Next generation of leadership steps up at 25-year-old agency
[Birmingham, MI] – Deidre Bounds, one of eleven partners at Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing, has been named managing partner of the $80 million agency, it was announced today. Bounds, who started working for the agency in 1992, will take over the day-to-day implementation of the agency’s business strategy this month.
Marcie Brogan, founder and CEO of the agency, along with board members and senior partners Maria Marcotte, CFO, and Bonnie Folster, executive creative director, chose Bounds to take the helm earlier this year.
“This agency was started with the vision of opening up leadership opportunities in the advertising business to more people – women and minorities in particular,” said Brogan. “Naming Deidre as the leader of the next generation of partners is a culmination of this vision.”
Having started as a copywriter in the advertising business in the late ’60s, Marcie Brogan has experienced firsthand the proverbial glass ceiling and white male dominated environments similar to that portrayed on AMC’s hit series, Mad Men. That experience led her to create a business that included and fit the lives of women when she started Brogan & Partners in 1984.
From the beginning the agency offered flextime, weekly manicures, paid maternity and paternity leaves, and welcomed kids and pets into the office. Today, Brogan & Partners has a well-developed practice in minority marketing and media, as well as award-winning creativity, and a diverse, flexible and high-morale workplace.
“I am excited and honored to be managing partner,” said Bounds. “Marcie’s a hard act to follow, but taking a turn wearing most of the hats within the agency has prepared me well, and I am proud to have the support of my other partners.”
Bounds started as an Administrative Assistant to Brogan in 1992, and soon moved to Account Coordinator, and then to Account Director, leading marketing efforts for some of the agency’s largest clients. In the past decade Bounds has supervised several of the agency’s departments like the public relations team, the media buying team, the interactive team, and has been an integral part of growing new business and the agency’s pro bono work. In 2005 Bounds had an 18-month stint as managing partner to prepare for her new role.
An enthusiastic volunteer, Bounds, is a graduate of Leadership Detroit and serves on the executive board of ArtServe Michigan, where she co-chairs the Governor’s Awards and serves on the communications committee. She is a mentor to homeless women at Peggy’s Place, and has been on boards of the Detroit Children’s Museum and the Sphinx Organization, and co-led the Detroit Image Team–a group of volunteer marketing professionals under former Mayor Dennis Archer. Bounds lives in Southfield with her husband and two children.
Founder and former managing partner Marcie Brogan continues to chair the agency board of directors and will be active on strategic planning for agency clients and on community and industry boards.
Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing, established in 1984, specializes in advertising, PRIZM®-based media, public relations, healthcare marketing, and digital and diversity marketing. The firm has offices in Metro Detroit and Raleigh, service offices in Washington D.C. and Florida and an affiliate in Chicago.
