CSG Team
CSG’s rapid growth and success is built around a team of consummate professionals in the event marketing industry. CSG’s staff is divided into separate, but interrelated areas.
Agency Management, Consultation
Bruce L. Erley, President & CEO
Agency principal Bruce L. Erley founded Creative Strategies Group (CSG) in September, 1995. Erley is a 30-year veteran of the event marketing and sponsorship field and is regarded as a leading sponsorship expert for the festivals industry. In
1995, he left the entertainment industry to found his own event marketing and sponsorship agency. Prior to that time, Erley was the Vice President for Marketing and Sales for the International, educational and cultural organization, Up with People, where he directed sponsor sales, entertainment marketing and merchandising operations. He currently serves on Up with People's Board of Directors.
Erley conducts all general consultation, including the development of property audits, sponsorship plans, corporate sponsorship programs and training, as well as directs CSG's ongoing operations. Erley also plays a key role in sales presentations for top tier prospects and "house accounts." He is accredited in Public Relations (APR), and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), as well as the immediate past President of the IFEA Foundation. Erley is widely acclaimed as a top presenter on sponsorship topics for the festivals and events industry, having traveled most recently to Vienna, Singapore and Beijing to present at major conferences.
Sponsorship Sales
Jill Lentz, Sponsorship Sales Director
Julie Gore, Sponsor Sales Manager
CSG was built on its ability to identify, solicit and close sponsorship agreements on behalf of its property clients. CSG’s Sales Director, Jill Lentz, formerly of McClain Finlon Advertising, and Sales Manager, Julie Gore, former Merchandise Director for Up with People, are well trained and versed on the special nuances of sponsor sales. Annually, they manage sponsorship for nearly a half dozen sponsorship properties representing $4 million in sponsorship value.
Client Services
Kelli Turner, Client Services Director
Lauren Womochil , Client Services Manager
Renowned for its focus on the fulfillment of sponsor rights and benefits, CSG’s client services team takes over the responsibility for effectively and efficiently fulfilling all the rights and benefits that have been committed to by CSG’s sales staff and the property they are representing. Kelli Turner, former Director of Special Events for the City of Westminster (CO), with more than two decades in event management, heads this area. Lauren Womochil, who has worked in the hospitality and event industry for over 10 years including time with Marriott and her own freelance event coordinating business, is CSG's Client Services Manager.
Event Marketing, Advertising and Media Buying
Jeannie McFarland Johnson, Media & Marketing Director
Event marketing and advertising is another specialty of CSG. Creative Strategies Group has created award-winning campaigns for such clients as the Colorado Garden & Home Show, CowParade Denver and the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. CSG understands that event-marketing strategies vary greatly from year round retail or brand advertising. The message, while compelling, must be simple and direct and the media buy must provide a clear call to action in a short, but intense promotional period. Further, media sponsorship packages are always woven into advertising buys. CSG’s advertising clients have enjoyed significant increases in attendance as a result of CSG’s event marketing services. Jeannie McFarland Johnson is CSG’s Media & Marketing Director. Prior to joining CSG, Jeannie worked in event marketing internationally as well as at the Denver Zoo. Jeannie currently serves on the Colorado Festivals and Events Association Board.
Sponsor Activation, Street Teams & Sales Promotions
Matthew Erley , Promotions Coordinator
Ryan Lane , Promotions Coordinator
Sponsorship activation and retail promotion has become one of the top specializations of CSG. CSG understands that sponsorship is a marketing “platform” upon which other marketing and communications initiatives are built. CSG consults with a number of corporate and media sponsors on the activation, leveraging and optimization of their sponsorships. CSG has served a variety of clients in this area including Janus Capital Group, the Colorado Lottery, GMR*Works/Pontiac, BodyWorlds II and Cricket Communications, with such duties as street team management, on site sponsorship activities, promotions and retail tie-ins.
