwin& leadership team along with ECD Mitch Bennett, social director Renée Tufillaro, and director of New Business Alexa Tesoriero. The leadership team is designed to examine all aspects of Baldwin& on an ongoing basis to best shape its policies to meet the needs of the agency and its people. A recent example of the team’s actions being the institution of a hybrid work model for the agency, which allows Baldwin& employees to determine what works best for them when it comes to working.