In February 2012, Kelley Ford joined Cedar Fair as executive vice president and chief marketing officer, bringing to the company 25 years of consumer marketing and management experience from the likes of Bank of America and Disney. Kelley serves as the chief steward of Cedar Fair’s portfolio of brands, representing a vast array of amusement parks, water parks, resort hotels, seasonal celebrations and unique special events. She is also responsible for the company’s group sales efforts, creative services, advertising and media planning, public relations and corporate communications.
Kelley and her team have overhauled virtually from the ground up the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) marketing platform. It now provides the executive team and park management with consumer insights, behavioral intelligence, and campaign analysis informing future strategies and audience development, a key factor in generating repeat guest visitations and increased season pass sales volume. Kelley has also led research and brand strategy initiatives at Cedar Fair that helped restore Knott’s Berry Farm’s historic relevance with its local California consumers and repositioned Cedar Point as a vacation destination, bringing back the nostalgic feeling of the flagship park’s glory days.
From June 2010 to February 2012, Kelley was senior vice president and marketing planning director for TD Bank. For the five years prior she served as senior vice president of brand strategy and management at Bank of America. Kelley has also held various other leadership roles and marketing functions within the leisure and financial services industries, including Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, VISA USA and Prudential Bank.
Kelley earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a loyal donor to the Humane Society of Charlotte, and enjoys volunteering in a Reading Buddy program for the Charlotte public school system working with second grade students.
Kelley was a “Diamond Gal” for the University of North Carolina NCAA Men’s Baseball Team. It was no fluke that Kelley was chosen to fill the only Diamond Gal opening the year she tried out. You see, Kelley knows baseball. Keeping score for her hometown Little League produced her quick wit about the game that really impressed the coaches. Kelley remains a big baseball fan and hopes eventually to attend a game in every MLB stadium— just 12 more to go!
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