Rob Shepardson

Last updated
Rob Shepardson
Alma mater Franklin & Marshall College, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Occupation(s)Cofounder, SS+K
Political Consultant
Advertising Executive
Member, President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition

Rob Shepardson is a political consultant and marketing strategist, who in April 2014 was named by Barack Obama to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN). [1] He had become known for his work on the Barack Obama presidential campaigns of 2008 [2] and 2012, as a member of the paid media team. Shepardson's marketing communications firm, SS+K was tasked with registering and winning the support of millennials (18- to 34-year-olds). In 2008, 66% of those under 30 voted for Barack Obama. [3] In 2012, 1.25 million more millennials voted for Obama than in 2008, tipping swing states such as Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio in his favor. [4]

Contents

Shepardson is a co-founder and partner of SS+K, a New York-based advertising agency. [5] In addition to political work, the firm also has non-profit clients that include Arizona State University, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the LIVESTRONG Foundation, and Bono's ONE Campaign, [5] [6] as well as a range of corporate clients that include Meta, JPMorgan Chase & Co., HBO, Starbucks, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Lyft, WhatsApp, Airbnb, and The New Yorker. [7]

Political communications

Examples of Shepardson's political communications work with SS+K include:

Strategy for reaching millennials

Shepardson maintains that young voters have little trust in Washington, D.C., regardless of the political party in power. “Millennials will align with somebody regardless of political labels, based on values. Communicate through issues, not through the candidate,” he advises. “Negative ads and politics-as-usual can turn millennials off. They are quite shrewd when it comes to marketing.” The best strategy to reach them, he suggests, is to “sell a politician by not being political.” [4]

Advocacy campaigns

Shepardson has led SS+K's work for issue campaigns and nonprofits, including:

In addition, Shepardson has led SS+K's work for many commercial clients, including the recent, award-winning campaign for HBO called "Awkward Family Viewing," promoting the HBO Go service to college students. The campaign won multiple media accolades, [27] and some of the advertising industry's top awards, including five Cannes Lions [28] and 11 One Show Pencils. [29]

Public service appointments

In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Shepardson to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), along with NBA players Jason Collins and Alonzo Mourning, celebrity chef and talk show host Rachael Ray, and ballet dancer Misty Copeland. [1] Shepardson is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) [30] and several business and charitable boards, including the New York advisory board of Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) [31] and the advisory board of the Center for Health Communication at Harvard University's School of Public Health. [5] He developed and teaches a graduate-level course on health issue advocacy at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. [32]

Career

With fellow political consultants Lenny Stern and Mark Kaminsky, Rob Shepardson founded the New York City-based advertising and communication agency SS+K in 1993. [33] In November 2014, SS+K sold a 33% stake to international advertising agency M&C Saatchi. [34] From 1987 to 1993, Shepardson was a managing director at the Sawyer/Miller Group, an international political consulting firm. [1] Prior to joining Sawyer/Miller, Shepardson worked as a special assistant to future Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell when Rendell was District Attorney in Philadelphia. [35]

Personal

Shepardson received a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. and an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. [5] While at Franklin & Marshall, Shepardson set a number of records as a four-year starting quarterback, playing all but a single game. In his senior year he achieved both All-American and Academic All-American among Division 3 athletes, as well as being named to the conference All-Star team and also conference MVP. In 1990 Shepardson was inducted into the Franklin & Marshall Sports Hall of Fame. [36] Shepardson finished the 2014 Boston Marathon in 3:36. [5]

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