Advertising and public relations executives Barry Kluger, Rob Snyder and Deborah Wagner have teamed to form The KSW Agency, a full-service agency, bringing together combined expertise in creative, public relations, production, design and branding industries. The new venture has signed its first global client, Sophisticated Rebel, creator of The Forever Blade, a cosmetic jewelry accessory that will launch in Phoenix in January 2015. The product is targeted to affluent women and millennials, and will roll out in other U.S. cities and on the Internet throughout 2015.
Kluger is a corporate communications executive who has worked for 30 year plus in various industries in communications, public relations and crisis management. Most recently, he was managing director, knoodle PR, a division of knoodle Advertising. Prior, he was managing partner of Kluger Media Group, a communications/PR agency he began in 1998. Before starting KMG, Kluger was sr. VP, communications, for Prodigy and oversaw the global launches of Prodigy Mexico, Prodigy China and Africa OnLine. He was part of the management team that acquired Prodigy and took the company public. Before joining Prodigy, he held various senior executive posts at MTV Networks for a decade, overseeing all PR efforts for MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite and the successful launches of MTV Europe and VH1 Europe as VP. He left as sr. VP, VH1 in 1995.
Snyder is the founding partner of Focus Content, a content creation company with national and global experience in advertising, branding and concept. As creative director at the Kaplan Thaler Group in New York, Snyder worked on such accounts as Clairol/P&G, Marshalls, US Bank, Capital One, Wendy’s and Pfizer. Snyder & Partners was a company he founded with the Isotoner Glove and Slipper account. Prior to forming Snyder & Partners, he was executive VP/executive creative director of Kornhauser & Calene. Snyder was sr. VP/associate creative director at JWT where he was responsible for creating award winning campaigns for Nestle Chocolate and Nestle International, Kodak, Burger King, Pepsi and Miller Brewing Company.
Wagner started her career at an editorial house, as well as a film and video editor. She took this experience and began a new career as an agency producer, working at such agencies as Della Femina, Oglivy & Mather, Chiat Day and DFS. She left the agency side to start Wagner/English, offering clients a full-service, freelance production department, growing to 40 producers servicing agencies and clients such as Cuisinart, Isotoner and K-Mart.
Wagner has produced for assorted agencies in New York turning out spots for such clients as IBM, Merrill Lynch, Wendy’s, RC Cola, Yoplait, Mercedes Benz, Reebok, Bell Atlantic and American Express. She has produced in California, partnering with Mike Ovitz at The Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles to create commercials for Coca-Cola.
In 2001, Wagner went to Grey Global Group as the executive producer for Clairol, Covergirl, Max Factor, Allergan and GSK Brands, moving to the Grey Health Care Group on Boehringer Ingelheim and Essilor products.
