Kristin Volk
Executive Vice President, Chief Planning Officer
Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
Publicis Healthcare Communications Group
US
Kristin currently heads up the brand planning discipline at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, where she uncovers provocative insights and devises compelling strategies that form the basis for advertising campaigns.
Before getting into the health and wellness space, Kristin headed up the planning disciplines at three different consumer ad agencies — Saatchi & Saatchi, Arnold, and Deutsch — where she worked on big brands such as Hershey, Miller Beer, Pampers, Tide, Cascade, Crest, Olay, Yoplait, Cheerios, Wheaties, and Pillsbury. She was a key member of the pitch team that won Volkswagen and developed the widely acclaimed Drivers Wanted positioning, which is credited with VW’s dramatic revival in the US.
She is cited extensively in David Kiley’s book, “Getting the Bugs Out – the Rise, Fall, and Comeback of VW.” She was the architect behind Royal Caribbean’s Get Out There campaign strategy, which redefined the entire cruise category. She also is the creator of a highly successful positioning concept called “Brand Essence,” and is prominently featured in the Harvard Business case study about it.
In addition to brand planning in advertising agencies, Kristin honed her connections planning skills at MediaVest Worldwide, where she brought a fresh perspective to media planning for Oreo, Wheat Thins, Triscuit, Kool-Aid, Fig Newtons, Planters, and Ritz.
While working at these consumer agencies, Kristin had the opportunity to work on a number of health related brands such as Excedrin, Tums, and Nicorette, as well as the widely acclaimed anti-tobacco Truth campaign, which was credited with a steep decline in teenage smoking. She found herself being drawn more and more to the health and wellness arena, particularly since her undergraduate degree is in Biology, and she has a Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Her current role at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness provides her with a wonderful opportunity to bring together her dual passions for both brand planning and health.
