We are a results-driven digital and eCRM agency within the global Proximity network, with more than 2,000 employees in 59 offices around the world.
We solve complex business problems with a simple strategy: change individual consumer behavior.
We succeed by fusing our digital and direct expertise with our deep knowledge of consumer data. The end result is a measurable (and memorable) consumer engagement with each and every one of our clients' brands.
Doug Worple
Worldwide Director of Commercial Innovation
Doug is Barefoot Proximity's founder. He has over 20 years of CPG experience, beginning with roles on the client side at Procter & Gamble. Doug spent 5 years on P&G's Finance & Accounting development track before moving into Brand Management.
As Brand Manager of Crest Complete, Doug successfully launched the brand nationally and took advantage of a company program to spend a month as a copywriter at Leo Burnett. Shortly after Doug's return from Leo, he left P&G and launched Barefoot Proximity with a passion for copywriting and a heightened appreciation for great creative.
This appreciation for great creative has been fostered throughout the agency, where Doug continues to serve as the keeper of the creative flame. Doug has earned top honors at the National Addy Awards Show as well as in the Communication Arts Advertising Annual and Print Design Annual. Doug and Barefoot Proximity have been written up in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, INC. Magazine, Advertising Age and Adweek.
Chris Evans
CEO
As a co-founder of Ethos Interactive (with Barefoot Proximity's Sean Brown), Chris was a pioneer in online marketing, being among the first to venture into CD-ROM- and Internet-delivered campaigns "way back" in the early and mid 90's. Their firm was purchased by interactive agency Eviciti, and Chris managed the Cincinnati office. In true dot-com style, that firm was bought yet again, this time by Haverstick, a leading interactive consultancy at that time. Prior to founding Ethos, Chris was a business analyst/consultant for Deloitte Consulting.
More recently, Chris was a senior client service executive at HSR Business to Business, widely considered among the best business-to-business agencies in the country. As one of Barefoot Proximity's leading account managers, he is especially gifted at helping clients formulate strategies and working harmoniously with creative teams to bring those strategies to life in unexpected, yet effective ways. Highly respected by his clients for his depth of knowledge and the insights he brings to the table, Chris is particularly good at identifying additional ways that the agency can leverage creativity to solve clients' problems.
Sean Brown
EVP, Technology
Sean was a "pre-boom" Internet entrepreneur. Along with Chris Evans he co-founded Ethos Interactive in 1995. When it was sold to Eviciti (2000), Sean managed Eviciti's Detroit office as VP/General Manger. Sean most recently ran the Internet Services division at HSR Business to Business.
Sean is an accomplished application developer with experience in multiple platforms and brings a deep technical expertise to the table. At the same time, he possesses a fine strategic mind and an appreciation for great creative.
At Barefoot Proximity he leads the Digital Strategy group, the Application Development group and the Project Management group. He has served a wide range of clients including Mercedes-Benz, Kodak, Haworth, Procter & Gamble, Formica and MillerCoors
Matt Bledsoe
Executive Creative Director
After formative years at Saatchi & Saatchi/NYC and Doner/Detroit, Matt became VP/Creative Director at Big Fat Brain, an award-winning new media studio founded by Barefoot’s own Troy Hitch. Together, Troy and Matt created acclaimed interactive experiences for clients such as Adobe, Autodesk and iRobot, as well as original series for My Damn Channel and Sundance Channel.
Prior to joining Barefoot Proximity, Matt was Executive Creative Director at Possible Worldwide, one of the largest digital agencies in the known universe. With a diverse background in music, digital storytelling and filmmaking, Matt helped build global multimedia campaigns for brands such as Pepto Bismol, Visa and Pringles.
In early 2012, Matt received national acclaim for writing and directing Radius, an interactive short film featuring the world's first crowd-sourced superhero. The film is currently being used by the mayors of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Washington, and Philadelphia - as well as NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman - as an example of how support for the arts can create a surprising ripple effect of community benefits.
Jennifer Dougherty
EVP, Account Lead
A 20-year veteran of the advertising industry, Jennifer has spent the majority of her career managing both regional/global accounts for CPG, telecom and technology clients. She began overseas with BBDO, where she worked with international companies experiencing explosive growth in emerging Eastern European markets. Within a short period she was overseeing Pepsi in six countries and grew the Masterfoods business to a regional account with revenue across 13 countries. During this time she also managed country launches for Vodafon and Cosmorom.
She returned to the US to work with HL2, Seattle's leading independent agency, where she oversaw clients Microsoft and Corbis. Following a short client-side stint, she returned to the agency world with DDB to manage their Microsoft account. Jennifer joined UM in 2010 to run the Microsoft Window’s Consumer business with $350M+ budgets across 13 countries.
With a focus on driving value for her clients, Jennifer has a keen eye for building efficient teams within the agency while maintaining a constant focus on client KPIs and program returns. This focus extends to building relationships with all key stakeholders, assisting clients in socializing core programs within their organization and always keeping the client’s bottom line in clear view.
Tim Lemke
VP, Program Delivery
Tim specializes in program management, user experience planning and digital strategy. Throughout his career he has focused on blending business goals, creative ideas and technical requirements to bring innovative marketing ideas to fruition. Thanks to years of hands-on experience managing digital applications and processes, he is able to simplify and create elegant solutions for complex problems. He has particular expertise in agile process management, usability, UX, user testing and digital product development.
