Zito Partners: New Strategic Brand Consultancy Launches Jan. 11

Joe Grano and Dick Grasso first members of Advisory Board

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Jan 11, 2011, 07:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bob Zito, the architect of brand, advertising and communications strategies at Sony Corporation, the New York Stock Exchange, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, has launched a strategic brand consultancy, Zito Partners, with primary offices in New York and New Jersey.

Best known for increasing the NYSE's global visibility by encouraging media to broadcast from the trading floor, and for creating the "must see" experience of the opening and closing bells at the Exchange, Zito has joined with former colleagues to create a firm designed to help clients build, energize and defend their brands.

"The strength of our people and partners helps us get to solutions quickly and smartly," says Zito, who also developed the award-winning "Prevail" campaign at Bristol-Myers Squibb. "This partnership has some of the most talented and experienced individuals I have had the good fortune to work with in my 30-plus year career. They have faced some of the most difficult brand and communications challenges imaginable in the U.S. and abroad."

Dick Grasso, former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, and Joe Grano, former chairman of UBS Financial Services and currently chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings, are the first members of the company's Board of Advisors.

Zito has more than 30 years' experience as a brand communications and public relations executive in the sports, financial, pharmaceutical and entertainment industries.

He most recently was the chief communications officer at Bristol-Myers Squibb, responsible for rebranding that company as it downsized and evolved into a pure biopharmaceutical firm.

At the NYSE, Zito built the broadcast strategy and infrastructure that enables the Exchange to maintain its global visibility still today. Before that, Zito was a corporate vice president at Sony, helping rebrand the company as a global entertainment leader following the acquisitions of CBS Records and Columbia Pictures.

Karina Correa-Maury has joined Zito as a partner, and brings communications experience in the media, digital, financial services, consumer products and fashion industries. Correa-Maury believes new media and multicultural marketing are key to reaching the hearts and minds of people today.

"The ways we communicate with each other are ever changing. Texting and social media are now mainstream avenues to reach consumers. It is more important than ever to keep our fingers on the pulse of new media, to understand new trends—always searching for the freshest, most meaningful ways to reach people," Correa-Maury says.

About Zito Partners Firms

Zito Partners creates actionable plans through its partnership of established professionals and firms that have selected areas of expertise in all aspects of building and strengthening a corporate brand. They are:

Tom Chetrick — New Jersey-based marketing communications specialist; former advertising and marketing vice president at Bristol-Myers Squibb;

CN Communications — New Jersey-based public affairs and marketing communications agency, focusing on the financial, health care, and real estate industries, and higher education;

John Connolly & Partners — Sydney-based public affairs and communications specialist; primary operations in Europe and Asia;

Jonathan Cranin — New York-based award-winning creative director and founder of craninthink, a marketing consulting business that combines the creativity of an advertising agency with the brains of a marketing consulting company;

Jim Esposito — Crisis management expert; former FBI special agent in charge (New Jersey) and New York Stock Exchange senior vice president;

Ferrara & Company — New Jersey-based integrated marketing and advertising agency providing strategic thinking and creative solutions for top names such as Arm & Hammer, Foster Grant and Heinz;

First Protocol — London and New York-based international event management agency;

Image Media Productions, Inc. — New York-based event management and multimedia production firm;

Steve Krawczyk — Chicago-based marketing and branding consultant; significant brand-building and management experience with industry-leading consumer companies such as Neutrogena, Revlon, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coleman Powermate, and Vidal Sassoon;

Jim Salzano — Renowned photographer, director and cameraman offering film and digital production and photography; based in New York;

Valerie Smaldone — New York broadcast radio personality and audio and video producer, writer, event production specialist; media training specialist;

Smith-Free Group, LLC — Washington-based government relations and public affairs consultants;

Straightline NYC — Strategic branding consultancy that analyzes, advises and activates brands—from qualitative and quantitative discovery, to brand architecture, to name creation and brand execution on all levels.

About Bob Zito

Bob Zito has more than 30 years' experience as a brand communications and advertising and public relations executive in the sports, financial, pharmaceutical and entertainment industries.

As the executive vice president of the New York Stock Exchange, Bob built the NYSE's brand into one of the most respected in the world. He is best known for bringing television to the NYSE trading floor, and creating the daily "must-see" events of high-powered newsmakers ringing the opening and closing bells, creating global visibility for NYSE listed companies and member firms.

As Sony's vice president of corporate communications, he helped rebrand the company as a global entertainment leader following Sony's acquisitions of CBS Records and Columbia Pictures.

During his time as chief communications officer for Bristol-Myers Squibb he guided the successful 'Together we can prevail' brand campaign, which focused on the company's mission to help patients prevail over serious diseases.

Bob serves on the board of Pcubed, a global project and program management consultancy, and on the boards of the FDNY Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and Cento Amici. He was also responsible for the New York Stock Exchange and Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundations. In 1998 he started the NYSE Fallen Heroes Fund, and in 1991, the Zito Family Scholarships at St. Peter's Prep. He is a graduate of Fairfield University and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. A 1998 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Bob continues to be a guest lecturer at Rutgers University.

About Karina Correa-Maury

Born in Venezuela, Karina Correa-Maury most recently was a director at Topping Media, a New York public relations firm where she conducted strategic public relations programs for clients including Involver, NorthStar and Coleman Research Groups.

While at A. Cicognani Communications, she had event planning and media outreach duties on behalf of the Italian Trade Commission's Settimo Senso Charity and several of the firm's consumer products clients. Karina has also worked for the public relations department at Reuters news service, where she conducted internal communications, event management and media relations activities.

Karina has a master's degree in PR and corporate communications from New York University, and a bachelor's degree in international studies from American University.

About Zito Partners

Zito Partners is a full-service strategic brand consultancy. Its focus: devise great strategies, execute them smartly, produce lasting results--explore every reasonable path to people's hearts and minds.

Zito Partners offers the following services: