About Us

Make your mark

Something new is afoot. Yes, we know you’ve heard that one before. We are doubling down on creativity. The CEO likes to refer to it as a “force multiplier.” It sounded a little militaristic at first but now we dig it. We subscribe to creativity because we know it’s the only true way to guarantee results. Yes, making world-class creative work is the greatest feeling in the world, but for us, it is a proven conduit in our ROI world.

We are built differently. Most of our leadership were clients in their former lives but we never act like we have fancy MBAs from Harvard (although some of us do).

And we honestly believe being in Connecticut is a huge advantage. We can do anything those big city types can deliver. From brilliant strategy to precision media to that creative “force multiplier” thing. Catchy right? Now let’s go make our mark, together.

About Us

The Work

40th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards: Best of Show, 9 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze

At Cronin, we believe the health brands you remember don’t act like health brands. Their impact comes from bold creative solutions that generate growth and success and make them stand apart.

Learn more

The Team

Sean Folan

Agency Ops & All-Around Good Guy

Sean was on hand to see Kirk Gibson’s iconic pinch-hit, walk-off home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 1 of the 1988 World Series, one of the most pivotal moments in modern sports. Today, Sean is almost always on hand to help clients find pivotal moments and connections that promote brand growth.​

As the key executive overseeing Cronin’s day-to-day business operations, Sean plays a vital role in ensuring successful long-term client relationships fueled by smooth intra-agency operations. He loves rolling up his sleeves to help build integrated, omni-channel marketing campaigns that leverage his deep functional expertise and broad industry experience, including branding, growth strategy, market research, and product management across healthcare, consumer products, financial services, hospitality, business services, and aerospace.

Sean is currently involved in a number of community organizations that serve those in need, including the Harvard Business School Community Partners and the Knights of Columbus. In his spare time, Sean enjoys the outdoors: walking, hiking, swimming, biking. And his love of new places and cultures has led him to visit over 20 countries.​

While attending the University of Virginia, Sean served as chairperson of the school’s vaunted Honor System. We weren’t sure exactly where to put this in his bio but felt it was impressive!

Katie Lukas

Strategy & Digital Evangelist

Katie likes to make it a point to “read fast and listen fast.” Which is really just shorthand for being uber-efficient at her job as Cronin’s Head of Strategy & Research. Katie’s agency expertise spans across nearly every field of business, developing effective research, strategy, and consumer experience solutions for clients ranging from consumer products to technology, B2B to healthcare. Katie probably has a great strategy for your business too. Just be ready to listen. Fast.

Eric Silver

Creative Goodness, Assistant to Birch

Eric wanted to come up with a clever opening line about being independent and assisting an indie agency but didn’t quite crack it in time.

Before Cronin, Eric served as McCann’s Creative Officer of North America for six years. Under his watch, McCann was named to Ad Age’s prestigious A-List five years in a row, Adweek’s US Agency of the Year, and Cannes Agency of the Year twice (including a record 4 Grand Prix for State Street’s Fearless Girl).  

After McCann, and more than 30 years in advertising, Eric decided to retire, play tennis and go for long walks on Wrightsville Beach. After approximately 3 weeks, Mrs. Silver promptly begged Eric to go back to work. And so, after freelancing for agencies of all shapes and sizes, Eric fell in love with Sean, Katie, and the entire crew and is excited to help write one last chapter.

Eric began his career as a writer at Chiat Day before moving to Portland to work on NIKE and ESPN at Wieden + Kennedy.

From there, he joined “The Late Show with David Letterman” as a staff writer. After submitting a Top 10 list of reasons that Conan O’Brien’s show was funnier, he decided to accept a position as Creative Director at Cliff Freeman and Partners. According to the Gunn Report, Cliff Freeman was the most awarded agency in the world during those six years. 

Next up, Eric served as Executive Creative Director at BBDO, where he managed FedEx, Monster, and BBC. His work for all three clients was selected for Adweek’s Best of the Decade list. After BBDO, there were six equally demanding and rewarding years at his agency, Silver + Partners, which appeared frequently in Fast Company for its social efforts and was also named to Ad Age’s A-List.

Eric is blessed to be surrounded by his amazing wife, two amazing daughters, and two amazing cats. Some would argue cats are not amazing. Whatever.

And if you’ve made it this far, here is some of the work https://www.hoorayadvertising.com

Birch

Chief Motivating Officer

Mark owns a nearby farm with, at last count, 5 goats on it. One of them is Birch. She wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth; it was actually a tin can. Birch was brought in to Cronin to remind us that we’re all goats, not sheep. And to inspire us to be more agile, curious, independent and adventurous. Birch is truly the G.O.A.T. and we’re darn lucky to have her.

Annie Cahill

Director, Experience Strategy

Not many people have the ability to make consumers feel so comfortable that they’ll truthfully share their experiences; using that information to create positive brand experiences that are seamless and frictionless. But for our Director of Experience Strategy, this is all in a day's work. With a career spanning over 15 years in information architecture, UX design, and experience strategy, Annie was solving UX and CX challenges way before these acronyms became priorities for most brands.

Lester Ayala

Head of Production

As an all-time top ten scorer in Quinnipiac University’s basketball program, Lester knew what it took to light up a scoreboard. As Head of Production, Lester knows what it takes to light up an entire room. That’s because when it comes to digital and broadcast production, Lester is just an all-out baller. From collaborating with renowned directors like Bennet Miller and Wally Pfister to shepherding work strong enough to be recognized by Shoot Magazine, AICP and Cannes, Lester is still at the top of his game.  A team leader who firmly believes that an idea is only as good as its execution, Lester always comes through in the clutch.

