The Sawtooth Group Names New President

On Jun 21, 2016

The Sawtooth Group, an advertising agency based in Red Bank, announced today that chief creative officer Kristi Bridges is its new president. Bridges began her career as a copywriter for DDB Needham and has spent the last 17 years with Sawtooth.

Her accomplishment is noteworthy, because only 11 percent of creative directors in the advertising business are women, and far fewer make it to the top of agencies, according to data compiled by The 3% Conference.

Bridges experience marketing brands such as McCormick, Beechnut, Hershey, Skippy and Blue Buffalo has given her powerful insight into the changing family dynamic and the importance of the role food plays in it, according to the company. She shares this in herIrresistible Blog.

“At the heart of any good advertising agency is the ‘creative.’ Kristi is intuitive and ruthless about the work,” said Bill Schmermund, Sawtooth’s CEO. “She has the optimism and energy to inspire and lead her colleagues and clients. She also has the resilience to stay the course; to push, cajole, persuade, and drive Sawtooth to be its best self.”

Bridges is passionate about building strong, successful brands and highly motivated teams. She has taken many leadership classes, seminars and workshops and shares what she learns with her team, according to the company. She is studying the work and teachings of Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, Christine Day, CEO of Luvo, and author and influencer, Tony Robbins, and other leaders whose messages resonate in today’s rapidly changing business world.

“The culture we have been able to create here is truly rooted in the spirit of collaboration and a desire to make an impact,” said Bridges. “We need more female role models and I want to be one.”

As a creative Bridges has spent her career helping brands make stronger connections with consumers. This quest recently inspired Kristi and her team to develop a proprietary brand research tool called I-Factor. This dynamic brand-building tool helps extract the things customers feel about brands but cannot put into words.

“As a leader and a marketer I have learned that the first thing people tell you is rarely what they really think,” says Bridges. “I-Factor gives us a much deeper level of insight into where a brand is now in its relationship with consumers and where it needs to go.”

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