BALTIMORE OFFICE:About the Leffler Agency
The Leffler Agency, founded in 1984 by Bob Leffler, (former marketing and sales director for the Baltimore Colts) is a full-service advertising and marketing firm.
With offices in Baltimore and Tampa, the agency specializes in strategic revenue acquisition planning, budget expansion, promotional networking, and strategic creative imaging. In addition, our work with professional and collegiate sports teams has taught us about the quality required for the national spotlight.
We have created a niche by maintaining a reputation for creativity, practicality, and versatility.
Creativity
The agency has an award-winning creative staff of 4 designers whose talents include logo design, print ad design, script writing, outdoor design, collateral design, web site design, and other forms of business communication.
Practicality
The creative staff is driven by strategy and practicality. Not only do we create products that meet our clients' goals and needs, but we make sure they get the most for their money, emphasizing client return on the advertising investment.
Versatility
The agency represents a variety of business categories including retail, medical, automotive, real estate, fitness, media, fine dining, gaming, and sports. We consider advertising and marketing social sciences. In short, we know why people buy products.
Bob Leffler, Founder & President
Bob Leffler looks at advertising and marketing as a social science. His view of the marketplace and how to make it work for clients has been shaped by an earlier career in teaching and academics. His Master's Degree in US History with a pop culture emphasis has given the agency an edge when making strategic calls on behalf of clients. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Leffler also lived in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh before settling in Baltimore. Now, he splits time between the Baltimore and Tampa offices of the agency.
The idea of high profile and interesting clients is at the core of Leffler's philosophy for the agency. "We like a variety of client situations because they teach us on a regular basis why people buy things. Knowing that and not guessing about it is the essence of the business. At the same time, life in the spotlight with our national clients has created very high service and creative standards for us. This benefits all of our clients."
Chris Raynor, Chief Operating Officer
Chris Raynor's career has been a mosaic of the media business. While still a college student at the University of South Florida, she was a newspaper reporter for The Tampa Tribune. She then began a 15 year stint in local network television in Tampa as the chief marketer for an outlet that transitioned from an independent to Fox and ABC affiliations. Along the way, she produced local programming, was on-air with features and promotional pieces and made trips to Los Angeles to interview the stars at the Academy Awards.
A native of Chicago, Chris has oversight responsibilities at the agency in both the Baltimore and Tampa offices. In Tampa, she is on numerous charity boards and makes the time for a family of three active youngsters and husband Mark. "Knowing the client needs and making thoughtful, yet strategic recommendations is what agency work should be. It has to be fun, too, however, and Leffler's client mix is just that."
Tom McElroy, Senior Vice President, Sports Division
A journalism graduate of St. Bonaventure, Tom McElroy also holds a masters in Education Administration from the University. McElroy joined the Leffler team in 2008, yet he is no stranger to the Agency. In 2002, as Deputy Director of Athletics at the University of Connecticut, Tom hired Leffler to conduct a "sell-up" campaign. "UConn was the agency's second collegiate client. Five years later the agency had nearly 20 collegiate clients - the best indicator of an expertise that produces outstanding results. I'm a believer. That is why I am here."
Prior to UConn, Tom worked for 20 years at The BIG EAST Conference, rising to the position of Senior Associate Commissioner. Here he developed the nation's then largest regional collegiate sports television network, and in 1993 won a Regional Emmy for Live Sports Series as executive producer of the Conference's Football Game of the Week. In addition, he has been honored for his work on 15 sports publications, including three Best in Nation and five Top Five in Nation. Tom's 30 years of experience in collegiate administration includes his role as Director of Athletics at the University of Rhode Island. A native of Long Island, Tom and his wife, Joanne, have three daughters named Kelly, Katie, and Erin.
Jeff Sewell, Art Director
Jeff Sewell is a "Leffler Original". He came on board when the agency art department was in one of three rooms the agency rented in its first year. Leffler is the only shop that the Anne Arundel County native has worked for. After graduation from Towson University in 1985, Sewell began as a straight "lay-out" artist with presstype, border tape and exacto knives. He rose to the Creative Director slot early (1987) and has brought the agency, first into the computer age and then into the interactive space.
The Roland Park resident supervises a staff of five designers that has won numerous Summit Creative and American Graphics Design awards over the past 5 years. He has also presided over the design of the national Preakness logo for the past three years. "I look for the staff to be stimulated. There is always a mix of quick-turn production and challenging creative design. I have always had designers that can do both. My operational principle has always been to keep a fair mix for all of the designers. This builds service versatility and design quality. We're known for that and that is something I'm quite proud of here at Leffler."