CHICAGO-As the incoming president of Periscope Marketing Communications, Greg Kurowski said his initial task will be to beef up the Minneapolis agency’s planning capabilities.
Periscope last week tapped Kurowski, 36, to succeed Jeff Wright as president of the $80 million agency. Wright announced his resignation earlier this year.
Periscope executive creative director Mark Haumersen, who led the search for a new president, said Kurowski’s planning background-he most recently served as a senior vice president of strategic planning at crosstown agency Martin/Williams-was important to the agency’s future.
“We’re a good creative shop, but we want to be a better branding shop,” Haumersen said. “I’m hoping he can bring a stronger account planning discipline here.”
Kurowski said he was impressed with Periscope’s “integrated” capabilities, which include in-house pre-press, printing and graphics. Periscope was formed in 1994 when CTS Creative Graphics bought Kauffman Stewart Advertising.
“Periscope is frankly the best-kept secret in town,” he said. “I cannot overstate how impressed I am with this agency’s unmatched group of integrated capabilities.”
Another factor in Kurowski’s move was his familiarity with Haumersen and Charlie Callihan, both of whom had worked at M/W before joining Periscope.
“Those guys played a major role in my going there,” Kurowski said. “[Mark] is one of the best art directors I’ve ever worked with.”
Separately, Periscope was named agency of record for the Laser and Cosmetic Care Center, a department of Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. The shop will provide positioning, advertising and promotion work for the clinic.
Periscope’s other clients include Arctic Cat snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, Tigershark personal watercraft, Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurants and the Peace Corps. ƒ
New Periscope Prexy's First Task: Planning
