Jordan Zimmerman (advertising)
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
Jordan Zimmerman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jordan Zimmerman 1955 or 1956 (age 68–69)[1] Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Education | B.A. and M.B.A. University of South Florida |
| Occupation | Advertising executive |
| Known for | Founder of Zimmerman Advertising |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 4 |
Jordan Zimmerman (born 1955 in Newark, New Jersey) is an advertising business executive and philanthropist[2][3] who founded Zimmerman Advertising, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[4][5][6]
Biography
[edit]Zimmerman was born in Newark, New Jersey, the oldest of four siblings in a middle-class family.[6] His father manufactured syrups for soft drinks and eventually moved the family to Fort Lauderdale, Florida,[1] from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, after Zimmerman graduated from Madison Township High School in 1975.[7]
During his senior year in high school, he entered a national college competition to develop an advertising campaign for the National Institute on Drug Abuse; his team's "Just Say No" slogan won the competition and which was adopted by Nancy Reagan in her national campaign against drug use.[8]
In 1978, he graduated with a B.A. in advertising from the University of South Florida and after he was unable to get an advertising job in New York City, returned to USF where he received his MBA in 1980.[9][10] After school, he returned to live with his parents in Plantation, Florida[11] and started his own agency focusing on the auto industry.[1] In 1984, he founded Zimmerman Advertising.[12]
Zimmerman applied a different advertising model from the traditional methodology which called to first establish brand awareness and then wait for the results.[2] Instead, his approach was on improving sales and if a initiative did not immediately increase sales, it was a failure and should be abandoned.[2]
In 1999, his company joined the Omnicom Group and Zimmerman grew his company through acquisitions purchasing Ad Team, Ad Productions, Beacon Worldwide (a marketer of auto products to dealerships), and in 2004, the public relations and hospitality firm Zimmerman Agency (no relation) located in Tallahassee.[1] He grew the business to over $2.0 billion in revenues by 2007 winning accounts such as AutoNation, Lennar, Nissan, H. H. Gregg, Papa John's, Crocs.[13]
Zimmerman is a former minority owner of the Florida Panthers; he and his partners, majority owner Cliff Viner, and minority owners H. Wayne Huizenga, Alan Cohen, and Mike Maroone, sold their interests to Vincent Viola and Douglas Cifu for $250 million in 2013.[14]
Mobile Home Park investments
[edit]Beginning in the early 2000s, Zimmerman strategically entered the market for manufactured-home communities, acquiring and managing extensive land-lease properties under entities collectively known as "Mobile Home Parks". Over the subsequent decades, he built a significant, diversified portfolio spanning dozens of states, reportedly valued in the billions of dollars.
By 2025, Zimmerman's real estate entities reportedly controlled more than 150 parks comprising over 47,000 individual pads across dozens of states, including Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and Northern California, to name a few. Although Zimmerman maintains a low public profile regarding these ventures, the substantial scale and value of these holdings positions them among the largest privately held portfolios in the mobile home park industry.
Philanthropy and political activities
[edit]He currently sits on the board of trustees at the University of South Florida and Pine Crest School. He is active in the Palm Beach Jewish Federation, Take Stock in Children, and the Florence Fuller Child Development Center.[1] In 2015, he donated $10,000,000 to his alma mater, the University of South Florida where the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications is named after him;[2] and where he spearheaded a revamp of the university's Advertising program.[2]
In 2015, he was named to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.[8]
Zimmerman is a registered Republican who has donated to and hosted fundraising events the election campaigns of George W. Bush, Charlie Crist, Peter Deutsch, Joe Lieberman, and Florida representative Tom Gallagher.[15]
Personal life
[edit]Zimmerman has been married four times. His first wife was Amy B Natiss Paul.[citation needed] His second wife was Melissa B Feldman Zimmerman.[citation needed] His third wife was Denise (née Broadrick) Zimmerman[1][16] who was raised Roman Catholic but converted to Judaism, the religion of her husband.[17] Zimmerman has four children, Chase, Cara, Jett, and Jordana.[1][18][19] His fourth wife is Terry Lee Zimmerman.[20] He has homes in Boca Raton, Florida and Westhampton, New York.[1] He is of Jewish descent.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Candid & Controversial". Jewish Way Magazine. August 14, 2010. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019.
"My work is my hobby, so I only allow myself four hours of sleep a night because we have a reputation for producing for our clients," says Zimmerman, 54.
- ^ a b c d e Thalji, Jamal (March 15, 2015). "Ad man refines path to profit". Tampa Bay Times. pp. D1, D8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jasin, Alex (July 6, 2017). "The head of an ad agency worth $3 billion reveals how passion is the key to career success". Business Insider.
- ^ Florida, University of South. "USF Trustee and Alumnus Jordan Zimmerman Biography – University of South Florida". news.usf.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ Byrnes, Tracy (2016-03-11). "Jordan Zimmerman: 'You Cannot Micromanage Anything and Run a Company This Big'". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ a b Parekh, Rupal. "Zimmerman's Moment In The Sun; What's Behind the Florida Agency's Recent New-Business Binge", Advertising Age, April 28, 2008. Accessed June 1, 2018. "Born in Newark, N.J., he grew up the oldest of four siblings in a middle-class family."
- ^ "Four enshrined in Wall of Fame". The Central New Jersey Home News. June 10, 2012 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Jordan Zimmerman Horatio Alger Award Recipient - Class of 2015 - Founder and Chairman: Zimmerman Advertising". Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. 2015.
- ^ "Jordan B. Zimmerman – Executive Bio, Work History, and Contacts – Equilar BoardEdge". people.equilar.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ Florida, University of South. "Jordan Zimmerman Zimmerman Advertising Program | USF". www.usf.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ Zbar, Jeffrey B. (December 22, 2002). "Driven to Succeed - Zimmerman agency began with loud auto ads, but now offers much more". Wall Street Journal. pp. 1G, 8G – via South Florida Sun Sentinel and Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Zimmerman's Moment in the Sun". Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ Sutter, Mary (September 10, 2007). "High Energy, Big Results". The Miami Herald. pp. 24, 27, 28 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Richards, George (September 28, 2013). "Florida Panthers new owner Vincent Viola: 'We will win here'". Miami Herald.
- ^ "Bush's Boca Vist Raises $1 million". The Palm Beach Post. October 25, 2006. pp. 1B, 7b – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Denise Zimmerman". Boca's Ballroom Battle.
Denise Zimmerman is a devoted mother to her two children, Jett (11) and Jordana (9), and a very involved member of the Boca Raton community.
- ^ Clary, Mike; Yi, Karen (January 20, 2013). "For them, diverse paths to embodying MLK's 'dream'". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
- ^ "Zimmerman Ribbon Cutting". Boston University Today. October 6, 2017.
- ^ "Sean Perelstein and Chase Zimmerman". localsuccess.org.
- ^ Christensen, Dan; Nevins, Buddy. "Advertising mogul threw fundraiser for chairman's wife amid Broward Health deals". FloridaBulldog.org.