Winslow Young - Marketing Director

Winslow Young is a history and sci-fi buff with a passion for personal finance and organization and an expertise in marketing and advertising. Young earned a bachelor's degree in finance with a minor in Spanish and international studies from the University of Utah; he was a part of a study abroad program while there, where he was able to continue to work on his Spanish while in Mexico for six months. Young subsequently attended Westminster College where he earned a Master of Business Administration degree and is also certified in Google Analytics and Google Adwords. 

In 2014, Winslow Young became the marketing director at Oz Marketing, a full-service advertising agency and presently, is the marketing director at the Young Automotive Group, which consists of 25 automotive and powersports dealerships in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. As marketing director, Young has been instrumental in creating branding and advertising guidelines for the Young Automotive Group which has led to greater brand awareness and recognition in recent years. 

Winslow currently holds the title of chair of the board of directors for the Ogden GOAL Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to encouraging the members of the greater Ogden community to lead healthier lives and to "Get Out And Live." Having been a board member since 2016 this is just one of the board seats Young occupies. Young is also a board member of the Utah Hyundai Dealers Advertising Association and has previously been a board member of the Utah Pride Center, from 2016 - 2018 and is still an active volunteer with the organization. Previously, Young has been recognized at one of the Utah Business Magazine 20 In Their 20s in 2015 and more recently a recipient of the Utah Business Living Color Award, which recognizes those in Utah's community that work to make Utah more inclusive. 

After graduating high school Young pursued one of his passions and began working as a makeup artist, while simultaneously attending the University of Utah studying finance. Makeup had long been a passion for Young and he found it was a great creative outlet; he loved trying new techniques, using bold colors, and experimenting with different looks. While studying finance, Winslow found he equally enjoyed and was passionate about more analytical things, such as excel spreadsheets and complex data analysis. After graduating from the University of Utah, Young found a career in marketing the perfect fit for him. Needing both a creative and analytical mind to be able to conceptualize and execute well thought out and creative marketing campaigns, Young had found a new passion. 

Since moving into a senior position with the Young Auto Group in 2014, Young has created and adapted marketing strategies that have grown with the organization and in his current position as marketing director he has had an even greater impact. Having only seven automotive dealerships that made up the group in 2014, each dealership was treated as an individual and therefore advertised as such. Young realized there was an opportunity to create positive change with the marketing of the group and pushed for something new. Since 2014 the group has grown dramatically and now includes 25 automotive and powersports dealerships and Young has been essential in creating standard branding guidelines and a unified marketing strategy which has led to increased brand recognition and general awareness even as the group has grown.

During his time at the Young Automotive Group, Winslow Young has been able to move the group from more traditional advertising mediums, such as TV and newspaper only, and has shifted to more digital mediums with an increased focus on forward thinking and upcoming technologies. One main example of this forward and even anticipatory thinking occurred during the beginning of COVID 19 pandemic when many people were forced to work from home. During that time the Young Automotive Group quickly pivoted and started to advertise a "Shop at Home" campaign, a strategy that competitors and even some national manufacturers would not follow for some time. 

During his time as the marketing director at Oz Marketing, Young was heavily involved in devising advertising strategies, which have been recognized by national automotive manufacturers as top quality in advertising look and effectiveness; and as a result, the regional ad associations for Hyundai, Subaru, Mazda, and Kia have all been in contact with Young due to the superb advertising coming from each of the respective Young Automotive Group dealerships. While at Oz Marketing, Young has also helped to grow the organization to be one of the larger advertising agencies in Utah, placing 11th in terms of revenue for 2020.

When Young began working at Oz Marketing in 2014 the company consisted of four employees. Under his direction, in the last six years the company has grown tremendously and now has 35 employees and structured departments. Being proactive, Young not only anticipated this growth but also created well thought out plans that would sustain, and even support, such rapid growth. A recent example of this is the anticipatory thinking is forethought that Young showed during the recent COVID 19 pandemic. During this time the executive team at Oz Marketing made a goal not to lose any employees due to financial stress during the pandemic. Due to the carefully laid plans that Oz Marketing, and by extension Young, created, no employees lost their jobs or took a loss in pay because of the pandemic.

