by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
Burdette Ketchum has not only gained a group account director for its real estate advertising division, but has also gained a well-known account in Northeast Florida — the Neighborhoods of World Golf Village in St. Augustine.
Alayna Kimball was hired at Burdette Ketchum last month and brought the WGV account with her, where she was formally the vice president of marketing. She managed the branding, marketing and advertising for the community’s residential and commercial real estate there.
According to Burdette Ketchum’s Director of Public Relations Caryn Best, Kimball’s knowledge and connection with real estate firms, especially WGV, helps define the agency.
“We were handling and getting more and more real estate clients and we had some expertise already, internally in Will Ketchum,” said Best, noting Ketchum worked at advertising firm Morgan & Partners, where Kimball also previously worked. “But we saw the need to head the (real estate) group. It’s great because (WGV) is such a well-known and well-regarded multi-use development. It’s high profile and it’s an account we can be proud of.”
Kimball is working with all three of the firm’s large real estate accounts, which include American Land Ventures and Aslan. She has also begun to venture out of the real estate side of marketing and is working with Bethune-Cookman College.
Kimball had an extensive and varied career all over the country prior to joining Burdette Ketchum.
In Colorado, Kimball went skiing on her lunch break while working on accounts and spent time at the Tahoe Mountain Resorts in Tahoe, Ca. She’s had dinner with Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas while working on the fast food chain’s account and worked in Naples on a master-planned development.
When Kimball came back to Jacksonville after a 12-year absence, she began work with WGV.
But, she said, developer sales were going so well she was marketing herself right out of a job. That’s when she went to the agency side, working for Morgan & Partners before they were bought by The Dalton Agency.
For her efforts, Kimball has received several awards and recognitions including: an EFFIE from the American Marketing Association; Sales and Marketing Council Builder/Developer Member of the Year; “Best Special Event” from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors; and an ENVY award from the Florida Association of Realtors.
Kimball graduated from the University of Florida and got her start in the industry after answering a newspaper ad while she was in Naples. It was a fluke, she said.
“Life kinda takes you where you want to go sometimes, without you even knowing it,” she said. “Sometimes, it takes you where you need to go.”
Kimball said she’s quite pleased with her career and the changing market keeps her days busy.
“The market is always changing so the things you need to do are always changing also,” she said. “What may have worked five years ago, might not work now.”
Sometimes, however, the smallest things will trigger new ideas, she said.
“We incorporate new ideas by just living,” said Kimball.
She said her days do sometimes get stressful, especially with all the deadlines.
“It can be stressful when you take your client’s work personally, especially in a soft market. When you see a client’s sales not where they were in 2005, you work hard and are concerned with ways to make it work and get them where they want to be ,” she said. “Overall, I’m really happy with where my career has taken me and I’m thrilled to be at Burdette Ketchum. I think I’m going to be here for quite some time.”