Our
Principles
Jon Lesser started his training for a career as an event marketing specialist long before he knew what event marketing was. As a child, he was known in his family and his neighborhood as the impresario, who produced, wrote, staged, directed, and promoted an always-changing menu of elaborate productions.
By the time Jon attended Ithaca College, he knew he wanted to bring his interest in “putting on a show” to a larger stage. He earned a B. A. in Communications at Ithaca’s prestigious Roy H. Park School of Communications and began his career as a production assistant on a nationally syndicated TV Show.
When an opportunity to join an event marketing company presented itself, Jon recognized the field as the perfect place to ply his special talents and jumped in with both feet.
Beginning “on the road”, working as a Field Manager for companies like Chrysler Corporation, Chevrolet, Sprint, Pepsi Co., IBM, Coca-Cola, Discover Card Services, Motorola and others, Jon’s inherent operational and managerial knack led him to bigger and more diverse opportunities at Inter-Collegiate Communications – where he ran the company’s event division in both the developmental and executional areas of the business.
Next, Jon moved on to become Executive Vice President and principal at The College Kit (now known as Gigunda Group). Here, Jon helped grow this burgeoning, college, co-op sampling company into an event-marketing powerhouse. Building on the company’s core assets and expanding its event capabilities beyond the college market, Jon played a significant role in virtually doubling the company’s sales each year and landing it on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in 2001.
In 2003, it was time to do what he’d begun as a kid and build on his own vision once again. Jon founded ZAG Marketing with the idea that a core group of experienced, like-minded individuals could work at the highest levels of excellence, to deliver quality work with optimal efficiencies and results.
He is currently having the time of his life.
As a life-long performing and visual artist, it is no surprise that Vikki found her career intertwined with her life’s passions. She feels lucky to be able to blend her inherent creativity with her business training to excel in the field of marketing and promotions.
Earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Rutgers School of Business, Rutgers College, Vikki began her career at a graphic design firm before transitioning to a field marketing position with one of the leading collegiate marketing agencies called Inter-Collegiate Communications.
After traveling the country in a marketing operations capacity, her field experience helped lead her to a unique opportunity producing immersive and innovative marketing programs for a pioneering, high-tech firm called StrayLight Corp. In her role as Marketing Director and eventually, Vice President, Vikki helped the company become the “go-to” new media source in the field of VR (virtual reality) and stereoscopic 3D.
Managing domestic and international business for clients such as Abbott Labs, Pfizer, Sprint, Nabisco, Hennessy Cognac and Royal Caribbean, Vikki’s event marketing projects incorporated custom-designed VR attractions for trade shows, theme parks, international marketing tours and the World’s Fair.
Following in her father’s entrepreneurial footsteps, Vikki leapt into her current role as ZAG’s Vice President, General Manager by helping to launch the business in 2003. Her responsibilities focus on client service as well as the long-term, strategic growth of the business.