The Preservation Society of Newport County announced today the appointment of Kevin O’Leary as Director of Marketing.
A Middletown resident with a BA in Economics from the University of New Hampshire, O’Leary has an extensive and distinguished career successfully executing brand development and refresh strategies as well as regional and national marketing, communications, prospecting, and retention tactics. He has held progressively more responsible positions in a wide variety of businesses.
“Kevin brings a wealth of valuable experience to this position, and we are confident he is the right person to lead our marketing team at this exciting time in our history,” Preservation Society CEO and Executive Director Trudy Coxe said. “He will apply a twenty-first century approach to marketing the Newport Mansions, and we are excited to welcome him to the Preservation Society.”
O’Leary joins the Preservation Society after a remarkably effective tenure as the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Mystic Seaport Museum, where he oversaw the marketing, communications, digital content, business development and sales teams.
In his first year, O’Leary instituted an array of initiatives, including the launch of a multi-year project to digitize and monetize the museum’s extensive collection; the establishment of strategic relationships that included Red Bull, NPR, PBS, Park Designs and Wayfair; and restructuring the live events schedule and offerings to capture a broader, more diverse audience. The results were a 9.8 percent rise in museum attendance, a 33.1 percent growth in museum store sales and a 39.4 percent growth in followers on Mystic Seaport’s social media channels.
“As an Aquidneck Island native and someone with deep roots in and around Newport, I’m excited to return home to join one of this country’s most revered and iconic cultural institutions at such a transformative time,” O’Leary said.
Prior to Mystic Seaport Museum, O’Leary served as Director of Business Development for a number of national, full-service marketing agencies including Guru Media Solutions (Sausalito, CA), AP Keaton (New York, NY) and Select Design (Burlington, VT). His portfolio of clients included Google, Moët-Hennessy, Tequila Patrón, Non-GMO Project, T-Mobile, GUESS?, Facebook, and others.
Additionally, from 2016 to 2019 O’Leary served as Co-Founder and Director of Marketing (volunteer) for the non-profit Vermont Mozart Festival. Before relocating to Vermont in 2009 he served as Director of Sales at Stonestreet Corporation in Providence and at The Aquidneck Club (formerly Carnegie Abbey Club) in Portsmouth, and the Director of Sales and Marketing at Plantation Catering in Newport. He was the Label Manager at V2 Records in New York and began his professional career as the Sales Manager at Sub Pop Records in Seattle.
The Director of Marketing is responsible for managing all marketing operations of the organization, including the development and planning of various advertising and communications initiatives in support of the organization’s brand, growth goals, and reputation.
The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island, is a nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area’s historic architecture, landscapes, decorative arts and social history. Its 11 historic properties – seven of them National Historic Landmarks – span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.
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