Jeff Charney

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Michael "Jeff" Charney is an American executive who served as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of companies such as Aflac, [1] Progressive, [2] [3] [4] and QVC . [5] In the advertising community, he is known for developing campaigns featuring company brand icons such as Progressive's Flo and Dr. Rick and the Aflac Duck. [6] [7] He has won several awards such as Adweek's the Marketer of the Year and Brand Genius award, Ad Age's Creativity 50 and he was ranked #35 on Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in 2012.

Contents

Education

Charney attended high school at Palmetto High School in Williamson, South Carolina, graduating in 1977. [8] Charney graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in advertising/public relations in 1981. [8] [9] He went on to earn his master's degree in journalism at Ohio State University in 1982. [7]

Career

The Simpsons replica house in Henderson, Nevada, the building of which was organized by Charney. The Simpsons house.jpg
The Simpsons replica house in Henderson, Nevada, the building of which was organized by Charney.

In 1997, he was the head of marketing at Kaufman and Broad (now known as KB Home). Charney organized the building of a real-life replica of the Simpson family's house in Nevada as a joint promotion for Kaufman and Broad and The Simpsons. [10]

Charney went on to serve as senior vice president of marketing and communications for  Homestore.com. [11] While working for Homestore.com, Charney helped produce the Chris Smith-directed documentary film Home Movie, which became the first film produced by a private company to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival. [9]

After leaving his position at Homestore.com, Charney was appointed CMO of QVC in 2005. [12] He oversaw the company's "iQdoU?" advertising campaign in 2007. [13]

In 2008, he joined Aflac. [14] He developed multiple marketing campaigns featuring the Aflac Duck, which was created for Aflac by the Kaplan Thaler Group. These included campaigns such as "You Don't Know Quack," [15] "Get the Aflacts," [16] and a cross-promotion with the film Up. [17]

Charney left his position at Aflac to join Progressive in 2010. [7] During his tenure at Progressive, Charney created the character Dr. Rick [18] and further developed the character Flo, adding more improv elements to her commercials. [7] Other advertising characters Charney created include Motaur [6] [19] and the Sign Spinner. [6] He also developed Progressive commercials starring athletes such as NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield [1] [20] and LeBron James. [21]

Awards

Adweek gave Charney the Marketer of the Year and Brand Genius award in the Insurance category in 2011. [8] [22] Charney was also named to Ad Age's Creativity 50 and was ranked #35 on Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in 2012. [3]

For his work on Progressive's advertising campaigns, Charney received Ad Age's A-List Brand CMO of the Year award in 2021. [23]

He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University in 2022. [24]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Progressive's former top marketing executive, behind many Flo, Baker Mayfield and Aflac Duck ads, starts his own collective". cleveland. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  2. ↑ Klara, Robert (October 26, 2011). "Insurance: Progressive CMO Jeff Charney" . Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  3. 1 2 "Creativity 50:Jeff Charney, CMO, Progressive". Ad Age. 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  4. ↑ Bruell, Alexandra (2021-03-10). "Progressive Marketing Chief Jeff Charney to Retire". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  5. ↑ "Retired Progressive Insurance CMO Jeff Charney launches marketing company". bizjournals.com. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  6. 1 2 3 "Progressive Insurance CMO who brought us Flo and Dr. Rick is retiring". bizjournals.com. 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "From the Aflac duck to "Flo" to "Dr. Rick," Charney's legacy built on disruption and out-creation | College of Arts and Sciences". osu.edu. 2022-04-01. Archived from the original on 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  8. 1 2 3 "USC Journalism School honors Jeff Charney". thejournalonline.com. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  9. 1 2 "Invigorating Brands The Charney Way" (PDF). Intercom: 12–13. Spring 2022.
  10. ↑ Critchley, Emma (2020-08-13). "Blurring the Lines Between Fantasy and Reality: The Strange Story Behind the Real-Life Simpsons House in Nevada". Trill Mag. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  11. ↑ Elliott, Stuart (1999-08-11). "The Media Business: Advertising – Addenda – Web Companies Make Their Moves". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  12. ↑ "Most Creative People 2012 - 35. Jeff Charney, CMO of Progressive Insurance". Fast Company. 2012-04-27.
  13. ↑ Salkin, Allen (2007-09-21). "A Shopping Network Wants to Own the 17th Letter of the Alphabet". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  14. ↑ Elliott, Stuart (2010-01-11). "Aflac Is Leaving Its Agency, and Taking the Duck". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  15. ↑ "Aflac begins 'You Don't Know Quack' campaign". bizjournals.com. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  16. ↑ Elliott, Stuart (2009-04-22). "Not Daffy or Donald, but Still Aflac's Rising Star". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  17. ↑ "Brand Awareness Was Only Half the Battle for Aflac". Ad Age. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  18. ↑ "Afraid of becoming your parents? Dr. Rick comes to the rescue, smartly satirizing a generational divide". Washington Post. 2021-03-16.
  19. ↑ Stanley, T. L. (May 6, 2019). "Progressive's Perplexing New Mascot Is a Motaur: Half Man, Half Motorcycle" . Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  20. ↑ Vranica, Suzanne (2020-10-03). "Coronavirus Upended Advertising. Here's How Brands From Progressive Insurance to Budweiser Responded". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  21. ↑ "LeBron James, Progressive Create 'FloBron' Campaign". SLAM. 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  22. ↑ "Williamston native Jeff Charney of Progressive Insurance receives industry award". www.independentmail.com. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  23. ↑ "Progressive's Jeff Charney named Ad Age A-List Brand CMO of the Year". Ad Age. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  24. ↑ "Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award - Jeff Charney". artsandsciences.osu.edu. 2022-03-28. Archived from the original on 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
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