Marketing Sweats

Senior Communication Strategist, Pam Aiello, narrates the story of how she learned about the lasting impact of a campaign through the words of her daughter.

Director of Experience Strategy, Sara Ingles, narrates the story of what it was like to co-direct Caterpillar’s Dozer Pride rap video, challenging the status quo to create a video that still resonates today.

Executive Director of Service Management, Lori Johnson, narrates the story of how she found her true passion professionally while balancing life as a mom.

Executive Strategy Director, Erin Bowald, narrates the story of how the strong female leadership at Simantel has influenced her and given her hope for her daughter’s future.

Marketing and Brand Director, Alicia Ruemelin, narrates the story of her involvement in a big milestone at Simantel and an all-time favorite event for so many people tied to the agency – our 40(ish) anniversary celebration, Ish Fest.

Marketing and Brand Director, Alicia Ruemelin led the planning and execution of Ish Fest, Simantel’s 40(ish) anniversary celebration in the fall of ‘22. It took a ton of work, but in the end, the event went off without a hitch(…ish).

Executive Strategy Director, Erin Bowald, has learned a lot in her 15 years at Simantel. Hear how it prepared her for the role she’s in today, what she learned from the strong female leadership of the past and how she’s now shaping the next generation.

Lori Johnson, Executive Director of Service Management, always knew she wanted a career and to be a mom – of three. But when it became difficult to balance both, she had to find a way to create some flexibility in her schedule in order to “have it all”.

Director of Experience Strategy, Sara Ingles has poured her creativity into many projects at Simantel, but one really stands out: the Dozer Pride rap video she co-directed. It went viral, and six years later, it still resonates with operators today.

Senior Communication Strategist, Pam Aiello, was hired by Jim Simantel as the agency’s first writer. She’s made her mark on many people and campaigns during her tenure here, not the least of which was her own daughter and the City of Peoria’s “Don’t Shoot” campaign.

Nick Knuffman-Brewer recently brought his wealth of corporate retail HR experience to Simantel in his role as Associate HR Manager. Hear how his background influenced his take on HR and how he’s infusing that into the employee experience.

As co-chair of the DEI committee, Senior Project Planner Megan Gibbons, fosters an environment where everyone feels welcome, valued and free to be their full and authentic selves. Through her work, she empowers others to create the culture they wish to see.

Consistency, alignment in messaging and digital marketing is especially challenging for highly matrixed organizations. In this episode Creative Director, Van Burnett, shares how the Take a Closer Look framework helped Caterpillar resolve that issue.

Insights Director, Jason Brown, shares with us a story about creating an identity for a joint venture with our client Knapheide. But more importantly, the moment he realized that Simantel is more than just coworkers – they’re a strong community.

Jane Olson, Marketing Automation Consultant was hired to be an Associate Digital Strategist. But when Simantel landed the Cisco account, leadership knew she would be perfect for managing the marketing automation platform for their global instance.

Director of Organizational Design, Gena Killion, takes pride in the way she retains and processes information. But at Simantel, she learned the power of failure – and the many positive outcomes of it – when she made the wrong decision on a major client’s campaign.

Senior Web Developer, Alan Wilson’s Point of Pride came early on in his time at Simantel when he helped develop a live, interactive user experience for attendees at CONEXPO 2020. But when challenges hit last minute, the team had to get creative with their roll out plan.

Associate Media Director, Clay Deal didn’t take a typical career path to land in his leadership position at Simantel. As a two-time Simantelite, it wasn’t until he left the agency – and creating lifelong friendships – that he realized how special this place was to him.

Creative Director, Jake Beyhl is all about authentic storytelling. His passion for truth in advertising and pushing the envelope, along with a healthy dose of client trust, helped make the Caterpillar Dealer Technician Recruitment campaign a success.

Kelly Luttinen, Associate Content Director shares what it was like to help create a video for the OSF Healthcare Foundation to support fundraising efforts for ALS after losing her dad to the same terrible disease.

Executive Creative Director, Chris Moehn learned a lot from the agency’s founder. He’s played a pivotal role passing those values down through the generations and continues to help guide the direction of the brand and mentor many creatives along the way.

Marketing industry expert and Managing Director of Mirren Business Development, Brent Hodgins, explores the lack of consistency in business development and organic growth efforts. Brent has a pulse on all things agency-world and explores a variety of industry-related topics on this episode. 

A pioneer in the field of neuromarketing, Diana Lucaci explains how brain and biometric data is collected and used by brands to help improve their products, marketing and the overall consumer experience.

Putting the customer first helped seasoned sales leader Tony Fuller move beyond just selling the product. Tune in to hear his take on sales, marketing, the customer experience and more.

Lodestar founder and principal consultant explains how he helps agency leaders refine their positioning strategy and redesign their operating model to balance the needs of their clients, employees and the business.