Tracy Klimkoski

Head of Media & Analytics

In her personal life, Tracy subscribes to JOMO or the Joy of Missing Out.  Which loosely translated means she’d rather spend a cozy evening at home with her English Bulldog than almost anything else in the world. At Cronin, our Head of Media & Analytics doesn’t miss out on doing whatever it takes to put our clients in their best possible scenarios for success every chance she gets. Tracy always likes to visualize herself in her client’s position and imagine what she’d do with their media dollars.

Ann Robertson

Executive Creative Director

After abandoning her dream of becoming a chanteuse in a smoky piano bar, Ann rechanneled her creative energy into entertaining audiences with her love of advertising. She started her career writing for Kraft Foods and has been humming along ever since on clients such as Mercedes-Benz, McAfee and Serena Williams Jewelry. Bi-lingual and born of Cuban immigrants, Ann’s work for the Spanish market has made her grandmother proud, as did her graduation from Boston College and Miami Ad School. 

Tom Lichaj

Director, Web Development

IT is one of the most complex and technically challenging fields out there, but Tom originally took it up for fun. After he built a few amazing websites in his spare time, Tom decided to turn his hobby into a lifelong career.  After mastering infrastructure planning and setup, website development, SEO, accessibility and security standards, Tom has become the invaluable digital guru our agency relies on every day. We just hope he’s still having fun.

AnnMarie Kemp

Head of Communications

As a diehard Yankees fan married to a diehard Red Sox fan, AnnMarie knows a thing or two about overcoming challenges. As Cronin’s Head of Communications, AnnMarie has made a career of meeting PR challenges head on, including spearheading the McDonald’s business for 17 years. She has also overseen a host of other iconic brands, like Dunkin’, Loctite, Xerox, and Konica Minolta. AnnMarie has built a formidable team at Cronin that continues to push the limits of what’s possible in public relations, social media and content marketing. Just like her Yankees, AnnMarie keeps swinging for the fences all season long.

Paul Catanese

Executive Creative Director

“A wizard who conjures up the right words to an audience mesmerized and eager to find out more.”  No this isn’t a plot line from one of Paul’s ten published children’s fantasy novels, it’s actually a pretty accurate description of how this skillful copywriter goes about his craft. Paul has been with Cronin for more than two decades, putting out crowd-pleasing work for clients from Amica to Fred Hutch to Dartmouth Health.  A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Paul is a home-grown talent with just the right magic your brand needs.

Mark Demuro

Chairman & CEO

Mark sees life as one giant Super Bowl and his starters at Cronin as the team that’s going to win it all.  A graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Mark’s had stints as a CMO, a strategy consultant and Head of Growth and Development at a global research company. Mark’s been a force on the field his entire career. And, at the risk of extending this metaphor too far, Mark continues to pace the sideline, guiding his agency on their drive through an ever-changing consumer landscape. As the proud father of a doctor and a paramedic with a record of client success stories, Mark knows how to inspire both businesses and people to play ‘til the whistle every time. We know a great coach when we see one and Bill Belichick’s got nothing on this guy.

Katharine Laban

Director, People & Culture

When the great Katharine Hepburn offered a shivering Coast Guardsmen a cup of tea, it impressed him. So much in fact, that he named his first-born daughter after her. And that’s how the woman we call the world’s best Director, People & Culture got her name.  Over the years, Katharine has built Cronin’s HR department from the ground up, bringing in the diverse group of free-thinkers and initiating the programs that make our agency such a fun place to work. When Katharine’s not fostering the perfect creative environment at Cronin, she’s quite the foodie and enjoys cooking and eating cuisine from around the world. Katharine likes to say that “kindness always wins.”  Have a cup of tea with her sometime, and you’ll see what she means.

Elizabeth Proctor

VP, Account Service

On any given Saturday in the fall, you can probably find Cronin’s VP, Account Service, cheering wildly as she watches her beloved Alabama Crimson Tide on the football field. The only weird thing about this is that Elizabeth actually attended the University of Georgia. When Elizabeth isn’t busy betraying her school by rooting for its arch-rival, she’s usually helping to build blue-chip brands at Cronin like she has for ATT, Bank of America, Capital One and Toyota at various agencies over the past 20 years. Elizabeth believes her true calling is connecting brands with culture. Over her career, she’s been part of impressive sponsorship opportunities with American Idol, MLB, PGA and the US Open. All we can say is “Roll Tide.”

Maria Ciriello

AVP, Account Service

For 25 years, Maria has partnered with some of today's largest global brands across a wide range of verticals – CPG, healthcare, food service, retail, higher education, financial services, and entertainment. Brands include PepsiCo, Hershey, and Subway. She is skilled at building strategically-sound, engaging content and fully-integrated marketing campaigns that illuminate a brand story and deliver results. Having spent over half her career working for agencies, both large and small, Maria is at ease building superior client partnerships. She has also held senior client roles. Having seen both agency and client life provides Maria with a unique perspective that allows her to deliver a seamless, collaborative end-to-end client experience.

Janika Morales

Chief Hospitality Officer

Our Chief Hospitality Officer Janika Morales majored in criminal justice in college. Which might explain why we’re all guilty of believing she’s such a difference-maker at Cronin. As the first voice anyone who contacts our agency hears and one of our leading workplace problem solvers, Janika has an uncanny knack for making things happen around here. When she isn’t at work you can find her cheering for her beloved Yankees, being supermom to three girls (including identical twins) or binge-watching her favorite reality TV shows. Say hello next time you visit or call.

Our Clients
Our Clients