1. Paul Kurnit is an internationally renowned marketing, advertising and
entertainment executive with diverse experience in all facets of the youth
marketplace. As founder and president of KidShop, Paul extends his youth
marketing expertise in customized consulting engagements in brand innovation
and ideation, new product development, brand strategy, market planning and
communications solutions. He works with established businesses and brands,
new business start-ups and pro social cause related marketing initiatives.
Advertising
Paul began his advertising career at Benton & Bowles and Ogilvy & Mather,
where he managed classic brands for Procter & Gamble (Charmin, Crest, Pepto
Bismol, NyQuil), Kraft/General Foods (Post Cereals, Beverages, Maxwell House
Coffee), American Express (Travelers Cheques, American Express Card and
Corporate Card, Amex Travel Services) and Hasbro Toys. As President of Griffin
Bacal, a DDB agency, Paul played a major role in the dynamic growth of Hasbro
into a leading international toy and entertainment business. He has led a vast
range of client businesses in virtually every consumer and service category.
Entertainment
While at Griffin Bacal, Paul served as Executive Vice President at sister company,
Sunbow Entertainment, a leading producer of award winning children’s
television programming and film. At Sunbow, Paul’s credits include three after
school specials for ABC and CBS, two network children’s series, The “The Mask”
for CBS and “The Tick” for Fox and hundreds of syndicated and international
programs for properties including Transformers, GI Joe and My Little Pony.
Trends
Paul is an expert in social, cultural and youth trends in marketing. He designed
and taught an innovative Trend Tracking course at Pace University. He has also
been a trends pioneer in the communications business, having created specialty
business units dedicated to a diverse range of marketing areas. These include
LiveWire: Today’s Families Online®, Kid Think Inc.™, Licensing Works!™, and
Trend Walk™.
Paul Kurnit
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Customized Solutions
As founder and president of KidShop, Paul plays a key strategic role for clients who
are seeking dramatic new initiatives for their businesses. Every KidShop initiative is
developed as a customized engagement to efficiently answer client issues and
opportunities. KidShop’s full service consulting and integrated marketing planning
enables clients to enjoy one-stop shopping in meeting their marketing and
communications needs. With proprietary strategic techniques and a portfolio of
superb industry talent, Paul is able to efficiently create programs for clients who need
fresh perspective, senior attention and comprehensive business solutions.
Media and Conferences
The media frequently call on Paul for his unique points of view on the state of
the kids marketplace. He has been interviewed for television, radio and print
media and has appeared on ABC (Good Morning America), NBC (The Today
Show), MSNBC, CBS Evening News, CNN, Fox, WOR, NPR and in American
Demographics, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, The
Washington Post, Barron’s, Ad Age, Adweek and on numerous local broadcast
stations and in newspaper articles.
Consulting
Paul has shared his youth marketing expertise in consulting work for Bayer,
ConAgra, Dial, Disney, Educational Testing Service, Frito-Lay, General Mills,
Golden Books, Good Humor, Harper Collins, Hasbro, Hatfield Meats, HBO,
Heinz, Kraft, Lipton, L’Oreal, Mattel, McDonald’s, MeadWestvaco, National
Geographic, Nickelodeon, PBS, Pepsi, Playtex, Pillsbury, Polaroid, Procter &
Gamble, Quaker, Reader’s Digest, Schwab, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sony,
Toys ‘R Us, Unilever, Universal Studios, Velcro, Yahoo, Zonderkidz and other
blue chip and start-up companies.
Pro Social
Paul has dedicated significant energy to issue based and pro-social communication
related to youth. He has developed strategic initiatives for America’s Promise to
encourage youth engagement in community service. He developed an outreach
strategy for The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation dedicated to LD (Learning
Difference) kids. He has also developed strategic and advertising youth initiatives
for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, The Partnership for a Drug-Free
America, The Office of National Drug Control Policy, Montefiore Hospital for AIDS
awareness, The Floortime Foundation dedicated to breakthroughs in autism
awareness and treatment, and an anti cheating campaign for The Educational
Testing Service. He has also worked with the Armory in New York on sponsorships
for inner city youth track and academic programs. He is a PENCIL Partner working
with the New York City School System on school based programs and school
initiatives. He has created integrated rebranding programs for two inner city NY
public schools renaming one school Journey Prep and, another, Expression
Academy.
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Kids Health and Wellness
Paul has been an outspoken expert on the issue of kids, food, obesity and
marketing. He has worked in kids’ food product development, marketing and
advertising for over 25 years and brings a unique perspective to the current
international problem and opportunity. On ABC Television’s special How to Get
Fat without Really Trying, Paul was the only interviewee who spoke of the need
for parental involvement in kids’ eating behavior.
He presented Healthy Kid Food Futures at both the Functional Foods Conference
and the Healthy Kids Conference. Paul was a member of the academic panel
hand picked by the Institute of Medicine for work that culminated in the book
Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity. This
groundbreaking work, commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control,
provides a comprehensive review of American research on food marketing as
well as a far-reaching recommendations to help create real changes in marketing
practices and consumer behavior in marketing food and beverages to kids.
Academic
Paul is a full time faculty member as clinical professor of marketing at Pace
University’s Lubin School of Business, teaching courses in Marketing Planning,
Advertising and International Advertising. He serves as university advisor for
the American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Student Advertising
Competition (NSAC). Paul has also taught at the New School for Social Research
(where he developed the school’s advertising curriculum) and at the City
University of New York at its Hunter, Queens and LaGuardia campuses,
teaching Communication Theory, Mass Communication, Film and Theatre. He
has been a guest lecturer at Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Hartford, Ithaca, Lafayette,
Michigan State, Ramapo, Tufts, University of Chicago, UConn, University of
Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas and alma mater University of Wisconsin.
Expert Witness
Paul has served as expert witness in two cases involving marketing
communication and youth. For Lorillard, he was engaged to evaluate Newport
advertising creative work alleged to be targeting under age smokers. For
Genesco (Journeys Stores), he was involved in logo and trademark related issues
from a competitor challenging Journeys’ brand identity and logo. He has
counseled numerous other marketers on appropriate messaging and
substantiation for product claims directed at youth.
Boards
Paul is on the board of The Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF) and is
active on its interactive and education committees as well at its university
speakers program. He has served the Advertising Council as a member of its
Creative Review Committee dedicated to developing pro-social advertising to
advance important youth causes. He is a member of the editorial board of Young
