About Us

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JAMES R. HOLLENBECK
PRESIDENT

An experienced entrepreneur and marketing executive, Jim co-founded his first multi-million dollar business when he was just 18. By age 21, he had merged his venture with a competitor, forming a publicly held company operating in 48 states. Jim quickly gained a reputation for his innovative business strategies and market development successes, which garnered him national media. This ultimately resulted in his forming his own full-service marketing agency, Hollenbeck Group.

Over the past twenty-five years, Jim and Hollenbeck Group have provided strategic planning, public relations, market positioning, branding, product research and development, and information design services to a wide range of businesses and individuals around the globe. Corporate client work includes Wells Fargo Bank, BMW North America, Comcast, Avery Dennison, Nordstrom, the NetLine Corporation, Trader Vic’s, the Penthouse Club, the Zale Corporation, C-Two Hotels, Infusion Lounge, Wellcorps International, and the Public Broadcasting System. International experience includes work for the Irish Export Board, the Italian Trade Commission, the Canadian Trade Commission and the French Trade Commission. Author/celebrity clients include Mr. Blackwell, Dr. Gilda Carle, Dr. Michael Murray, John Bradshaw, Bob Davies and Jan Wahl.

Jim and his work have been recognized by a number of the nation’s most respected business authorities such as Tom Brokaw, Jane Applegate and T. Scott Gross. He has been featured and/or quoted by a wide range of media including the Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, Inc. Magazine, Wired Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has been referenced in a number of leading business books and has published articles and given lectures on the subjects of new media public relations, technology marketing, e-customer service and online customer acquisition and retention strategies.

ROBERT BYHRE
VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING DESIGN/PRESIDENT HOLLENBECK EXHIBITS

With a background that spans over two decades in B2B and B2C Marketing Design, Robert brings a wealth of knowledge and resources to Hollenbeck Group. He has designed and produced cutting-edge messaging delivery systems and developed and managed branding programs and promotions for both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies.

A wide range of global, national and regional brands including Comcast, Citibank, Well Fargo, Monster Cable, Crave Sports, BASF Chemical and Lockheed-Martin rely on Robert to create compelling and memorable brand experiences that reinforce key messages, engage and educate customers, and drive revenues. Providing a full spectrum of turnkey packages, Robert also heads Hollenbeck Exhibits, a subsidiary of Hollenbeck Group that designs customized solutions for trade shows, conventions, and consumer promotion events that can be scaled and adapted for multiple applications. Hollenbeck Exhibits offers comprehensive services tailored to each client’s needs that include booth design and production, rentals and accessories, graphics services, transportation management, and on-site installation and dismantling supervision. A native of Wisconsin, Robert began his career as an Exhibit Specialist at Advanced Designs in Milwaukee. He subsequently became a partner of BGR Exhibits in San Jose California where he served numerous clients with his insight and expertise in the Technology, Medical, Financial, Consumer Goods, and Food Service industries.
 
Robert is a graduate of Washington University and also attended Bath University in Bath, England.

RIK WALTERS
DIGITAL/SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

A savvy and insightful social and digital media veteran, Rik has spent the past 15 years driving digital and social audience engagement and go-to-market strategies for many Fortune 500 companies. With a reputation for disrupting the status quo, he has developed customer-centered campaigns for global enterprises, organizations and non-profits that include Apple Inc., Ford Motor Company, Hewlett Packard, Iron Mountain, DreamWorks Interactive, Fox Networks, United Healthcare Group, General Electric, Cisco, Citibank, Samsung, Spigit, and Mindjet.
 
A Silicon Valley native, early in his career Rik first interned with National Semiconductor before joining the team that migrated the print edition of the Los Angeles Times to a first-of-its-kind website – LATimes.com. Later, while at DreamWorks Interactive,
I.D. Magazine recognized Rik as one of their “Top Digital Marketers in Tech.” He was also named as one of the “Top 50 Tech/Gaming Marketers” by Computer Gaming World Magazine, citing him as the “marketing energy” behind DreamWorks’ explosive early growth and success. Pursuing his passion for the web and digital media, Rik went on to manage the redesign for one of the most successful websites on the planet – Apple.com. His efforts contributed to Apple’s hyper-growth during the iPod and iPhone launches, and he worked directly with global media strategy teams and marketing operations to manage the $27 billion dollar global consumer website.
 
As Director of Digital Strategy at Hollenbeck Group, Rik specializes in B2B and consumer brand advocacy, leveraging digital and social media marketing, affiliate outreach, and in-person investment to achieve client goals.


JONATHAN WRIGHT
MEDIA RELATIONS DIRECTOR


Having Studied at Wade College in Dallas and the famed Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, Jonathan became a regular on the Fashion scene working for Fashion PR firm Quinto & co. with clients like Zang Toi, Isaac Mizrahi, Marc Jacobs and Vicki Teal and as an editorial Beauty Expert for companies like Ralph Lauren and L’Oreal and featured in magazine Editorials and celebrity campaigns.  Represented by agents in NYC, Miami, Tokyo, London and Paris for 15 years Jonathan assisted in setting beauty trends across the globe.

Approached by
Gloss.com to assist in building the Beauty Knowledge Database, Jonathan relocated to San Francisco and began a new career building on skills learned from a computer programmer father and his decade and a half as a leader in the beauty industry. Obsessed by the Start up lifestyle Jonathan helped launch and wore many hats at Freesamples.com, Casino.com,  Boudinbakery.com and a dozen others that were subsequently snapped up in the 90’s acquisition craze.

Following the post internet boom bubble Jonathan coordinated the day to day activities of technology PR giant Copithorne and Bellows, before landing for 7 years at Rocket Communications, a Graphical User Interface Consultancy, in SF working on visual language and information architecture for clients Sun Microsystems, Autodesk and acting as the Senior Project manager for the re-Branding efforts of Thomson Reuters.

Currently Jonathan acts as a Branding and Content Strategist for emerging brands with an emphasis on media placements, contributes to
fashinvest.com and works with The Hollenbeck Group on Brand and Content development.