Contributors

Mark Newsome - Sr. Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Chernoff Newman

As senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Newsome serves a leadership role on the agency’s most senior accounts and is also responsible for the agency’s overall marketing efforts.  He oversees the planning, direction and execution of all agency work for clients, ensuring the agency is on target to meet and exceed  their communications needs.

Mark has served as the account director on the South Carolina Education Lottery account since October 2002.  He has been actively involved in all disciplines Chernoff Newman has provided to the SCEL including creative development, advertising strategy, marketing strategy, public relations, media strategy and general consulting. Marks’s main strength and area of primary interest is the development and execution of new branding or re-branding initiatives for organizations and/or their products.

Prior to joining Chernoff Newman, Newsome was vice president and account director for Grant/Jacoby, an international marketing agency located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. In that capacity, Newsome supervised the agency’s business-to-business clients marketing and public relations campaigns, including the global launch of 3M’s new chemical division, Dyneon,  which took him through most of the US and Europe.

Newsome holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the College of Charleston and an MBA from University of South Carolina.   He is a frequent guest lecturer at the Moore School of Business at USC.  Recently, he lectured International Business and Consumer Behavior classes at Illinois State University.

Tim Kelly - communi-K

Tim Kelly founded communi-K after two decades of involvement in politics, writing, public relations and strategic communications.  From 1996-2006, he worked for Chernoff Silver & Associates and its successor firm, Chernoff Newman, where he was Sr. Public Affairs Strategist.  Prior to joining Chernoff, Kelly was an independent political consultant, editor of two public affairs journals, executive director of the S.C. Democratic Leadership Council and aide to S.C. Senate Majority Leader Isadore Lourie.

In addition to traditional public relations and marketing, Tim has first-hand experience in blogging and interactive media relations.

Marc Cardwell - Sr. Art Director Chernoff Newman

Marc Cardwell graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1986 with a B.F.A. degree in studio art, concentrating in graphic design. He started his professional life as a geologic cartographer, and moved on to more creative endevors as a freelance designer for several agencies in the Columbia area. He started at Chernoff Newman in 2000.

His work has been recognized numorous times for its creative merits as well as for client industry awards. His experience in illustration, image editing, and design has helped many copmanies in the fields of economic development, electric utilities, travel, tourism, publication design, package design and software development.

Current accounts that Mr. Cardwell works on at Chernoff Newman include Columbia Metropoliton Airport, Engenuity, Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge, Spurs & Feathers, PalmettoPride WP Rawl Foods, USC Innovista, Wilson Kibler and the Georgetown County Visitors Bureau.

Lee Bussell, APR - Chairman & CEO, Chernoff Newman

Lee Bussell has been in the field of advertising and public relations since 1975, and he recieved his accreditation from the Public Relations Society of America in 1981.  The South Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America named Bussell Distinguished Public Relations Practitioner of the Year in 1994.

In October of 2003, Bussell was named Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. In 2005, he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Leadership Columbia program.  Bussell’s responsibilities within the agency include setting the agency’s vision and strategic direction and serves as the primary architect of the agency’s rapid expansion.  He also serves as a senior counselor on many of the agency’s largest clients.  He is past Chairman and executive committee and board member of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, current vice chairman for Communications, chairman of the College of Journalism Partnership Board, executive committee member of the Midlands Business Leadership Group, executive committee member for  Engenuity SC, vice chair-Elect for University Associates and board member for the USC/Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative. He has recently been elected to the board of the Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC.

Bussell is past president and assembly delegate of the S.C. Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and past Chairman of the SC Business Alliance for Transportation.

He is a past chairman of the Committee of 100, where he continues to play an active role in economic development.  He served on the board of directors of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce from 1985 - 1989 and was vice president for small business development in 1988 and vice president for communications in 1994.  Bussell is also past president of The Columbia Forum.  He is a founding board member of the Greater Columbia Appearance Commission, a member of the South Carolina Economic Developers Association and a board member of The Palmetto Project.

He has served as vice chairman of communications, United Way of The Midlands and as the chairman and member of the board of the North American Advertising Network (NAAN).  He has also served as the Network's liaison with its European counterpart, the E-3 Network of Agencies.

Frank Brown - President & CEO, MarketSearch

Dr. Frank K. Brown has been actively involved in consumer research since 1974, founding MarketSearch in 1985. He received a B.A. and M.A. from Baylor University and earned his doctorate in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began his professional career in market research after teaching social psychology and research methods at both Emory University and the University of South Carolina.

Frank is recognized nationally for his ability to produce practical research for clients. His philosophy, embodied in his style of research and interpretation, focuses on building for clients an understanding of why people behave the way they do, why they perceive what they do, and how clients can better establish a link between their interests and those of their customers or constituencies.

Rick Silver - Vice Chairman, Chernoff Newman

Shortly after graduating cum laude from the University of South Carolina and serving as an aide for two lieutenant governors, Rick Silver became a parter of Chernoff Silver & Associates in 1976.  His background in politics has fostered and uncanny ability to find a new perspective in virtually any situation, making him valuable to clients in a wide variety of fields from education, health care and economic development to energy, the environment and insurance.

In the past 26 years, Rick has earned a reputation as an expert in research methodology and analysis, opinion polling, issues management, constituency building and public relations. He lends his planning skills to clients including Dayton Power & Light and the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, and he continues to serve as the principal on most of the agency's public issues and corporate image accounts.

Fenton Overdyke - Vice President, MarketSearch

Fenton Overdyke joined MarketSearch in 1996. In his position as Vice President, he is actively involved in the management and strategic direction of MarketSearch. Fenton also serves as the primary client contact for a broad range of research issues, and is involved in all phases of the research process, from client consultation and methodology recommendation to analysis and reporting of findings.

Fenton has worked extensively in the areas of travel and tourism, the electric utility industry, communications, commerce/economic development, and higher education. His experience, insights, and familiarity with trends in these areas have proven invaluable to clients.

He holds both a B.S. in Marketing and an M.B.A. degree from the University of South Carolina. In his M.B.A. coursework, Fenton pursued his interest in strategic issues relating to new businesses, entrepreneurial ventures in existing businesses, and strategies for growth and innovation.