FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Leslie Hart Joins O'Reilly/DePalma as New York Partner

Kitchen & Bath Industry Hall of Fame honoree joins growing building and architecture brand consultancy; formally establishing New York presence

FRANKFORT, IL (JUNE 15, 2011) — O’Reilly/DePalma today announced that Leslie Hart is joining O'Reilly/DePalma as a New York-based partner, after several years of project collaboration with the building and architecture brand consultancy and more than 20 years of industry relationships with principals John O'Reilly and Nora DePalma.

Hart, the Consumer Insights columnist for Kitchen & Bath Design News and an honoree in the Kitchen & Bath Industry Hall of Fame, has more than 30 years of in-depth marketing and communications experience in all channels of the kitchen and bath industry. Trained as a journalist, Hart served as editor and publisher of Kitchen and Bath Business, then as director of strategic marketing at Meredith Corporation, publishers of Better Homes and Gardens and other leading consumer magazines, where she created integrated marketing programs for The Home Depot and Sub-Zero, among others.

More recently, Hart has been principal of Fry Communications, and will continue her work with St. Charles of New York and La Cornue, among others.

In her new role, Hart will be advising on strategy and providing execution for O’Reilly/DePalma clients targeting consumers and the design community. Hart and DePalma first met in 1990, and worked closely together during Hart's years at Kitchen and Bath Business and DePalma’s tenure as marketing director for the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) later that decade. In 2010, Hart and DePalma collaborated again on familiar ground, creating the new consumer planners for the NKBA.

"Leslie expands our unique talent base of trained well-known journalists who have successful track records in building and architectural brand marketing," says John O'Reilly, principal of O'Reilly/DePalma.

DePalma adds, "Journalism and marketing are a rare combination, but a high value for our clients in an age where brands can tell their stories directly. Brand journalists such as John and Leslie know how to present complex subjects in compelling and authentic ways to consumers, specifiers and installers."

Hart holds a master's in journalism from Syracuse University.


About O’Reilly/DePalma

O’Reilly/DePalma is a full-service marketing communications agency that delivers ROR, a Return on Relationships™, to help building and architectural brands achieve their business and profitability goals. With agency roots in the industry going back 35 years, the firm’s reputation is built on its deep commitment to client service, collaboration and measurable results. The firm is headquartered in the Chicagoland area, with an office in Frankfort, Ill. Employees and strategic partners provide feet on the street and a network of industry relationships in Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Houston, Toronto and Orange County, California. Follow news and updates at oreilly-depalma.com/blog or by joining the agency Facebook community.

For more information:

John O’Reilly
815.469.9100
john.oreilly@oreilly-depalma.com

View/Download Release

 MS-Word (.doc)

 Text (.txt)

 Acrobat (.pdf)

Image Gallery

Download Hi-Res Image
(image size: 4" wide x 6" high; 1200 x 1800 pixels; 300ppi; CMYK; zip archive expands into .tif file).

Download/View Lo-Res Image
(image size: 4" wide x 6" high; 288 x 432 pixels; 72ppi; RGB).