Get To Work That Works!

Stone Soup helps marketing leaders get to brand building creative work.

We match clients with agencies that are perfect fits; partners they can work with most effectively to get to work that grows their brands…

…And we help marketers grow their skills at leading their agencies through the creative development process.

We have decades of experience on both sides of the agency/client relationship; we’ve seen what it looks like when it works well, what it looks like when it doesn’t, and when it doesn’t, we know how to get it back on track.

We empathize with both the client who hires an agency and hopes for the best possible outcome, and the agency under pressure to deliver their best work for a client they’ve never worked with before. Bridging that gap and ensuring alignment from start to finish is our expertise.

How We Help

Creating a Strong Team

Agency Search & Selection - structuring an effective review process; helping you find the best external partners to meet your needs; creating a collaborative culture that inspires great work.

Working in New Ways

Creating and facilitating collaborative engagements that fuel creativity, leverage “next practices”, streamline processes, integrate work, reduce fees, and increase speed to market.

Building Marketing Capabilities

Assessing training programs and identifying opportunities to update and optimize. Leading teams in active learning experiences that help marketers become strong leaders of the creative process.

  • “Deb is a gem. She understands both the financial side of the business and the creative side. She is able to bridge the gap between getting the best creative thinking and enabling the client to afford the best."

    —Jill Baskin, VP Marketing Excellence & Strategic Communications, The Hershey Company

  • “Karen is one of the best marketers I have ever worked with. She has an incredible ability to work with agencies and clients to get to breakthrough, highly effective campaigns. She is particularly adept at training marketers on the building blocks of successful communication and really knows how to get great work out of agencies.”

    —Jane Hilk, President, Enhancers and Snack Nuts Business Unit and CMO, Kraft Foods

  • “I worked with Deb for many years in a multi-billion dollar division of Kraft Foods. She is a high-energy and creative leader. She approaches all business issues and opportunities with keen consumer insight, a focused strategy, a passion for innovation, and consistent excellence in execution.”

    —Mary Kay Haben, Group President, Cheese, Meals, and Enhancers Sector, Kraft Foods

  • “Karen is a wonderful partner for marketing teams in getting the best work from their agencies. She knows what great work looks like and how to work with agencies to make this happen. Karen is able to create a fun, interactive, and engaging atmosphere in her workshops. She radiates positivity and is committed to learning and supporting her teams and colleagues to be their best.”

    —Stephanie Wilkes, President Global Gum and Candy, Mondelez International

  • “We really enjoyed working with Stone Soup. Via a focused brief and their coaching of our client, they brought clarity and focus to the assignment, which helped all of our creative teams work with confidence.”

    —Dave Brocious, SVP, Co-Creative Director, GKV

  • "Deb was a fantastic resource for us and I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have been as successful without her. She didn’t just provide advice on how to manage situations, she solved many of the hairy problems for us. Whether it was creative differences, procurement difficulties or personnel issues, Deb was always there to help both parties come to a better place."

    —Steven G. Erich, Founder/Managing Director, Erich & Kallman LLC, former President, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky

  • "Stone Soup has become a secret weapon in elevating our marketing function. Deb and Karen have provided training on marketing foundations, writing effective briefs, and giving meaningful and motivating agency feedback. They have also stepped in to help on specific creative development projects, agency reviews, and strengthening our agency contracts."

    — Emily Fleischmann, VP, Global Market Development, Almond Board of California

  • "We brought in Stone Soup to help our marketers learn how to write better briefs. Karen and Deb brought the topic to life with real world examples, interactive exercises, and group discussion that greatly contributed to our team's skills. The result was better (tighter, more inspirational) briefs that led to more impactful business building creative work. And they were a joy to work with!"

    Howard Brandeisky, SVP Global Marketing at John B. Sanfilippo & Son