Partners & Senior Staff

• Chris Colbert Chairman, Simplifier

  @cmcolbert chris@holland-mark.com

  

  I was a Navy brat.  I grew up wandering around the world, which most likely caused me to wonder about the world, a lot. That led me to marketing. My father was a four-star admiral. That led me to leadership.  The combination prompted me in 1986 to help start a company focused on applying technology to marketing. Called Database Marketing Corporation (DMC) it quickly became one of the New England’s largest marketing services firms. In the 90s we split DMC into two businesses:  BeNow, a database technology provider and Holland-Mark, a marketing agency. BeNow was eventually sold to Equifax and Holland-Mark became the largest independent marketing agency in New England. From its inception to its dotcom bubble bursted conclusion in 2001 Holland-Mark was widely recognized as a marketing and technology innovator, and established a legacy for progressive thinking regarding the challenge of building brands and businesses. It is that legacy (other than my kids) of which I am most proud. 

  From 2001 to 2005 I ran One Eighty Ventures, a marketing consultancy focused on turnaround strategy and innovation. In 2005 I became the managing partner of Pile and Company, the preeminent agency consulting firm. My primary responsibility at Pile was to invent new services and capabilities while leading the day-to-day. The time at Pile also gave me a bird’s eye view of the changing marketing landscape and the growing disconnect between traditional agencies’ capabilities and the needs and expectations of businesses big and small. That insight prompted me to re-launch Holland-Mark in 2007 as a “hybrid” marketing consultancy that brings together business strategy, big idea capacity and creative implementation capability.  

  The Boston-based firm provides marketing, branding and creative guidance to the CEOs and CMOs of early stage to mid-market businesses. In 2012 I became chairman of Holland-Mark and concurrently took a position as Chief Experience Officer at Scholastic in New York.  I divide my time between the roles and the cities while I search for my next high growth business to run. I sit on the boards of MITX and Grand Circle Corporation, the Leadership Council of the MGH Cancer Center, the MassArt Corporate Advisory Council, and am Chairman Emeritus of the Advertising Club of Greater Boston. I received a BA in History from Connecticut College and an International MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

• Rob Waldeck President

  @robwaldeck rwaldeck@holland-mark.com

  

  I learned early on in my career that marketing is simply selling on a larger scale: focus on the customer’s needs and wants, deliver distinct value, and engage emotionally. All lessons derived from my first real job going door-to-door selling farm-raised scallops to restaurants throughout New England. That experience also taught me that selling scallops door-to-door is no way to make a living. In 1995 I decided to follow my observations about the lowering cost of desktop publishing technology and start a brand design firm called TPG. Our focus was on working with Fortune 1000 and large regional brands to help them produce high quality graphic materials across a range of media. For twelve years we did just that.

  In 2007 I saw the landscape changing and customer needs evolving to demand a more comprehensive, strategic set of capabilities. A series of conversations with Chris Colbert, CEO of the newly restarted Holland-Mark, led to a decision to merge TPG into his firm. In the fall of 2008 the merger was formally announced and I took on the role of President. In my job I am focused on ensuring that we create client delight. I do that by bringing together the right combination of service philosophy, process definition, and strategic and tactical capabilities. I am responsible for the evolution and management of our global outsourcing network to enable us to be “as good at what we don’t do as at what we do do.” I am or have been active with numerous professional organizations including the American Institute of Graphic Artists and the Future Leaders of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and do a fair amount of volunteer work for nonprofit organizations including the Jewish Family & Children’s Services and the Concord Housing Development Corporation. I graduated from the University of Rochester. Go Yellowjackets!

• Jonathan Lee Creative Director

  @garetjax66 jlee@holland-mark.com

  

  I come from the hinterlands of the South Shore of Massachusetts. From my earliest memories I knew that I would find my way towards the visual arts, in one form or another. After graduating from Northeastern with a degree in design, I began a “journey of symbiotic duality,” honing my skills as a fine artist while also furthering my abilities as a graphic designer and creative director. Over the last fifteen years I have had the honor to work on some of New England’s most venerable brands, including LL Bean, Blue Cross and Sam Adams, while also teaching at the New England School of Art and Design (while earning a third degree black belt to ensure positive feedback to my work…). I joined Holland-Mark in 2011 with a commitment and desire to drive the strategic and aesthetic integrity of everything we do, for every client.

• John Skurchak Design Director

  @skurchak jskurchak@holland-mark.com

  

  I grew up here in New England, a land of cold winters and strong opinions. When I studied architecture and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, I discovered design solves problems; design makes ideas better and clearer; design is where form and meaning come together. Pursuing this idea, I worked in architecture, sculpture, printmaking, theater, and even sign language interpreting, but it was graphic design that won my heart.

  Before I joined Holland-Mark, I ran my own studio for fifteen years, providing branding, packaging, print, video and interactive projects to
  clients ranging from Harvard think tanks to makers of organic candy to green-energy startups.

  Holland-Mark has broadened my reach, giving me the opportunity to work collaboratively with amazing people to deliver excellence to great clients.

• Renee Bolz VP, Director of Client Services

  @rbolz88 rbolz@holland-mark.com

  

  When I was a senior in high school, my peers were taking personality tests in the guidance counselor’s office to help them figure out what career paths might interest them. I didn’t have to do that, because for some unexplainable reason it was clear to me even at age 17: I wanted to work in marketing. To be a contributor in the process of creating works of art that were also works of persuasion. The sociology behind it all was fascinating to me then, and it still is.

  I majored in Marketing at Bentley, and not long after graduation landed my first job in advertising at one of the hottest agencies that existed in the mid-90′s: a place called Holland-Mark, with a man named Chris Colbert at the helm. I worked on campaigns for brands like Fidelity, Veryfine, Massachusetts Tourism, and a handful of dot-com’s that burst with the bubble. I learned the ropes fast and loved every minute of it. People tend to move around in this industry — so I went on to spend some time at Hill Holliday where I supervised the Dunkin’ Donuts account. I became a parent (talk about project management). And then I worked as an independent marketing consultant for several years. I kept in touch with Chris along the way, and in 2009 I re-joined Holland-Mark. It was like coming home after being on a long trip.

  As H-M’s Director of Client Services, my role is to lead our clients in the development of strategic marketing plans, and oversee the implementation of those plans. See that questions are both asked and answered. That problems are contemplated and ideas are generated. That when things need to happen, they HAPPEN. On time and on budget. In the end, the approach is relatively simple: I constantly ask myself “how would I want to be treated if I were you?” Yes, the Golden Rule is alive and well and what we live by.