About Us

Key Marketing Group provides services that link business strategy and operations to market success. We are convinced that all marketing activities must be shaped by the business environment: opportunity, offerings, resources and competition. We believe that a solid marketing plan, reflecting the goals and real-world constraints of your company, is the key to gaining business success from your investment.

Our team members have substantial line management experience. We know about the realities of marketing budgets, PR contracts, freelancers and deadlines. We’ll put that hard-won experience to work for you.

We’re a relatively new company, but our roots are deep. Judy Key Johnson founded Key Marketing Group (a tribute not only to her maiden name but to her noted relative, Francis Scott Key) after working her way from junior marketing representative to running a successful worldwide program in 19 years at IBM, and after serving as president and senior vice president of marketing at FieldCentrix Inc., a software company. Judy isn’t just a marketing expert: She’s a marketing visionary. She’s also smart enough to know what she doesn’t know, so she surrounded herself with a rainbow of other experts.

Please look at the credentials of our team leaders:

Judy Key Johnson, President

Judy holds an MBA in finance and worked for IBM for 19 years. She spent seven years as a large-system sales representative, then established the first marketing support department in a product division. She branded the industry standard term “system-managed storage” and grew the market share from 19% to 64% through innovative technical marketing programs.

Judy also worked in IBM corporate communications in Armonk, N.Y., led international business operations for the $1 billion OEM disk drive business, and as program director of global systems led the first four SAP projects in the IBM corporation. She was an international spokesperson for IBM.

Judy joined FieldCentrix Inc., a small software company, as the first full-time president, and she led first- and second-round funding. The company now has the best-known brand for wireless field service automation software. She has written scores of published articles on trade topics and has spoken to industry and customer groups throughout the world.

You can view or download Judy Key Johnson's resumé in a .pdf file.

Lynn E. Powers, Director of Marketing Communications

Lynn has more than 20 years of marketing experience. She began her career at software and hardware giant Unisys Corp., where she managed a group of five writers. She then became marketing manager at software startup Alpha Micro Systems responsible for all marketing communications activities. After four years, Lynn joined Cochrane Chase, an award-winning Southern California advertising and public relations company.

After stints with Jansen Associates, Orange County’s largest high-tech public relations firm, and Doyle and Partners, the county’s leading advertising agency, Lynn joined FileNET Corp. At FileNET, the world leader in document management software, she directed the company’s advertising, trade show, partner, and internal communications activities.

After eight years Lynn joined startup FieldCentrix Inc., a field service automation software company. As director of corporate communications, Lynn was responsible for working with the president and senior vice president of marketing to brand the company and its products. In addition, she was in charge of advertising, public relations, trade shows, internal communications, collateral creation, graphic design, and writing.

Mark Johnson, Editorial Director

Mark Johnson has more than 30 years of experience with major metropolitan newspapers as an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist.

In 23 years with the San Jose Mercury News, he worked in every department at the paper, from local news to business to the Sunday magazine. His stories took him from the Arctic Ocean to 1,000 feet beneath the surface of Lake Tahoe. He co-authored the Mercury News Stylebook for writers and editors. He is the Mercury News popular fiction columnist.

As a freelance editor, he edited the personal finance book The Art of Finance, by Art Wiederman, and has co-authored and edited business plans and other marketing materials.

Mark’s combination of experience as a newspaper layout editor, writer, photographer and Web site designer allows him to provide a holistic approach to Web site strategy.