AGENCY EXECUTIVE: JON STEEL

Clients and co-workers credit Jon Steel, director of planning at Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein/S.F. with a special talent for being able to define the audience for a product and understand the language and message that will reach that target. ‘That’s what he excels at,’ says Richard Ford, vp/sales and marketing for Porsche Cars North America, an account GBS won in a battle that rested on the shop’s strategic prowess. In the past year alone, Steel, 31, has been instrumental in launching the strategic attack that’s helped the agency win almost $20 million in new business with accounts like UNUM, an insurance company, and poultry marketer Foster Farms.