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 has worked at the intersection of politics, policy and corporate marketing. He is known for his work on the Barack Obama presidential campaigns of 2008[2] and 2012, as a member of the paid media team. Shepardson is a co-founder and partner of M+C Saatchi SS+K, a New York-based advertising agency.[3] Shepardson has worked on corporate campaigns, including Meta, JPMorgan Chase & Co.,[4]HBO, Starbucks, Microsoft, Lyft, WhatsApp, Airbnb, and The New Yorker.[5] For the Obama campaigns, 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.[6] 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.[7] The firm has non-profit clients that include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the LIVESTRONG Foundation, Arizona State University, Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign and Bono's ONE Campaign.[3][8]
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.[9] In November 2014, SS+K sold a 33% stake to international advertising agency M&C Saatchi.[10] 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.[11]
He developed and teaches a graduate-level course on health issue advocacy at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.[12]
Notable Corporate Work
Shepardson has also led SS+K's work for 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,[13] and some of the advertising industry's top awards, including five Cannes Lions[14] and 11 One Show Pencils.[15]
For JPMorganChase, Shepardson’s agency created campaigns including the “Make Momentum Happen” which focused on investments made in local communities to create jobs, including an ad directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gus Vant and featuring music by Grammy-winning musical artist Rhiannon Giddens.[4]
The agency led work for Meta’s Instagram when it launched its “Teen Accounts” to promote online safety.[16]
Political communications
Examples of Shepardson's political communications work with SS+K include:
2024 Democratic National Convention – Shepardson played a key role in executing the Democratic National Convention's 2024 campaign, overseeing the production of 39 original films. SS+K created four of those films, while the broader slate featured work by prominent filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, Dawn Porter, two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple, and shaping Vice President Kamala Harris' narrative for her presidential bid.[17]
2020 Biden-Harris Campaign, Shepardson and SS+K were asked to create important video segments for the first ever all-virtual Democratic National Convention. One showed the 2020 Democratic primary opponents unified behind the Biden-Harris ticket;[18] a first for a political convention; another, contrasting the ticket's approach to gun violence vs. the status quo, featured Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez.[19] A third segment which ran on the convention's final night featured the Democratic candidates sharing their favorite Joe Biden memories.[20]
LeBron James’ More Than a Vote – During the 2020 campaign, Shepardson and SS+K collaborated with More Than a Vote to launch a two-part campaign. The first phase, centered on a film titled We Got Next, aimed to recruit young poll workers in critical swing states and succeeded in mobilizing over 40,000 volunteers.[21][22] The campaign was launched during the NBA playoffs and received coverage from CNN and Fast Company. In early 2021, SS+K created a follow-up film, You With Us?, which was covered by Fast Company and other outlets.[23][24]
Your First Time (2012) – Targeting first-time voters, this tongue-in-cheek campaign for the Obama For America presidential campaign featured a video of author and director Lena Dunham, who slyly compared voting to losing one's virginity. "Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody," Dunham says. "You want to do it with a great guy."[25]TIME Magazine called the Dunham spot the "most memorable ad of the 2012 campaign".[14] The video won a Digiday Sammy Award for "Best Branded Viral Video".[26] The sexual innuendo was both applauded and condemned along party lines, with liberal commentators cheering the humor and conservatives calling it “tasteless".[27]
In the video For All (2012) – SS+K developed a second Obama For America ad campaign that included video, social media and print ads. It invited young voters to write an issue they cared about on their hand, photograph it and share it on Instagram.[28] This campaign won a Digiday Sammy Award for "Best Social Engagement Campaign".[26]
Democratic National Committee Rebranding (2010) – The agency redesigned the Democratic National Committee logo, moving away from a kicking red, white and blue donkey to a bold blue "D" inside a thick blue circle with the slogan "Change That Matters".[29]
Obama for America Youth Campaign 2008 – SS+K developed the “Don’t Get Mad, Vote” campaign in 2008. It drove young voters to VoteForChange.org, the Obama campaign's voter registration site.[30] On Election Day 2008, Barack Obama won the highest percentage of the youth vote (66 percent) since exit polling began in 1972.[6] The Obama campaign, including the paid media team of which SS+K was a member, won the Cannes Titanium and Integrated Gold Lion advertising awards.[31]
Advocacy campaigns
Shepardson has led SS+K's work for issue campaigns and nonprofits, including:[32]
LIVESTRONG Foundation (formerly the Lance Armstrong Foundation) – To empower cancer survivors through advocacy and support programs.[33]
FWD.us – Founded by Mark Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley executives, supporting comprehensive immigration reform.[34]
Share Our Strength - To eliminate childhood hunger in the United States through the No Kid Hungry campaign.[35]
Let's Move! – Founded by First Lady Michelle Obama, a first-of-its-kind campaign to reduce childhood obesity in a generation.[37]
Enough! – Housed at the Center for American Progress, an advocacy campaign to fight genocide.[38]
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – To improve the quality of lives for individuals around the world through issues including global health and education.[39]
ONE Campaign – Co-founded by Bono, the advocacy campaign to reduce extreme poverty and preventable disease, especially in Africa.[3]
Public commentary
Rob Shepardson's insights on brand strategy and disruption were featured in his 2016 opinion piece for Campaign India, where he drew parallels between Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and how companies can adapt to disruptions in their industries.[40]
In a 2020 Adweek article, Shepardson reflected on the strategic messaging and authenticity that shaped Joe Biden's presidential campaign, emphasizing its focus on purpose-driven communication and differentiation.[41]
In 2022, Shepardson authored an article for The Drum, analyzing President Joe Biden's communication strategy, drawing on his experience as a political strategist and co-founder of SS+K.[42]
In a 2024 opinion article for The Hill, Shepardson emphasized the role of radical empathy in leadership during politically divided times, citing examples from global conflicts and reconciliation efforts to advocate for dialogue over division.[43]
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.[3] 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 III 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.[46] As an avid runner, Shepardson finished the 2014 Boston Marathon in 3:36.[3]
Further reading
Shepardson, Rob (March 8, 2024). "Leadership in Our Divided Times: The Power and Pragmatism of Radical Empathy". The Hill.
Shepardson, Rob (October 18, 2022). "Joe Biden as Strategist: Lessons for Managing a Brand Through Unprecedented Times". The Drum.
Shepardson, Rob (November 9, 2020). "How Biden Ran the Ultimate Purpose-Driven Campaign: A Lesson in Authenticity and Differentiation". Adweek.
Shepardson, Rob (April 30, 2020). "To Energize Young Voters, Biden Must Recapture Spirit of 2008 Campaign". The Hill.
Shepardson, Rob (July 2018). "How a Political Strategy Can Bolster Brand Reputation in Volatile Times". Adweek.[47]
Shepardson, Rob (January 20, 2025). "The Anti-Incumbency Political Era Is a Wake-Up Call for Marketers". Ad Age.[48]
Shepardson, Rob; McKinnon, Mark (2009). "A Manifesto for Young Voters". The Daily Beast.[49]
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