Over the past year, the agency has taken on additional marketing responsibilities for AT&T, launched its first television ad campaign for Alfa Insurance, created a hugely successful social media promotion for new client McAlister’s Deli, and added Kirkland’s as a key PR client.

To help accommodate this growth, top-level agency leaders recently undertook a restructuring of Luckie’s executive team and responsibilities.

Ed Mizzell, Chief Operations Officer

As part of the transition, Executive Vice President Ed Mizzell and Executive Creative Director Brad White will become the agency’s two Managing Directors.

Mizzell will assume the role of Chief Operations Officer/Managing Director. He will oversee Account Management, Direct Marketing, Public Relations, Accounting Financials, Human Resources and New Business.

Brad White, Chief Creative Officer

White assumes the role of Chief Creative Officer/Managing Director. Departments including Creative, Strategy, Media, Digital Services, Production and Traffic will all report to him.

Mizzell joined the agency in 1982. White came on board in 2003. Both are being recognized for their contributions and leadership at Luckie over the years. Dividing agency functions by operations and creative will help the organization run more efficiently, yet continue to place a premium on the strategic and creative disciplines.

Jay Waters, SVP/Chief Strategy Officer

In addition to these new positions, two veteran Luckie department heads have been named to the agency’s Executive Committee. Senior Vice President Mike Murphy and SVP/Chief Strategy Officer Jay Waters join existing members Robert Luckie III, Tom Luckie, Ed Mizzell and Brad White.

Luckie’s Executive Committee is responsible for both day-to-day

Mike Murphy, SVP

operations and long-term planning and policy setting. Its primary goals are to provide direction and policy matters, along with financial oversight and assistance setting goals, objectives and agency strategy.

Murphy joined the agency in 1998, and Waters in 1992.

“They are both quite deserving and a natural fit to become part of this important group,” said Tom Luckie, President and CEO. “They understand agency culture, the dynamic landscape of the agency world, and they’ll bring new vision to the agency as a whole.” Murphy currently leads the Direct Marketing team and is head of the San Antonio office. Waters is responsible for communications planning, media buying and brand planning.

If you’d like to learn more about these recent changes, drop an e-mail to Luckie’s agency PR maven, Mariesa Stokes.

Great write-up in today’s Nation’s Restaurant News digital edition about our on-going Tea Town USA social media effort with McAlister’s Deli. To learn even more about this exciting campaign, please check-out our social media blog, TheSocialPath.com, for some great thoughts from our social media strategist and architect of this campaign, David Griner. If you want to learn more about what Luckie’s social media team can do for you, please drop David a line david.griner@luckie.com.

And don’t forget that July 29 is free tea day at every McAlister’s Deli in the U.S.

David Griner

When 5,400 digital professionals gather on Wednesday, June 9, to kick off the annual Internet Retailer Conference and Expo in Chicago, one of the first featured speakers will be Luckie & Company’s own David Griner.

Griner, Luckie’s Social Media Strategist, was asked by event coordinators to share his perspectives on recent social media promotions in the retail industry. He will be presenting alongside Dan Shust, director of emerging media for Resource Interactive in Columbus, Ohio. Their discussion is titled “Two Thumbs Up (Or Down) On Social Media Efforts.”

“It’s a really exciting time to be talking to this audience,” Griner said. “Facebook, FourSquare and mobile applications are redefining what it means to ‘shop online,’ and I’m sure this will be a lively discussion.”

You can read more about the presentation — and even see some cool case studies that didn’t quite make the cut — over on Luckie’s social media blog, The Social Path.

David Griner | E-mail | Twitter | LinkedIn | SlideShare

Ginger Pegues

Ginger Pegues has joined Luckie & Company as an Account Executive. Ginger will serve on the Regions Bank Account Management
team. Her focus will be to support other team members with tasks related to Business, Lending, Commercial, and Wealth advertising, in addition to managing Regions collateral, point-of-sale and some Area Marketing geographies.

Before coming to Luckie, Pegues worked with HealthSouth and Intermark Group. Her experience with project management and communications, marketing and advertising initiatives, and previous agency work will all be assets to Luckie & Company.