While working with the Young Automotive Group, Winslow Young has helped change the marketing thought process. Before 2014 the group functioned as several individual stores, with their own images and identities. Each just a little different than the rest. By creating a singular branding guide and shared marketing goals, Young has helped shepherd the now 25 dealerships to all function under one cohesive brand. Young's influence in the Young Automotive Group has even extended past the traditional responsibilities that typically fall to the marketing director. Using his financial background and love for data analysis, Young has helped see the need for and even helped create comprehensive reporting on everything from return on investment with specific advertising mediums, to call tracking and even benchmarking reports between dealerships. 

Young has coordinated the Subaru Dealers of Utah and Utah Mazda Dealers, organizations made up of all the automotive dealerships in Utah of the respective brands, and was able to facilitate productive conversation and to encourage them to work together to promote their individual brands. Another example of Young succeeding in the task at hand despite adverse conditions is the Weber Auto Dealers Association, a group of automotive dealers located in Ogden that was focused on encouraging Ogden residents to buy a vehicle locally. Traditionally all the dealerships that created the Weber Auto Dealers Association consisted of businesses that are direct competitors of each other but through thoughtful and strategic communication Young was able to conduct productive meetings and remind all parties of the common goal they shared. 

During 2020 the Ogden GOAL Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to benefiting the greater Ogden community by hosting recreational events which promote health, was extremely hard hit during the COVID 19 pandemic. Under the leadership of Young, despite having to cancel two of their largest events, the 2020 and 2021 Ogden Marathon, the foundation is in a financially sound position and stronger than ever. The foundation was also able to retain all employees during the unprecedented year. 

Young's leadership skills aren't just limited to his job title. Having a passion for finance, Young has created and taught budgeting courses to promote financial well-being in addition to offering continued coaching to ensure financial success of those desiring his assistance. Young enjoys being able to help others achieve their goals, business as well as professional. 

Winslow Young has been a strong and vocal advocate of giving back to the community and participating in causes he believes in. For the past 15 years, beginning at age 20, Young has been volunteering at the Utah Pride Center, an organization that is dedicated to empowering and celebrating Utah's diverse LGBTQ+ community as well as the Utah Aids Foundation. In 2015, realizing he could do more, Young with the help of Oz Marketing, started doing the advertising for the center and specifically the Pride Festival and has continued advertising for the festival for the past six years. In 2016, he began to serve on the board of directors and continued through 2018. Along with volunteering, Young helped facilitate a sponsorship between the Utah Pride Center and the Young Automotive Group in 2011 which has turned into a lasting partnership that each organization truly values. During 2020 when the pandemic made having the normal Pride Festival impossible, he helped conceptualize and produce the new safe and socially distanced event called the "Pride Road Rally." The event ended up being such a success that the Utah Pride Center brought back the event in 2021 for the second time. 

Currently holding the title of chair of the board of directors for the Ogden GOAL Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to encouraging the members of the greater Ogden community to lead healthier lives, and having been a board member since 2016 this is just one of the board seats Young occupies. Young is also a board member for Young Caring For Our Young (YCFOY), a non-profit foundation dedicated to needed resources to local organizations and education foundations to benefit the youth in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. Through the YCFOY foundation, Young has helped plan and execute events to benefit education foundations, individual schools, youth organizations, and local animal shelters. To date, YCFOY has donated over $2 million, over 5,000 books, helped get over 200 pets adopted, hosted over 50 free family events, and facilitated over 1000 volunteer hours. 

Through his work with the Young Automotive Group, specifically Young Subaru, Winslow Young has been involved with Humane Society of Utah. By helping organize a partnership between the Humane Society of Utah (HSU) and the Subaru Dealers of Utah, which is made up of all the Subaru dealerships in Utah, Young has helped build lasting and mutually beneficial relationships which can make a positive impact on the community by arranging a sponsored pet of the week at the HSU during Subaru's Share the Love event. Recently Young has also facilitated a partnership between Encircle, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring the family and community together to enable our LGBTQ+ youth to thrive, and the Young Automotive Group, with the Young Automotive Group becoming a major donor and sponsor of the Encircle House.