Christopher Schell

Christopher H. Schell is the managing director of the Madison office of Nelson-Schmidt, Inc., a full-service marketing communications agency with offices in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1971, Nelson Schmidt has been named one of the top marketing firms in the U.S. for five consecutive years by BtoB Magazine. Its clients include Alliance Laundry Systems, ADP, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Honeywell, McKesson, and Northwestern Mutual.

During his 25+-year career in marketing and advertising, Chris has led the strategic planning, brand development, and product launch efforts for dozens of organizations. He has extensive experience with a wide variety of business-to-business and business-to-consumer organizations across such diverse industries as banking, water filtration, building products, retail, and consumer packaged goods.

Chris brings both agency and client-side experience to his leadership role, having held marketing management positions at United Airlines and A.C. Nielsen as well as at agencies Leo Burnett and The Hiebing Group, where he served as vice president of client services and consulting. Chris has also taught marketing planning and advertising at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at both the undergraduate and executive education levels.

Prior to joining Nelson-Schmidt in 2011, Chris served as first vice president of marketing and product management at AnchorBank, a $4.5 billion, 57-office financial institution headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

Chris has served on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth, DePaul University’s Leo V. Ryan Center for Creativity, and Downtown Madison, Inc., and has served in advisory capacities with the American Red Cross and the Wisconsin Banker’s Association.