Prior to joining Barefoot, Tim was Senior Manager of Marketing Communications for Convergys, the world's largest provider of outsourced billing and customer care services and software. Tim led the company's online efforts, including a major overhaul and global regionalization of their corporate site, and he spearheaded the company's creative services team.
Outside of work, Tim keeps busy as a fitness junkie, wine blogger and furniture builder.
Fran Dicari
SVP, New Business
Fran leads the Core Digital Group at Barefoot Proximity. Core Digital manages work for P&G brands (Dawn, Cascade, Wella and Braun), ExxonMobil and US Playing Card. He's a problem solver, a champion for great creative and a fanatic about client service. He also has a great deal of experience in global website strategy and execution.
Fran came to Barefoot Proximity from the Waylon Company, a full-service marketing and promotion agency, where he directed the company's Cincinnati division. He also is a P&G alumnus, having served in brand management for Vidal Sassoon. Fran earned his MBA from Columbia University, and he earned his BS-ME from Villanova University.
When not in the office, Fran is a leading dad blogger with a Klout score of 50. His niche blog, Stats Dad, about youth sport in America, has been featured in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, MSN-Money, Time.com and in a recent book.
Steve Kissing
SVP, Creative
Steve Kissing has spent nearly 20 years in the advertising agency business. His career began in public relations at which point he served such clients as IBM, Walt Disney and Xerox. Steve was an early adopter of interactive technologies within PR and contributed articles on the topic to several of the major industry trade publications.
Always intrigued by the creative side of the agency business, Steve rebooted his career about ten years ago, joining Barefoot Proximity as a copywriter. He quickly demonstrated his talent. So much so, in fact, that after three years at Barefoot Proximity, Steve returned to a former agency as an interactive ACD, and was later promoted to CD. He then returned to his true agency love, Barefoot Proximity, as a partner and interactive creative director.
These days, Steve utilizes both his PR and creative skills to help concept, plan and execute earned and social media programs, while still contributing to the creative team. When not working, Steve can be found relaxing with his family or at the keyboard writing away. Steve has had a couple books published, and his childhood memoir, Running from the Devil, is currently being converted into a graphic novel.
Brian MacDonald
VP, Measurement, Optimization & Search
Before joining Barefoot Proximity, Brian developed agency experience across several disciplines including interactive design, application development, direct marketing, search strategy and web analytics.
His search marketing experience includes work in some of the most competitive industries helping to improve clients' earned and paid search visibility.
When not focusing on his clients' online presence, Brian is constantly practicing and perfecting his SEO/SEM knowledge on several online properties of his own.
He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and holds an MBA with a focus in Marketing from the University of Cincinnati.
Carla Davie
Human Resources Manager
Carla Davie has been responsible for overseeing the human resources function, as well as supporting a growing sales organization. She has implemented strategic staffing and recruiting initiatives, as well as strong benefit management and best practices. Prior to consulting, Ms. Davie worked for a variety of high-growth industry leaders, including: Paycor, Inc; Northlich; Gradison McDonald Investments; and Starwood Lodging Corporation. Ms. Davie earned a bachelor's degree from University of Arkansas and has been active in a number of professional and civic organizations, including SHRM, GCHRA, and Kindervelt.
Kristen Houston
Director of Insights & Planning
Kristen joined Barefoot Proximity in 2013 to lead the Insight & Planning discipline. She has tons of passion for consumer insight, brand strategy, user experience and shoes.
Prior to joining Barefoot Proximity, Kristen developed mastery in consumer research at Procter and Gamble. She has experience in brand equity, brand architecture, shopper marketing, and consumer behavioral insight. Before leaving P&G, Kristen envisioned and established the global market research organization's digital strategy and action plan. She established how P&G's strength in consumer research could enable the company to win in digital marketing and ecommerce. She influenced the entire global market research organization through digital brand building guidance, ongoing marketing consultation, and global training.
Kristen earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration & Communication from Indiana University, Bloomington. She is also the co-founder at Fighting for Fabulous, where life is the main event (fightingforfabulous.com).
When Kristen isn't doing consumer insight work, you can find her drinking coffee with her husband or playing princess dress-up with her two daughters.
Amy Hatton
VP, Account Director
Amy brings more than a decade of consumer research, marketing insights and online experience to her role at Barefoot Proximity. As Senior Account Executive, Amy leads the agency's Swiffer business. Additionally, Amy has led proprietary Barefoot Proximity market research efforts, such as the annual Digital Moms research, and consults on social media measurement where needed.
Before joining Barefoot in 2008, Amy served as Director of Research at Nielsen BuzzMetrics, which measures consumer-generated media, or online "buzz," about companies, brands and services. Amy led brand and reputation tracking programs across a variety consumer and service categories, including CPG.
Prior to Nielsen BuzzMetrics, Amy spent nearly ten years in consumer research and insights roles with ACNielsen BASES and LexisNexis, managing programs in the U.S. and abroad. She earned her MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 2004, and B.A. in English and Geography from Northern Kentucky University in 1996.