Sextant Marketing Hires Dawn Ridge as Managing Director – Brand Strategy Practice
Dawn brings 25+ years of experience to her new position with Sextant, where she will focus on brand strategy, client relationships, and delivering data-driven results.
Sextant Marketing, a leading full-service digital marketing and consultancy in higher education, has hired Dawn Ridge as as Managing Director – Brand Strategy Practice. Dawn brings more than 25 years of experience in branding and category work with companies in a wide variety of industries, including transportation, financial services, manufacturing, distribution and utilities.
Dawn’s brand strategy and planning experience includes consumer, business to business, and higher education clients. At Sextant, one of the fastest growing companies in Tampa Bay, Dawn will focus on unifying a brand’s strategy, story, and foundation, assessing and strengthening their relevance and impact, providing the tools and training needed for brand consistency across channels and stakeholders.
Dawn’s experience includes work for Merck, John Deere, Netflix, AB InBev, Midas, Kleenex, Cottonelle, Viva, Scott, Huggies, Grainger, Flagstar Bank, Domini Investments, the U.S. Air Force Command Reserve, Leggett & Platt, Bluebird Botanicals, Sears, 3Com, US Robotics, Allied and Ryder.
“Dawn has a tremendous amount of experience and success in brand strategy and planning. We’re thrilled she’s joining our growing crew at Sextant,” said Adrian Marrullier, founder and CEO of Sextant Marketing. “She has a proven track record that fits perfectly with what we want to accomplish with our higher education clients - building, growing, and retaining relationships.”
He added that Dawn’s experience in both traditional and digital marketing channels translates into an informed and practical perspective on brand strategy, client relationships and delivering data-driven results.
Dawn made a splash in the early days of digital marketing when Midas hired her to do its first-ever auto repair website - a job she won by beating the incumbent creative agency of record. In another notable moment in a career filled with them, Dawn worked with Kimberly-Clark global marketing executives to provide digital and social media competency training.
Educated at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, Dawn said her liberal arts background, passion for storytelling, and English and History curriculum have helped her see connections between ideas, concepts and categories. They have also nurtured a curious and agile mindset.
“It’s an exciting time for higher education with the emergence of online learning, and Sextant is leading the way in helping colleges and universities understand how to alter their approach to attracting and retaining students,” Dawn said. “I’m happy for the opportunity to use my experience and skills to help connect schools with students in a way that leads to success for both.”
About Sextant Marketing
Centrally located in the heart of Tampa’s historic Latin District, Sextant Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency and consultancy dedicated to the service of higher education. We are a team of full-funnel student enrollment experts with deep experience delivering coordinated new student recruitment, retention, and yield campaigns across all program and student types. Sextant Marketing is a nimble partner with a comprehensive approach made possible through our forward-thinking model and 19+ years in higher education program management working with some of the nation’s leading institutions.