“Ginger’s experience on both the client and agency side gives her invaluable perspective in handling her day-to-day responsibilities. We’re excited to have her on the team and know she’ll make a strong contribution,” said Patti Siegel, SVP/Director of Account Management at Luckie.

When she’s not at work, Ginger is busy giving back to the community, serving as the Communications Chair on the Board of Directors for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (North Central AL), District Four Vice President of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association and on the Executive Committee of the University of Alabama Jefferson County Alumni Chapter.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Pegues lives in Birmingham with her husband Edward. They share their home with three Australian Shepherds, Ali, Lucy and McKenzie, and their 16-pound cat named Frank, after Ol’ Blue Eyes. Ginger enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and family, directing weddings at her church, and Alabama Football.

Ginger Pegues | E-mail | LinkedIn

In early 2009, Bayer engaged Luckie to develop new consumer event creative for The Summit, including Fashion Camp, Music on the Terrace, Wine Walk, Fashion Weekend and Lights Up. This was in addition to Luckie’s existing role developing ongoing trade marketing, media planning and PR initiatives.  These consumer events were highly successful and effectively demonstrated the creative talent and execution ability that earned Luckie a broader scope of responsibility.

“Strategically, we need to communicate a consistent and integrated message to our customer,” said Doug Schneider, VP of Marketing for Bayer Properties. “That’s why it is crucial for us to have a talented, full-service agency like Luckie to drive strategic planning and creative development.”

Under the new agreement, Luckie & Company will handle consumer/trade advertising, media planning/buying and marketing for Bayer Properties nationally while managing PR in Birmingham. Public Relations for markets outside Birmingham will be managed separately in addition to website maintenance.

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn

Markus Beige

At Luckie and Co., we always said we have a creative team of international caliber. And now we’ve got the accent to prove it.

Markus Beige (pronounced “By-Geh”) recently joined Luckie’s Birmingham headquarters as Design Director, a senior-level creative position that will oversee much of the agency’s visual work for a wide range of clients.

Born, raised and trained in Germany, Markus is a tremendously talented designer whose career has spanned the globe, from Augsburg to Australia. He has developed packaging, advertising and online experiences for brands such as T-Mobile, Red Bull, Jägermeister and Audi.

“Markus brings the best of both worlds: a strong traditional design background with years of experience translating that into multiple online channels,” said Brad White, Luckie’s Executive Creative Director.

Markus said he was excited by the opportunity with Luckie, which brings together the diverse skills he’s accumulated over 20 years in design.

“After my graphic design and advertising studies I worked for a studio in Sydney, Australia, doing work for print and packaging. After six years of living in Australia I returned to Germany, where I have worked mainly for online and digital media,” Markus said. “Luckie offered me the opportunity to work in both areas.”

As much as we’d like to take credit for Markus’ arrival in the American Southeast, it was love, not Luckie that led him to Alabama. He married a local who eventually convinced him to relocate across the Atlantic.

“After living in Germany for two years she reckoned it was time to move back to the U.S.” Markus said, “and I am glad she ‘made me’ do it.”

To learn more about Markus and the rest of Luckie’s international cabal of award-winning creatives, contact Brad White by e-mail or at (205) 879-2121. Markus can be reached directly at markus.beige@luckie.com.

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn

Click here for a two minute audio clip that gives a taste of how the conversation flowed. If you’re interested in learning more about what Brian and his PR team can do for you, contact him at brian.pia@luckie.com

The following is a press release excerpt from our Alabama Tourism client regarding a strong social media program Luckie helped concept and develop:

Alabama Tourism has launched a Facebook fan page for 215 cities participating in the “Year of Small Towns and Downtowns.” The Great Alabama Homecoming makes it easy to become a fan of the towns, find information about homecoming events and RSVP for the celebrations.

The Facebook site provides an innovative “Great Alabama Homecoming” state map that highlights participating towns for quick access to each event. Each city is located on the map with a historic marker icon. A simple click on the icon takes visitors to the fan pages of each town. More than 12,000 Facebook users have already become fans of the small towns and several cities already have more than 1,000 fans.

You can read the full release here.

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn