Agency with Strong Marketing Strategy, Branding, Design

OVERVIEW

We take brands higher

Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Elevation is an integrated marketing firm dedicated to elevating the brands of our clients through creative and strategic excellence. Founded in 2001 by principals Frank Gilliam and Aaron Dotson, Elevation delivers a higher level of thinking and a higher level of service—helping our clients achieve a higher level of success.

Elevation has built a national reputation for excellence based on five core strengths:

We ask good questions
We understand the delicate balance between “brand” and “promotion”
We get it—and get it fast
We believe in the power of simplicity
We are design-centric

CAPABILITIES

Elevation delivers insight and integration throughout all levels of advertising. From broadcast to digital and print, our team of strategic planners and content creators seek new solutions to advertising’s age old problem: how can we deliver a compelling story to the right audience at the right time.

Brand identity goes far beyond logos, fonts and colors. Elevation excels at uncovering the unique messaging and core values at the heart of companies and organizations. Then our strategic creative team brings that brand to life in ways that bring consistency and connectivity to customers across all channels.

When the world is a blank canvas, creativity becomes your friend, not your foe. A compelling visual experience elevates customer perceptions and enhances the chances of success. Elevation emphasizes a clean and sophisticated design style that is consistent throughout our client roster yet distinctly different from brand to brand.

Content marketing delivers the ability to attract and convert—making it a powerful tool in a search intensive world. Elevation develops content with a clear purpose, drawing buyers in by helping them solve a challenge, then demonstrating our clients’ knowledge and expertise to convert visits to conversations.

Engage-ability. Track-ability. Scale-ability. We love the ability of digital to deliver the right audience at the right time with the content that drives action. We combine our digital team’s strategic capabilities with our creative team’s expertise to deliver the art and science of digital—whether that’s for search, social, display or site development.

In the new world of media, every communication becomes more targeted. Our one-on-one marketing experience ranges from traditional mail and email programs to complex lead generation and nurture programs that build relationships with potential customers before, during and after the sale.

Analytics tools provide a wealth of information. The challenge is selecting which data will best move the needle. Our team combines both online and offline programs to provide a holistic view of results and opportunities—from site assessments and competitive reviews to analytics dashboards and ROI analysis.

A company’s people are the heart of every product and every service. They are not just brand ambassadors—they are the brand itself. We build brands from the inside out, which means we develop integrated employee communications efforts into each and every marketing program.

When you get a better handle on the customer’s path to purchase, you get a better handle on closing the sale. With our insights into shopper behavior and marketing analytics, we can give you leverage on the shelf—and at every point prior.

Great products and services are only successful if you can convince customers to purchase them. Elevation creates careful promotional strategies that work together with your marketing campaign to get your brand in more customer’s hands—over and over and over again.

CLIENTS

Arconic
Baskervill
Capital One
Children’s Museum
Donate Life Virginia
Duke’s Mayonnaise
Evergreen Enterprises
Indevco
James River Association
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Liquibox
National D-Day Memorial
OrthoVirginia
Pairwise
Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest
Quarles
Sarcoxie Nursery
Sauer’s Spices & Extracts
Silgan Dispensing
Smithfield Foods
The Spice Hunter
Swedish Match
Super Radiator Coils
the valentine
Virginia 529
Virgina Green Lawn Care
Virginia Credit Union
Virginia Tourism Corp.
YouDecide

PEOPLE

Aaron Dotson

Founder, Executive Creative Director

He creates, builds and sells, sells, sells brands. A strategist and professor with a passion for storytelling who still loves the title “copywriter.” Recipient of the Richmond Ad Club’s highest honor: Advertising Person of the Year.

Frank Gilliam

Founder, Executive Creative Director

He’s the rarest find: the person who makes everything he touches better. His thinking and design sensibility run through the region’s most successful brands. And he's nationally recognized as a "Designer To Watch" by Graphic Design USA magazine.

Stacie Elliott

Chief Operating Officer

Imagine a CPA who actually “gets” marketing strategy—and tirelessly supports creatives and account teams in their drive for greatness. Meet Stacie. She helps our clients move their businesses forward. And that’s how she keeps moving ours forward, too.

Shade Wilson

Director of Digital Strategy

Shade has more than 20 years experience in digital marketing. Yet his branding and advertising experience goes far beyond that—enabling him to take an integrated marketing approach to everything he does. He’s also the past president of the American Marketing Association’s Richmond Chapter.

Kim Moore

Account Director

Strategically minded. Killer instincts. Always on top of everything (and yes, we mean everything). Kim always knows the right questions to ask to keep everyone on our team and yours moving toward the same goal.

Emily Greenwood

Senior Account Manager

You know that instinctive, super-sharp marketer you always wanted who was not only strategically minded but also a killer tactician? The multi-tasker extraordinaire who can think big yet never miss a single detail? That’s our Emily.

C.J. Hawn

Creative Director

A client’s dream and our ultimate triple threat: writer, art director and designer. Quick witted. Wickedly smart. Leads broadcast and video efforts around the nation and demands the best from others because she does from herself.

Carol Williams

Director of Account Planning

When Carol enters the room, you know you’re going to be asked questions. Big, serious, thought-provoking questions. The kind that will allow her to develop the insights she uses to craft integrated marketing plans that deliver on both brand and sales drivers.

Scott Vadas

Art Director

With a background that includes both Design Army and in-house corporate design departments, Scott not only knows how to push for the very best creative, but also understands that the work needs to, well, work. He delivers on both accounts.

Corey Lane

Senior Account Manager

With a reputation as a serial “intrapreneur,” Corey challenges clients and agency partners alike to tap into innovative opportunities to grow their business with applied strategy and disciplined execution.

Marnie Martin

Senior Manager, Operations & Project Management

Maybe it’s her unmatched dedication to getting things done right. Maybe it’s the way she holds us all accountable for deadlines. Maybe it’s the way she hands out “snaps” to her coworkers and clients. Whatever it is, we love it, and everyone loves Marnie.

Daniel Uhorchuk

Senior Studio Artist

When you jump out of airplanes for the United States Army, you learn that details matter. Daniel has an eye for detail like your life (or the life of your project) depends on it. That’s why we trust him with so many of our most important projects.

Heath Flohre

Art Director

Heath is a rare combination of creative talent and organization who prides himself on staying ahead of the curve with creative technology. He supports our clients’ digital efforts and brings a critical eye to user interface design.

Kate Bredimus

Associate Creative Director

The copywriter we waited eight years to hire. Seriously. As one of the region’s sharpest (and funniest) creatives, we made repeated efforts to bring her to the team. The stars finally aligned—and she’s a star for us, indeed.

Stephanie Lewis

Senior Account Manager

Have a project that demands an intense focus and absolutely zero chance for failure? Our clients often do, and that’s why so many of them get assigned to Stephanie. She is reliability and dependability personified, and always gets it done.

Logan Graham

Account Manager

Logan is a versatile marketer with a background in start-ups, media and non-profits. But it’s her experience integrating traditional and digital to create effective and engaging marketing campaigns that makes all the difference.

Liz Belte

Art Director

You’d be hard pressed to find a more dedicated, more positive design talent than Liz. No matter what you throw at her (a last minute deadline…a total mess of a project…a ridiculously impossible request) she never gets flustered or frustrated. And trust us—we’ve tried.

Hunter Knierim

Account Director

Cool. Calm. Collected. And above all else, incredibly insightful. With over 15 years experience as both a marketing leader and entrepreneur, Hunter brings a quiet thoughtfulness that his clients and colleagues find both assuring and inspiring.

Puck Byrne

Graphic Designer

Meet the only designer in Richmond whose talent and personality are big enough to have a music festival named after him in Austin, Texas. Puck’s how-can-I-help-you? attitude and creative spirit make him a hit wherever he goes.

Ryan Muldoon

Senior Copywriter

With a career that has spanned music journalism and nonprofit communications—in addition to traditional agency work—Ryan brings significant writing experience to our clients. And his insight is matched by a level-headedness that makes Ryan the calm of the creative storm.

Pam Tucker

Accounting Assistant

Your company's accounting department will appreciate Pam. And that means you will, too. With over a decade of agency finance experience at The Martin Agency, Pam keeps our billing and other financial matters buttoned up—and reminds us to get our time sheets in on time, too.

Matt Brown

Senior Graphic Designer

With specialties in illustration, package design and motion design, Matt brings over 20 years of experience to our clients—and does it with a smile and energy that makes him a favorite of everyone with whom he works.

Bryce Praught

Graphic Designer

This former Eagle Scout lives up to the “be prepared” motto with a sharp set of design skills and a great work ethic that drives him to keep pushing creative to be the best it possibly can be.

Beth Borum

Associate Creative Director

With an artist’s eye, next-level design skills and a calm, clear focus, Beth elevates creative across the agency without breaking a sweat. After spending more than a decade working in design and advertising in Chicago, she returned back east to find a home at Elevation as an associate creative director. Here, she raises the bar for our team through thoughtful, high-impact creative that’s strategic—and stunning.

Kim Peters

Graphic Designer

Kim’s like a can of soda—small, bubbly and packed with energy. She handles projects of any size with ease, while her strategic thinking means she never loses sight of the big picture. As a recent VCU grad, Kim sees every job as an opportunity to improve her skills.

Brian Burton

Senior Copywriter

Armed with a versatile skillset and a desire to innovate, Brian thinks beyond the conventional by crafting unique solutions that range from product design to stunts and activations. With a career path that spans from Richmond to the Middle East and back, his work combines international experience with local insights.

Tara Rowan

Senior Project Manager

Outgoing, detail-oriented and a natural leader, Tara was born to be a Project Manager. She easily juggles multiple jobs from kick-off to completion and does it with passion and panache. Want proof? Just ask to see one of her meticulous, hand-written to-do lists.

Katie Stone

Account Manager

In her spare time, Katie teaches Barre (a hybrid of ballet and yoga). Which is appropriate. Because in her role as an Account Manager, she exudes strength, grace and passion. She’s also flexible, adapting her communication styles to fit what’s best for the client. No wonder she helps our clients keep a ‘leg up’ on their competition.

Lauren Prezioso

Account Manager

Lauren’s energy and meticulousness as a project manager at Elevation made her a favorite of both her clients and her creative teams—which is a delicate balancing act, indeed! Now as an account manager, Lauren is bringing the same level of attention and clarity to her work, while letting her leadership and strategy skills shine even more brightly.

Jason Sullivan

Art Director

Whenever he tackles a project, Jason has a simple formula: Sit down & work hard. Because he knows his designs can do more than just look great—they can solve client problems, too. It’s an approach he perfected working at some of Virginia’s top publications, as well as agency and in-house roles. But don’t assume he’s always at a desk. After hours, this dad of two enjoys hiking, cycling & anything outdoors.

Chris Fullman

Associate Director of Platforms & Products

Chris thinks big picture. Like, really big. Because he’s responsible for ensuring entire online ecosystems foster meaningful experiences for our clients, their customers and the greater community. How does he manage it all? By constantly learning new things to help him achieve his ultimate goal: Making the world a better place.

Kristin Youngblood

Senior Project Manager

Extremely friendly. Super organized. Creatively savvy. Just three out of a billion reasons why Kristin is a Project Manager extraordinaire. She's also a self-described “movie & beer nerd”. No wonder she’s equally loved by creatives, clients and just about anyone who walks through our front door.

Nicole Stewart

Social Media Manager

It takes a special mind to have a passion for pivot tables AND painting. But that’s Nicole! She’s equal parts analytical and creative. So, while the left side of her brain is keenly organized, the right side is tapped into pop culture and obsessed with memes. The result? She helps clients reach customers with social content that’s as strategically sound and creative as she is.

Karin Krafcisin

Senior Copywriter

If it feels like Karin’s words dance off the page, it’s no accident. Because in addition to being a talented copywriter, she’s also a classical ballet teacher. And whether she’s choreographing a routine or crafting copy, she loves to flex her creative muscles and make sure the work gets elevated. Or as she tells students, “Relevé.”

Jon Adams

Paid Digital Media Manager

This Texas-residing, Alabama native might be Elevation’s most passionate foodie. In fact, he once ate a different type of food every day for two straight weeks. Because at his core, Jon loves to discover. Which is why he’s constantly pushing himself to find new approaches and creative tactics that help our clients discover something as well—more customers.

Evan McNicholas

Analyst, Digital Media Analytics

If you see Evan with a sword, don’t worry. He’s Elevation’s resident Fencer. Which is fitting, because both his job and his sport require skill and finesse. Good thing Evan comes armed with both—as well as a naturally inquisitive mindset that helps him dig into data and discover the hidden insights that lead to smarter, more effective creative.