Leadership Bios

Dr. Jeff Johnson
Johnson’s training as a psychologist has helped to guide his career as a marketing strategist. He never stops asking “why” and “how” and “what happens next”.

His first job in marketing was at ad agency Benton & Bowles where he helped to develop psychological research methods to aid in marketing strategy development for P&G.  And he worked extensively in new product development for both P&G and Kraft Foods.

Johnson has had a multi-disciplinary life in marketing:  from Research to Account Planning to Account Management to Business Development to Agency Management.  He has worked at the giant advertising conglomerates (like JWT and DMB&B) as well as creative independents (like Wells Rich Greene and Scali, McCabe, Sloves.).  He has twice worked on the corporate side – in new product development for E. & J. Gallo Winery and as Marketing Director for the Structure/Express Division of The Limited.

His category experience runs the gamut from CPG (e.g., Charmin, Crest, Scope, Pampers, Clairol), OTC (e.g., Robitussin, Alka-Seltzer), retail (e.g., Sak’s, Brookstone, Burlington Coat Factory, The Limited), restaurant (e.g., Denny’s, Roadhouse Grill, Taco Cabana), travel (e.g., Marriott, Hertz, Celebrity Cruises, Continental Airlines), and financial services (e.g., J.P. Morgan Chase, SunTrust, New York Stock Exchange).

Johnson received his B.A. from Williams College and a Ph.D. in Psychology from New York University.  His first book, The Hourglass Solution:  A Boomer’s Guide to the Rest of Your Life, was published in Spring 2009 and he is currently available to answer personal problems of all kinds at www.shortanswers.com.