New Hires in Account Management, PR, Paid Media, Digital and Creative

PITTSBURGH, PA… BLD Marketing, a results-based, digital-first, full-service strategic marketing agency serving the building materials category exclusively throughout North America and abroad, has engineered substantial growth in 2020 despite the ongoing impact of a global pandemic. To respond to that growth, the agency has added six new team members. The new hires are practitioners representing each of the agency’s disciplines – account management, PR/content marketing, paid media, creative, and digital.

• Alexandria Holmes comes to BLD Marketing as its new PR/content marketing specialist. Prior to joining BLD, Holmes served as communications manager for the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, where she managed all the department’s communications functions.
• Dejia Jordan joins as a graphic designer in the creative department. A former BLD Marketing intern, Jordan most recently served as graphic designer for Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), where she designed a host of enrollment marketing materials for the university.
• Jennifer Lorenz joins BLD Marketing as account manager. With nearly 15 years of experience working with both consumer and B2B brands, Lorenz specializes in business management strategy, strategic planning and implementation, product launch, and digital marketing. Prior to joining BLD, Lorenz worked at a number of Pittsburgh-area marketing agencies.
• Allison Mizia has been named the agency’s new media planner/buyer. Her portfolio includes research and qualification of paid media vendors and media outlets for the development of advertising campaigns along with fulfillment and metrics calculation. Most recently, Mizia served as digital sales coordinator for Gannett Media, where she managed digital advertising efforts for the company.
• Julia Saunders joins the agency as account manager. She brings more than seven years of professional marketing experience to the team with an emphasis on digital marketing. Prior to joining BLD, she served as eCommerce content manager for a global promotional products supplier. Before that, she was the director of marketing for a legal and medical services provider.
• Carla Wilson joins the agency’s digital team as web developer. Prior to her arrival, Wilson served as a quality assurance engineer for a medical device company focused on developing solutions for people with special needs. There, she conducted testing and product analysis on web-based software.

In addition, BLD Marketing has promoted two team members into new roles for the organization:

• Brad Smoak is now the agency’s managing art director. In this elevated role, Smoak will oversee creative ideation, design, and production for a full portfolio of clients and will supervise members of the agency’s design and production teams. Smoak joined the agency in 2018 as a web developer and was later promoted to art director.
• Rachel Cronin has been promoted to account operations manager. In this newly created role, Cronin serves as chief project manager and liaison among the account management team and the various disciplines, tracking deliverables and deadlines across all accounts to ensure client satisfaction. Cronin joined the agency in 2018 as a junior account manager before later advancing to roles that included account project coordinator and then account manager.

“At BLD Marketing, we have secured a total of twelve new accounts during 2020. Our growth trajectory is fulfilling, but it also comes with a responsibility to manage that growth so that we can continue to serve our clients at the very highest levels. Hiring new talent is only part of that,“ said David Sladack, president of BLD Marketing. “We subscribe to what we call the ‘Three Ps” of growth – people, platforms, and processes. Beyond hiring great people, the agency recently invested in a project workflow platform to better track and manage all client projects. We’ve also ensured that one of our team members is constantly managing the platform and creating processes that promote efficiency and collaboration.”

“A number of years ago, we made a conscious choice as an agency to focus exclusively on the building and construction industry, and that decision has paid immense dividends,” said Kevin Mayer, CEO of BLD Marketing. “In a year where the effects of COVID-19 have had widespread impact on the economic climate, our business is thriving and growing because clients and prospects realize we bring specialized expertise to the table. We’re excited, because the future for the agency couldn’t be brighter.”