MiddleM Creative Welcomes Holly Meloy as Director
20+ Years of Marketing Leadership: A Closer Look at Holly Meloy’s Career
Please join us in welcoming Holly Meloy as Director to the MiddleM Creative team. Holly brings more than two decades of marketing leadership experience to her work with our middle-market M&A clients.
Most recently, Holly served in executive leadership roles at FutureBrand and ChaseDesign, where she led business strategy and client development across the organizations. Her expertise in strategic brand positioning and data-driven marketing brings a proven framework for helping M&A firms build trust with key stakeholders and differentiate in competitive markets.
As Holly settled into her new role, we sat down with her to discuss her background, approach to marketing strategy, and the value she places on data-driven insights:
You've talked about the importance of understanding what drives decision-making in M&A transactions. How does this people-first philosophy shape your marketing approach in an industry often focused purely on financial metrics?
In my experience, very few decisions — especially in M&A — are made purely on financial metrics. Today, value is more broadly defined. Trust, relationships, cultural alignment, and shared vision often carry as much weight as the deal terms themselves. This holds true for firms selecting marketing partners, as well as companies evaluating sponsors and investment partners. MiddleM has a deep understanding of the processes behind the scenes in M&A and private equity, as well as the requirements for improving deal flow. That’s why our approach brings strategic direction that goes beyond the numbers.
Your career spans both client-side and agency leadership roles, from Crossmark to serving as Chief Client Officer at FutureBrand. How has seeing both sides of the client-agency relationship shaped your leadership philosophy?
As corny as it sounds, it took me a few years on the agency side to realize that clients are just people. Smart, capable people who put a lot of trust in their agency partners. These are also the same people who want to go home at the end of the day feeling good about the work they’ve done.
As a leader, I try to put myself in others’ shoes: How would I want to be treated? Where is the best investment for my money? How can I prove this campaign’s success to my boss or stakeholders? I believe in an honest, transparent approach to both external and internal leadership, grounded in empathy with a willingness to listen.
From your early advertising education at University of Illinois to executive coursework at Wharton and University of Chicago, you've continuously invested in learning. What's one insight from your executive education that fundamentally changed how you approach marketing strategy?
Every time my role has grown, I’ve needed to learn new skills to succeed. When I was elevated to overseeing two P&Ls, that meant diving into my (then nonexistent) accounting skills. More recently, it meant rethinking how to connect with consumers as shopping shifted online, and understanding how media has become a critical driver in omnichannel marketing. Now, after joining MiddleM, I’m diving headfirst into private equity and M&A. Staying relevant means staying curious!
You've highlighted MiddleM's comprehensive research methodology (Brand 360) that incorporates multiple stakeholder perspectives. Can you describe how this holistic approach leads to more genuine and effective positioning for your clients?
Our Brand 360 process starts with qualitative conversations with key stakeholders — sponsors, partners, leadership — to uncover authentic insights. By pairing those findings with quantitative data, we identify where the brand can stand apart in a way that’s authentic to its core and relevant to its audiences. MiddleM’s research process moves from broad insights to a differentiated, specific marketing plan. This is how we ensure positioning is both genuine and grounded in the kind of evidence that drives confident decision-making.
You’re an avid tennis player. What lessons has tennis taught you about people or life or marketing strategy (could choose just one, if you want) that you carry with you each day?
Tennis has taught me the importance of patience, adaptability, and playing the long game. You can’t win every point, but you can set yourself up for the next one. Marketing strategy is the same — while you don’t necessarily change your brand strategy, you adjust your approach based on what’s coming at you, whether it’s going for the winner or leveraging finesse.
Learn more about MiddleM's team and how we help our middle-market M&A clients consistently drive deal flow.