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We are entrepreneurs who understand the enormous responsibility of leading, building, and achieving. Our curiosity inspires new thinking, our drive keeps things moving, and our process and execution deliver on what we are accountable for, reaching your objectives. Success is fun . . . let’s have mountains of it.
We take clients from where they are to where they can be.
We are partners, co-workers, and teammates.
The best results are consistently achieved by climbing the mountain together. The view from the top is very rewarding, yet true excitement is setting new goals to reach the next summit.
We execute the plan with an intense focus on reaching the defined objectives. Utilizing key data points and performance metrics, every campaign is continually refined to achieve its goal. Then, new goals are set to reach even higher.
We use these insights to develop a unique strategic platform that will become our North Star, designed to reach and resonate with your consumer to deliver an optimal ROI.
We dive into four critical components of your business by analyzing your industry, your consumer, your competition, and your brand. We take every data point available to put you on the right path.
Michael Magnusson founded Pinnacle Advertising in 1998 after highly successful careers at the Chicago Tribune and a small retail agency in Chicago. With his entrepreneurial spirit and strong passion for retail advertising at the core of the company of from the very start, Pinnacle quickly gained traction on its path to becoming one of the premier full-service retail and automotive agencies in the Midwest. Under his leadership, Pinnacle became the only full-service agency in the country authorized to work with AutoNation, a client it held for 17 years.
As Pinnacle has grown, winning new national and regional clients, the company has built a nationally recognized digital marketing and web development group in addition to media and creative teams on par with large agency holding companies. In 2009, Michael drove the vision and strategy for WeatherTech to expand out of the automotive enthusiast market into the general market and has led to launching WeatherTech into a household brand and ten consecutive Super Bowl commercials.
While advertising is his passion, Michael finds time to stay involved in many activities outside of work. Mike is a founding member of One for the Kids Charity and sits on the board of the Northern Illinois Better Business Bureau. He also enjoys time with his family, his wife Brigitte and two boys, along with golfing, sailing, snowmobiling, and jumping on his Harley.
A leader to our clients and our company, Jake parleys his large agency experience into actionable insights for our entrepreneurial culture.
Over the past 28 years, Jake has grown into an expert on every level of automotive advertising. Whether it’s Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, on either Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Nissan, Honda or Acura, Jake has a way of leading his agency team with passion, awareness, consideration, and engagement. He’s effectively managed multiple teams over multiple offices with grace, integrity, and a dash of humility, which has been his recipe for success that continues to serve him to this day.
Focus: Entrepreneurial, Vision, Culture, Team
As Director of People Operations, Angie focuses on building a positive employee experience through thoughtful programs, meaningful connections, and continuous improvement. Known for her thoughtful approach to HR strategy and her passion for fostering meaningful employee experiences, she brings both structure and heart to everything she does.
An active member of HRA of Greater Oak Brook, her local SHRM chapter, Angie serves on the committee and enjoys collaborating with fellow HR professionals to share ideas and strengthen the community.
Outside of work, Angie’s happiest spending time with her husband and daughters — often around great food, laughter, and family gatherings.”
Mexirican (Mexican + Puerto Rican), born and raised in Chicago. Daughter of immigrant parents, first generation Latina, and Spanish-Language native. A 300%’er, 100% Americana, 100% Mexican, 100% Puerto Rican.
A career spanning over 20 years of media sales and strategy experience, including Univision Communications, Telemundo, NBC Universal, iHeart Media and NPR. With extensive work in the Finance, CPG, Communications, Health, Government and Community sectors from both a local and national presence.
Liz has served as a resource to both agencies and clients to include Hispanic audiences into their strategies.
For the past 12 years, Jac has overseen Super Bowl commercials for Pinnacle’s largest account, WeatherTech. Along with guiding the creative department and helping win numerous clients across many categories, Jac is an integral part of the exemplary work that is being produced every day at the agency. Jac started his career at Doner in Detroit, where he helped pitch and win the Mazda national business and wrote many memorable spots in the “Zoom Zoom” campaign. He also created campaigns for PNC Bank, Six Flags, ADT and more.
While at Team Detroit, Jac worked on the Ford account and created national spots in the Ford F-Series Denis Leary campaign, helping to keep Ford as the best-selling brand in America. Jac has been written up in Adweek, recognized in Communication Arts, and has won many awards. But his real pride and joy are his two children. When he’s not busy with his kids, Jac pretends he’s a runner, competing in 5K races throughout the year.
Kristen serves as Pinnacle’s Senior Director of Operations. In this role, Kristen identifies ways to hone the efficiency of the company’s internal operations to facilitate development and long-term success. In other words, she makes certain Pinnacle and all its moving parts and players stay in perfect harmony with one another.
Many joke that Kristen has grown up at Pinnacle having been with the company for 23 years. Kristen started her career in advertising on the creative side of the house, where she was focused on creative operations before finding her true calling and passion in agency operations where she could make a larger impact. Outside of the office, Kristen enjoys camping, gardening, and cooking. You can always find her on the sidelines cheering on her kids at their sporting events.
Doug is a recent hire selected to lead Pinnacle’s Finance and Operations disciplines. As an agency veteran, Doug brings 25+ years of experience of demonstrated ability to lead diverse teams of Finance and Operations professionals in highly competitive, cutting-edge, and fast-paced environments. Doug has Deep technical and business skills with an impressive track record combining strategic/tactical financial expertise and leadership. He has proven experience driving strategic planning, operations, process improvement and financial management.
