Douglas Strickler, Gina Bleedorn, Courtney Flanegan and Gisella Klekamp Join NewGround

St. Louis, MO —NewGround, a leading international design and implementation firm serving the financial services industry, announced today that with the recent acquisition of the advertising agency Adrenaline, they have also acquired its top creative talent. Douglas Strickler, Gina Bleedorn, Courtney Flanegan and Gisella Klekamp have joined NewGround.

“This team’s creativity and experience elevates our client offering to the next level, providing clients with top-notch advertising and marketing communications, and a greater depth in brand strategy and campaign management,” said Kevin Blair, President and CEO of NewGround.

Adrenaline’s creative team has worked closely with NewGround for more than five years and has contributed to some of their most compelling brand campaigns for financial institutions, including the brand and retail development for Ascend FCU, Amplify, Xceed Financial, Park National Bank, Grow Financial and BB&T.

“Our alignment is a natural fit. We’re excited about this combination because we’ve worked together for many years, and we’re proven we can offer clients a stronger and more comprehensive resource by pooling our talent,” said Doug Strickler, President of Adrenaline.

The acquisition of Adrenaline’s creative team emphasizes NewGround’s dedication to provide clients with the best in class when it comes to providing high quality service and innovative solutions.

Doug Strickler, President of Adrenaline
With over 20 years experience in marketing, Doug has been charged with all facets of business development for Adrenaline, and will continue to serve in this capacity. Doug also directs and manages brand strategy development, client campaigns, market communications and advertising resources. Beyond business development, Doug is an industry leader in the conception of strategic brand and marketing solutions. Before forming Adrenaline, Doug worked in senior management roles across the country, but always in the agency world. He was Sr. VP with THINK New Ideas in Atlanta, VP of Marketing with Bright+Associates in Venice, CA, and a brand marketing consultant in Boston and Farmington, CT. Doug stays personally involved with every client project, insistent that the work produced and delivered is superior in its ideas and its results. Doug is a graduate of The College of Wooster.

Gina Bleedorn, Senior Art Director
Adept in both traditional and interactive design, Gina has delivered outstanding creative and web design for retailers around the country, some of Atlanta’s finest restaurants, technology corporations, and other diverse clients and industries. Gina also focuses on keeping the company’s creative efforts strategically aligned with client goals and expectations. Concepting, messaging, graphic delivery, and production of communications from logo marks and collateral systems to web sites and ad campaigns all fall within the scope of her expertise. She is a cum laude graduate of Furman University in Greenville, SC.

Gisella Klekamp, Senior Art Director
Gisella is the studio’s Senior Art Director and guides much of the creative. Before joining Adrenaline in early 2001, she gleaned wisdom from agencies across the region — and the globe. Originally educated with a BFA in design from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, she also earned an MFA in design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and an MA in Integrated Marketing and Communications from Emerson College in Boston. Gisella is a multi-lingual professional, and constantly tapped for insight into European and Latin American markets.

Courtney Flanegan, Senior Designer & Art Director
Courtney brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the creative table for all clients ranging from local to international. Courtney has done work for multi-billion dollar financial institutions, top of the line luxury vehicles, and a vast array of retail clients. Her strong background in retail allows her to not only turn out strong creative, but give clients the tools they need to successfully reach their target market. Courtney came to Adrenaline from South Florida where she worked in retail advertising for Zimmerman and Partners Advertising. She graduated magna cum laude from Auburn University with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design and a B.S. in Marketing.

Besides these four team members, NewGround will be keeping all staff that was working for Adrenaline previous to the acquisition.

About Adrenaline
Founded in 1998, Adrenaline excels at brand strategy, creative ideas and execution, interactive, and full-service brand communications delivery to client industries including: automotive, beverage, financial services, health/beauty, hospitality, housewares, retail, sports, and technology.

Adrenaline was created to fuse the artistry of a gifted design firm with the strategic expertise of a marketing communications company, while crossing big agency capabilities with the independent spirit of a mid-size shop. It is these intersections of strategy and creativity, capability and culture that define Adrenaline’s genesis and on-going vision. It is why we excel, and it’s what makes us different.

Adrenaline, Inc. is based in Atlanta, GA. To learn about Adrenaline, call 404.252.9995, or visit www.adrenalineshot.com.