Frances Gagliardi Joins Straightline

NEW YORK, Aug. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Frances Gagliardi has joined the creative team at Straightline, a leading independent brand consultancy in New York City. As Executive Creative Director, Frances will lead creative brand programs for worldwide clients and will help guide the firm's creative offering as it expands to include a London office in 2013.

"Frances brings a unique combination of design and business intelligence that is perfect for Straightline's approach and client set," remarked Michael Watras, President and CEO. "Her design sense and her experience creating and implementing global brand programs brings our creative capability to a new level," added Jim Hatch, Chief Creative Officer.

Frances comes to Straightline from FutureBrand, a global branding consultancy, where she was Creative Director, working with a diverse array of clients and building a new creative team in the New York office. She led major corporate brand initiatives for clients including Dow Chemical and McKesson, and partnered with the Global Innovation Team of ABInBev to develop a new beverage brand and product category. Other clients at FutureBrand included American Airlines, Nestle, Pfizer and J.W. Wiley.

Prior to her appointment at FutureBrand Frances was Creative Director at Infinia Group and Enterprise IG (now the Brand Union), after beginning her career as a Design Director at Interbrand and Henry Dreyfuss Associates. Past clients include American Express, Anheuser-Busch, AXA, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, British Airways, Cardinal Health, Compaq, Ford Motor Company, John Deere, MNBA, Monsanto, the U.S.General Services Administration, and the American Museum of Natural History.

Frances holds a BFA in Graphic Design and Advertising from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and an MBA in marketing from Columbia Business School.

About Straightline:

Straightline, founded in 1994, is a strategic brand consulting firm that builds value for market leaders and emerging companies around the world by creating and implementing powerful brands.  The firm is frequently called on to help companies successfully navigate times of great change – from M&A activity to rapidly changing market conditions and evolving business strategies – with strategic brand tools that help galvanize employees, amplify competitive advantages and position for sustainable growth.  Clients include some of the world's leading enterprises, including Xerox, T-Mobile, Madison Square Garden, Pfizer, Thomson Reuters, Time Warner, and Wyndham Worldwide. For more information, go to www.straightlinenyc.com

Contact:
Jessica Orkin
Managing Director
+1-212-941-0700
[email protected]

SOURCE Straightline