04.08.2011
Enthusiasm for Learning Leads to Burdette Ketchum Media Director's '40 Under 40' Win
Jacksonville Business Journal names Lynn Kennedy one of Northeast Florida's top young leaders
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The changing media landscape and rise of digital advertising may have some marketing professionals feeling anxious. Lynn Kennedy isn't one of them. The energetic Kennedy's enthusiasm for learning about new advertising options – and helping her clients at Burdette Ketchum feel confident in her recommendations – helped make her a 2011 winner of the Jacksonville Business Journal's "40 Under 40" award, which recognizes young leaders who have achieved notable accomplishments in business and the local community.
"My friends and family joke that I can't sit still. I put that extra energy to good use by always challenging myself, whether in business or community service," Kennedy said.
As Burdette Ketchum's director of media planning and buying, Kennedy develops an ideal "media mix" – a combination of media that might include online, print, radio, television or outdoor advertising placements – for each of the communication firm's clients. As media options change, Kennedy stays ahead of the curve to provide valuable expertise to clients. In 2010, Kennedy increased Burdette Ketchum's total e-media spending placed for its clients by 49 percent – and changed how clients think about media.
"The marketing industry is a fast-moving one. Lynn helps our clients feel confident and comfortable with ever-changing media options," Burdette Ketchum CEO Karen Burdette said. "We are incredibly proud of her selection as one of the city's ‘40 Under 40', but we're not surprised. Lynn's dedication to our clients is well known, as is her willingness to take on the extras, like planning team-bonding events as the head of our ‘fun' committee and working with our HeartStrings clients."
Kennedy participates in Burdette Ketchum's charitable giving program, HeartStrings, and has managed pro bono projects for local non-profit organizations such as Jacksonville's Youth Crisis Center and HabiJax, the Jacksonville area chapter of Habitat for Humanity. She also puts her marketing know-how to use by helping non-profit organizations in her free time.
Kennedy's passion for helping animals led her to become a founding board member of the Jacksonville Humane Society's (JHS) young professionals group, The Pawfessionals. Kennedy and her fellow Pawfessionals raised a total of $10,000 in the group's inaugural year, a number she looks forward to topping as the group's president in 2011. She also serves as a member of the marketing committees for Project SOS, a local non-profit that educates young people to make healthy life choices, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, and is a member of the young professionals group, daniel Kids at Heart.
A 13-year media management veteran, Kennedy has lived in Jacksonville since moving to the area in 1994 to study at the University of North Florida. She graduated from UNF with a degree in marketing, and now lives in Jacksonville's Southside area.