What does a blond haired, blue-eyed Irish girl know about marketing to diverse segments and groups? Plenty! Kelly McDonald is a marketing and advertising expert with more than 20 years of global advertising agency experience, in both the General Market and Latino market.

Kelly has worked with major companies and brands such as Toyota, Harley-Davidson, Mattel, Ace Hardware, AAA, Sherwin-Williams, State Farm, First National Bank and Miller/Coors. Her unique style of combining high content with humor and memorable, entertaining stories makes her one of the most in-demand speakers today.

In 2006, Kelly was named #1 on the list of "26 Hot Speakers" by Successful Meetings Magazine,

In 2007, Advertising Age named her company one of the top ad agencies in the U.S.

And in 2008, Inc Magazine named McDonald Marketing one of the fastest-growing privately-owned companies in the U.S.

MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
How to Market to People Who Are Not Like You: the New Market Segmentation
This is Kelly's most popular topic. "Marketing fitness" requires the same dedication, discipline and training as any other fitness regime. You have to fuel your marketing plans and initiatives with the right healthy ingredients to achieve top performance. One of the most important issues to address within your marketing plan is the new market segmentation. Our marketing environment has become more complex, and consumers have become more sophisticated. No longer does mass marketing and mass media necessarily fit the bill - putting your message out there as broadly as possible and hoping it will hit a majority of your prospects. Diversity marketing is the new norm, and this doesn't simply mean racial diversity. Diversity comes in many forms: gender, race, age, lifestage, language preference, sexuality, and hobbies or special interests are all ways in which people's differences are recognized. By recognizing these differences and tailoring your product, message or marketing efforts to reflect consumers' uniqueness, you are validating the importance of a consumer group. It may be counterintuitive to focus on differences rather than similarities, but that's where adding a new "exercise" to your routine can really stretch your marketing muscles and bring incremental results.

Customer Service: How to Keep Customers Rushing back for More
We all know that the customer is king. In our increasingly competitive business environment, it's more important than ever to cater to customers' needs, desires and provide customer service that goes way beyond basic politeness and courtesy. The best and smartest companies are finding that listening to what customers want and delivering on every promise, no matter how small, keeps customers happy and coming back for more. And terrific customer service doesn't have to break the bank: it's not about spending more to keep customers happy, it's about truly understanding the customer experience from a personal point of view.

Additionally, in today's diverse marketplace, recognizing that not all customers are the same and that needs may differ with cultural values, this session will address key customer insights to best deliver exceptional service to your Spanish-speaking customers.

How to Connect With Others Regardless of Age, Wage or Lifestage
It's getting harder and harder to connect with others because there are so many barriers to connection. Technology is our friend, but also our enemy as we have more and more ways to filter out the information and communication we don't want. So in order to connect with someone, you must learn to tap into relevant belief, values or habits. And that can be hard to do when someone is different from you. This presentation will focus on key diverse market segments, emerging market segments, and how major companies are learning to penetrate these groups, either internally or as customer base expansion, to form deep and lasting connections. Attendees will learn why connecting with others is a real opportunity - and how you can grow your relationships by better understanding your neighbors, co-workers, your customers and the community in which you live and work, today and tomorrow.

Diversity in America: the Growing Impact on Work, Organization and Consumers
Our society is becoming increasingly diverse and that no longer are cultures necessarily "melting together" into one homogenous group as in past decades. In fact, the modern phrase is that our society has moved from being a "melting pot" to a "salad bowl", with clear distinction between different cultural groups. And diversity comes in many forms: racial, ethnic, gender, generational, sexual preference, linguistic, even lifestage and level of affluence, to name a few. Learning about differences in values among different groups is the key to maximizing relationships and business opportunities.This presentation will focus on why diversity is a business opportunity - how you can grow your business by better understanding your co-workers, your customers and the community in which you live and work, today and tomorrow.

How to be a Culturally-Ready & Culturally-Friendly Employer: Insights into Your Diverse Workforce
The U.S. population is increasingly diverse, and in some industries, the composition of the workforce is 70% minority. This shift in demographics is a permanent one and brings many changes to our society and our workforce. These changes also bring unique challenges to employers and workers as values sometimes differ between various cultures.

Among Hispanics, the largest ethnic minority in the U.S., values and customs often differ depending on country of origin and level of acculturation. Learning the key differences in values and cultural expectations among different Hispanic segments can help your business attract, recruit and retain the best employees.

This presentation will focus on how you can best reach and retain diverse workers by understanding varying levels of acculturation, differences in values, and how to increase productivity and retention among your diverse workforce.

Marketing 101
The Basics of Advertising & Marketing & How to Implement them
Marketing your product, service and yourself is vital to growing business. But exactly how does one do this effectively? How can the average small business market itself with limited dollars, yet achieve maximum results?

This session will focus on what you need to know to effectively build a solid advertising and marketing plan.

Attendees will learn:

• the core media options and strengths and weaknesses of each
• what to expect to pay for media purchases
• how to handle the production of a message
• effective internet marketing techniques
• tips for identifying your unique selling proposition.
• Do's and don'ts will be covered. Particular attention will be paid to low-cost or no-cost advertising approaches

LATINO FOCUSED PROGRAMS:
Relating, Not Translating
Kelly's popular topic, "Relating, Not Translating" explains why marketing to Latinos involves more then simply translating your message into Spanish. You need to reach Latinos intellectually, rationally, emotionally, and most importantly, culturally. In this session, you'll learn the most common mistakes made in marketing to Latinos, how to avoid them, and how to specifically reach your target consumer in a culturally relevant way that will increase sales and profits today and manana. Your audience will leave with specific tools they can implement right away. "Spanglish" and "Transcreation" will also be discussed, as well as do's and don'ts.

How to Best Reach the Hispanic Family in Your Schools                                                                                                        The U.S. Hispanic population is exploding, and is now the largest ethnic minority in the U.S. This shift in demographics is a permanent one and brings many changes to our society and our schools. Hispanic students face unique challenges compared to other students, including the expectation of speaking two languages and being bicultural as well as bilingual. Values differ in Anglo and Hispanic culture as well, and often students are torn between what is expected of them at school and what is expected of them at home.

Educators also face unique challenges: from strained resources to bilingual education to getting parents involved in their child's education, today's educators are consistently asked to do more with less, and to learn how to connect with both the student and parents. And Hispanics are not "one size fits all" - there are significant differences in values and behavior that coincide with varying levels of acculturation. It is imperative to understand Hispanic values in order to understand the barriers that keep Hispanic parents from becoming involved in the children's school activities.

This presentation will focus on how you can best reach the Hispanic family in your schools by understanding the varying levels of acculturation, the values associated with each, and how to help each student realize their full potential in our multicultural world.

How to be a Latino-Ready & Latino-Friendly Employer: Insights into Your Hispanic Workforce
The U.S. Hispanic population is exploding, and in some industries, as many as one in four workers is Hispanic. This shift in demographics is a permanent one and brings many changes to our society and our workforce. These changes also bring unique challenges to employers and workers as values sometimes differ in Anglo and Hispanic culture.

This presentation will focus on how you can best reach the Hispanic worker by understanding the varying levels of acculturation, the values associated with each, and how to increase productivity and retention among your diverse workforce.