Additionally, through this career, Doug has specialized in analyzing an organization’s critical business requirements, identifying deficiencies and potential opportunities, then developing innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness and increasing revenues and profitability. Doug continuously furthers his knowledge base through active participation in organizations like Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Outside of work, he splits time between family, volunteering for local organizations, and an occasional round of golf.
As Chief Media Officer, Boveri leverages her experience in media strategy, cross-channel campaign activation and data and analytics to lead the media team to remain on the forefront of an ever-changing media landscape. Before joining Pinnacle, Megan accrued 17 years of experience at Starcom, where she served as SVP Media Director.
She excels in her role through her skill in strategy, data, analytics, technology, and, most notably, her relentless focus on the future. She is constantly sharpening her media knowledge by following the latest industry news and trends, and assessing how this could impact client business. Boveri has three daughters and enjoys spending time with her family and keeping up with her daughter’s travel ice hockey.
Chris Arkell is a native of metro Detroit and a descendant of a domestic automotive family. He grew up with cars and was highly influenced by his father who was a prolific designer at General Motors. Cars were always the fascination and the priority. His dad’s famous friends such as John DeLorean and Lee Iaccocoa helped propel the passion. Chris’ first job was working for Roger Penske. His career in Advertising has spanned decades for notable agencies such as Wells, Rich, Greene, BBDO, Young & Rubicam, and IPG. He also has held roles in media with Cox, Edmunds, and Comcast. He has managed offices and business units in Boston, New York, Irvine, Detroit, and Atlanta.
Chris has overseen national retail for several brands and has been the national brand leader for Lincoln, Jaguar, and Land Rover. He has served as a consultant on countless automotive pitches and assisted private equity firms in better understanding new opportunities. Chris is married to Sandra, a Global Finance Executive with Mastercard in New York and father to Johnathan, a high school student. Chris and his family reside in Fairfield County, CT, just outside of New York City.
Over the past twenty-five years, Mike has dedicated myself to absorbing the wisdom of industry giants and the talents of countless others. With stints at agencies big and small, he’s played a role in shaping remarkable brands, crafting memorable ads, and fostering cherished friendships. Whether it’s nurturing the growth of boutique agencies or elevating the work of major accounts, Mike finds joy in spotting emerging talent and exploring new media frontiers. His philosophy? Stay open-minded, surround yourself with brilliance, and watch greatness unfold. Collaboration fuels his fire, as he firmly believes that the best outcomes arise when talented minds unite. Forget luck—persistence is the name of the game.
Ashley is fueled by her passion to be both process driven and client focused, while striving to be a truly transformational leader. Her mission is to always get better, see clearer, think bigger, and to push clients to do the same. Ashley’s career began at an Alabama Toyota dealership and has led her through the roles of Regional Account Management, Agency Operations, as well as a guest speaker at conferences to help teach others. Combining dealership and ad agency experience, alongside her love of creativity, she has developed a unique perspective of automotive marketing and strategy. She is a leader, strategist, mentor, student, mother, fire starter, fire extinguisher, and the one who is forever asking: “What are we tackling next?”
Having owned more cars than years she’s had her driver’s license, it only makes sense that Lauren’s focus the past 20 years has been in automotive advertising. In her six years at Pinnacle, her experience as an Associate Creative Director, Producer, and Copywriter has led to her current leadership role. Lauren is a natural collaborator and is always looking for ways to bring new ideas to fruition. If you don’t see her in a meeting working on a new idea, you’ll probably find Lauren with her family on a plane headed to her other passion: New Orleans.
Jon Berna serves as Chief Technology & Data Officer at Pinnacle, where he leads the evolution of the agency’s technology capabilities and platform offerings. He oversees data strategy, CDP implementation, and the OneIIOne platform rollout that helps clients leverage first-party data, audience segmentation, and creative automation at scale.
Jon is the founder of LVL Up Auto, a vendor management platform for automotive dealerships. He previously founded Driven Data in 2013, an analytics and CDP platform for dealerships and agencies, which was acquired by Polly in 2022.
With 15+ years of automotive technology experience, Jon has held leadership roles at dealership groups and automotive consulting firms, driving digital transformation and data-driven marketing strategies. Before automotive, he led financial aid operations in higher education and is a US Navy veteran.
Jon’s relationship with Pinnacle began in 2008 as a customer, continued as a partner in 2015 with Driven Data, and evolved into his executive role in December 2025.
Jules is a transformative Chief Growth Officer who has harnessed the power of human insights, creativity, technology, and innovation to ignite brand growth, motivate teams, and bend culture. He is a champion of brands, a builder of businesses, and believes his primary agency role is to make friends out of strangers. Jules leads the agency’s new business growth and marketing initiatives with passion, intuitiveness, and a relentless drive to succeed. Recognized for his ideas, innovation and passion, he has dedicated the majority of his professional life to building high performance teams, cultures and brand-centric solutions to help build the strong, transparent, successful client/agency partnerships.
While advertising and marketing is his passion, outside the office Jules loves to travel the globe to experience and participate in various cultures, to grow and expand his life connections and knowledge. He is a loving dog-dad to his four-legged son Halo, and a massive advocate for a variety of animal shelters across the country. His wish is that all shelters to be completely empty one day.