About Media Design Group
Learn more about what makes us great.
What You Need to Know.
The media and marketing landscape is in the midst of a major transformation. The unfamiliar, multifaceted method of advertising is upon us. Without the cutting edge technology and a staff that knows how to interpret the data your ad campaign will most likely come up woefully short. All media will soon be bought, planned and optimized on audience and we are uniquely positioned to guide our partners through this change.
Identifying who and where your audience can be found is usually the most difficult challenge that a media agency has. For instance, what do Lady Gaga and Sarah Palin have in common? According to Nielsen they are both Woman 25-54. Obviously these similarities cease to exist after age and gender are removed from the equation. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that they do not share the same political convictions either! Not all impressions are created equal.
Our Specialties Are:
Growing Brands
Our dynamic staff is comprised of a highly efficient, friendly, seasoned group of industry insiders that will bend over backwards to get you results.
Stacy Durand
Head Honcho
The Gig: Stacy has been the CEO of MDG since its inception and her passion for the job is fueled by her pure love of the media business. Her career has always been about facilitating business growth exponentially and maximizing the potential of any campaign that runs through her company.
Preferred Social Media Platform: Facebook/Instagram
TV Show You Would Binge Again: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Favorite City: Florence, Italy
Desert Island Disc: Jack Johnson, Bubbly Toes
App You Use the Most: WAZE
Person You Would Most Like to Have Lunch with Living or Deceased: My kids
Weirdest Thing You've Ever Done: Made a whipped cream toupee.
Something About You People Would Be Surprised to Learn: My crazy upbringing.
Ben Zimmerman
Direct Response Savant
The Gig: His moniker is MDG's Prez, (which in translation simply means that he is the guy in charge of the agency's client services and media planning teams). Ben is perpetually searching for ways to improve procedures, systems, and negotiating acumen.
Preferred Social Media Platform: Instagram
TV Show You Would Binge Again: Breaking Bad
Desert Island Disc: Foo Fighter, Foo Fighters Greatest Hits
App You Use the Most: WAZE (I would be a lost soul without it)
Person You Would Most Like to Have Lunch with Living or Deceased: My Grandpa; I wish I had a little more time with him.
Weirdest Thing You've Ever Done: Rode on the back of an elephant through the streets of L.A.
Something About You People Would Be Surprised to Learn: Earned a Black Belt in Tong Soo Do when I was 12 years old.
Bernadette Abasta
Doctor of DR
The Gig: What do Walgreens, Phillips, Kaboom, and Zulilly have in common? They've all benefited from the same Branded Response Media formula that Bernie brings to the table as MDG's Vice President of Client Strategy & Marketing.
Preferred Social Media Platform: Instagram, but I stalk on Facebook
TV Show You Would Binge Again: Game of Thrones, The Crown, Stranger Things, Downton Abbey. I am obsessed with BBC produced shows that take place during the Victorian Era through the 1920's!
Favorite City: All the big cities in Europe but probably Paris
Desert Island Disc: Ray Lamontagne's Trouble
App You Use the Most: InstaCart, I dislike going to the grocery store but LOVE to cook!
Person You Would Most Like to Have Lunch with Living or Deceased: Coco Chanel or John F Kennedy
Weirdest Thing You've Ever Done: I've eaten a lot of insects: ants, ant larvae, crickets, and beetles. NOT my favorite!
Something About You People Would Be Surprised to Learn: I speak Spanish fluently and make my own cheese and tortillas from scratch.
Jeff Mandell
Ruler of Results
The Gig: As MDG's CFO and resident bean counter, Jeff is a busy man since adroit media planning and buying is all about the numbers… and results.
Preferred Social Media Platform: Facebook and Instagram
Favorite City: Florence
Desert Island Disc: record you couldn't live without the most – Dave Mason, Alone Together
App You Use the Most: Spotify
Person You Would Most Like to Have Lunch with Living or Deceased: Abraham Lincoln
Weirdest Thing You've Ever Done: Streaking in College on my 21st birthday in 10 degree weather!
Something About You People Would Be Surprised to Learn: I am a piano player.
Sheb Alahmari
Spot-On Wizardry
The Gig: As Vice President of Media for TRADR, Sheb leads the charge with our proprietary media buying platform that enables advertisers to reach individual viewers with the granularity of digital marketing. His mission is to ensure that the newest technology is leveraged to reach an advertiser's target audience one viewer at a time.
Preferred Social Media Platform: Facebook
TV Show You Would Binge Again: Welcome Back Kotter
Favorite City: San Diego, CA
Desert Island Disc: Fabio, After Dark
App You Use the Most: Tie between Google Maps and Wells Fargo
Person You Would Most Like to Have Lunch with Living or Deceased: Marlon Brando.
Weirdest Thing You've Ever Done: Too inappropriate to say.
Something About You People Would Be Surprised to Learn: I'm basically a classically trained ballet dancer.
Kristofer Johnson
The Gig: As Veep of Sales, Kris first conducts a diagnosis of what a prospect's response and financial aims are, then works with the team to ensure those goals are met. Never one to 'set it and forget it', Kris proactively consults with both client and agency as campaigns rollout to help achieve the best possible result.
TV Show You Would Binge Again: The Shield
Favorite City: Vancouver, BC
Desert Island Disc: Metallica – And Justice for All, Pearl Jam – Ten
App You Use the Most: Waze (not even close)
Person You Would Most Like to Have Lunch with Living or Deceased: Dave Chappelle
Weirdest Thing You've Ever Done: The Ironman triathlon in Coeur d'Alene, ID, with my wife and son joining me on the trip.
Something About You People Would Be Surprised to Learn: I was all district chorus every year I was in high school.
What makes us so damn special?
Let's not mince words: MDG is out to kick ass for our clients. Partnership is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, but for us it is truism. We are only successful if the brands, products and services we collaborate with are making money. We never take a budget for granted and make every move as if we are investing our own capital. That's why we've been able to sustain many long-term relationships, while other agencies see customers come and go.
Our technology and ingenuity is second to none and we continually strive to improve in all areas. We have assembled a stellar staff of like-minded, aggressive professionals that work together on behalf of our common goals.
We take pride in our proactivity, but if there ever is a problem, we'll handle it with enthusiasm and a focus on creative problem solving in a timely and professional manner.
Lastly, we do our best to make MDG an enjoyable place to spend time, allowing us to accomplish exceptional things.
View Our Careers
How do we do all of this?
Our targeting capabilities are driven by a unique, strategic integration with Nielsen that provides us with respondent level linkage between online and TV viewing behavior. Through this linkage, we support the generation of strategic targets to define the desired audience resulting in modeled TV audiences that are significantly sharper and more effective than traditional TV models.
We have the ability to easily and seamlessly onboard 1st party data sets and apply them to a TV currency is unique and has powerful targeting implications for MDG clients.
MDG is rewriting the technical standards for audience based buying and helping our clients, prospects and partners capitalize on this new wave of technology through our state of the art proprietary software. We provide unique and valuable insight as well as practical experience to turn what may have been a baffling problem into a money making opportunity.
They say the proof is in the numbers. Discover just how we've helped a variety of campaigns elevate their bottom line.
Forget about spots and dots. We've taken TV advertising to an entirely new level of target-ability and accountability.
Pick Your Service
Ready to ditch you 'job' for a career that offers a daily challenge with is both dynamic and fun? You supply the talent. We'll supply the coffee.