Ovative Hires Veteran Marketer Annie Zipfel As Next EVP

Ovative Group, an independent media and measurement firm, named their newest Executive Vice President of Media, Annie Zipfel, out of their Minneapolis Headquarters. Zipfel will oversee client delivery and growth across paid and owned media (digital, traditional, retail media) and creative services. She will lead a team of over 240 media experts. Zipfel will bring her deep expertise in marketing and leading teams to scale the impact Ovative is having for current clients and expand its services to new, top national brands.

“Annie Zipfel is an exciting addition to our amazing leadership team,” said Dale Nitschke, CEO and Founder of Ovative Group.

Zipfel has 30 years of marketing experience for retail and consumer product brands. As former Chief Marketing Officer of Andersen Windows & Doors, Vice President of Marketing, Loyalty Innovation, and Personalization at Starbucks, and leadership roles at REI, Target Corporation, and General Mills, Zipfel understands how to develop marketing strategies that connect consumers with brands to drive success. She will report to Dale Nitschke, CEO and Founder of Ovative Group.

“Annie Zipfel is an exciting addition to our amazing leadership team,” said Dale Nitschke, CEO and Founder of Ovative Group. “She brings B2C and B2B marketing expertise and has served in leadership roles, including CMO, for several great brands and companies,” said Nitschke. “Annie’s energy, expertise, and growth mindset will enable us to continue to elevate our great work for our clients.”

Zipfel’s role will help Ovative transform the measure of marketing success. Ovative has created a new approach to measure and optimize marketing investment, called Enterprise Marketing Return (EMR), replacing ROAS as the media metric of the past. When moving from ROAS to EMR, client’s remix between 25-40% of their marketing spend, and within the first 12 months experience a 25% increase in return. This is a powerful unlock for Ovative’s new EVP of Media to be able to bring to the market. Ovative helps changemakers like Coach, Kate Spade, Sleep Number, General Mills, Domino’s, and CVS Pharmacy, to name a few, drive measurable performance. Under Zipfel’s leadership, this list will only continue to grow.

“I’m excited to bring my marketing experience to help drive growth for Ovative’s clients,” said Zipfel. “It is my honor to join this incredible group of leaders, including a significant presence of female leaders.”

At Ovative, over 62% of the VP+ Leadership team is female compared to the corporate average of 35%. The strength of Ovative’s leadership team reflects the inclusive culture that is intentionally built each day and continued dedication to elevating new perspectives. Ovative is proud to welcome Annie Zipfel’s perspective to the organization.

Ovative Group is an independent media and measurement firm that helps clients drive and deliver measurable marketing performance. Founded in 2009 by Dale Nitschke, Ovative brings media, measurement, and consulting together under one roof to measure the holistic impact of marketing on clients’ total business using its proprietary metric, Enterprise Marketing Return (EMR). Ovative’s team of marketing experts serves as a trusted partner for its national world class client base of marketing leaders across many industries. Ovative is recognized as an industry leader and has received awards including Star Tribune’s Top Workplaces, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Fast 50, and Inc. 5000. For more information about Ovative, visit ovative.com or follow Ovative on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.