Overview

Company Summary

There's a new wrinkle in mature marketing. The swiftly expanding 55+ crowd is, after all, a colorful bunch. They're diverse. They're robust. And they're exploring new life stages with energy, curiosity and enthusiasm. At Varsity, we've had plenty of experience in the subtler shades of mature marketing. With dozens of successful case studies in positioning everything from dental floss to pain relief and from assisted living facilities to continuing care retirement communities. At all stages of development, from initial launch to expansion of existing properties. In locations ranging from Seattle to New Jersey to Toronto. We also boast a track record of incisive branding strategies for consumer products and services aimed specifically at mature audiences. And the diversity of our staff runs the gamut from research experts who've spent decades learning exactly what makes your target tick to marketing professionals who've worked at retirement communities and understand them from the inside out. All of which is well and good. But best of all is that, despite our wealth of experience, we provide an innovative and fresh perspective on each and every project. Which means that your message is just about anything but gray.

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Staff

Total Number of Employees

Office Employees: 51-100
Total US: 51-100
Total Worldwide: 51-100

Michael Pavone
CEO
Michael is the founder and CEO of Pavone Group, one company made up of several focused boutique agencies with deep industry expertise. As CEO, he is responsible for strategic business planning, new business efforts and ongoing management. Michael also works closely with all members of the Pavone Group team and its agencies from concept to final execution, to ensure that strategic marketing objectives are consistently met in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Michael was a finalist of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and has led several of the companies in the Pavone Group to a place on the region’s 50 Fastest Growing Companies list. Pavone Group was recognized by AdWeek as a Top 100 Fastest Growing Company and named to Inc. 5000’s List of Fastest Growing PrivateCompanies. We have also won 300+ national and international creative and marketing awards.

He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Derek Dunham
President
Derek works with clients to grow and develop their brands by staying on strategy, on time and on budget. He is responsible for ensuring that his accounts are strategically and fiscally sound, and that the work is innovative, superior and creative. Derek is dedicated to bringing consumer insight and relevance to all agency work, whether it’s marketing strategy, creative direction or touchpoints. His experience includes brand development and marketing research for such clients as Hallman Retirement Neighborhoods, Alden Place, Sodexo Senior Services and Living Branches. Derek holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from University of North Dakota and an MBA in marketing from the University of Minnesota.

John Bassounas
Partner
John has 25+ years experience in the healthcare, food & beverage, data analytics, and senior living categories working with clients to shape organizational and marketing strategies to navigate the rapidly changing business paradigm. He has led strategic planning, branding, re-positioning and marketing programs with communities and health systems throughout the country. This work has been done in both the for-profit and non-profit space. John has led nationally recognized research studies on wellness, healthcare, food and beverage, and senior living with findings being presented at conferences and media on national, regional, and local levels.

A graduate of Villanova University, John is President of Pavone Marketing Group which includes Varsity, a mature marketing consultancy and WildFig, a data science and analytics consultancy focused on transforming organizations into becoming data-driven. He has also completed coursework at Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania as part of ongoing professional development. John is also a member of the Young Presidents' Organization.

Amy Beamer
Partner
Amy works closely with Michael and the department managers in the day-to-day operations of the company. She also confers with individual clients to ascertain their needs and develop marketing and media solutions tailored to meet their expectations and budget. In recent years, Amy was recognized as one of Central Pennsylvania’s Forty Under 40 and as one of the Top 50 Women in Business in Pennsylvania, an award presented by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Amy holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Elizabethtown (PA) College.

Robinson Smith
Executive Creative Director
With over a decade of design experience with clients, Robinson leads the creative department by giving them direction and pushing them to create cutting-edge products He has been recognized with more than 100 national, regional and local awards. His work has been repeatedly featured in publications such as Letterhead and Logo Design, US Ad Review and the Print Regional Design Annual.

Robinson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Pennsylvania State University.

Jeremy Freeman
Media Director
Jeremy is a media planning, buying, and marketing analytics expert with nearly twenty years experience in omni-channel media campaigns. With his breadth of planning experience across all media types — broadcast, print, out of home, digital/ programmatic display, streaming audio/ video, PPC, paid social media and more. Additionally, Jeremy is instrumental in developing new processes for mining insights from client campaigns using data aggregation and creating interactive visualizations for campaign reporting.

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Clients and Brands

Client & Brands	Start Date
Aramark SeniorLIFE+	N/A
The Admiral at the Lake	N/A
Cascade Village	N/A
Duncaster	N/A
Evergreen	N/A
Goodwin Living	N/A
Greystone Communities	N/A
The Highlands at Wyomissing	N/A
Ingleside	N/A
Kingswood	N/A
Larksfield Place	N/A
Masonic Homes Kentucky	N/A
Mennonite Village	N/A
Parkway Village	N/A
Roland Park Place	N/A
Salemtowne	N/A
Whitney Center	N/A

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Billings & Revenue

Billing / Revenue Ranges	Number of Clients

Total Gross Media Placed by this Office

Allocation Percent of Media Placed by this Office

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Types of Services

Service Offering	Revenue

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Industry Experience

Public Relations
Healthcare | Hospitals, Healthcare Facilities, Medical Services
Non-profit, associations & public services
Healthcare | medical products
Healthcare | direct to consumer (DTC)
Real Estate | buildings & construction
Healthcare | pharmaceutical
Technology | electronics
Healthcare | managed care

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