Jim McDonald

Jim McDonald, 27-year veteran of the advertising and marketing business, has been named the 2002-03 College of Communication Outstanding Alumnus.

McDonald earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in advertising from The University of Texas at Austin. He is still involved with the College as a frequent client of advertising campaign classes.

McDonald worked for Young & Rubicam where he led advertising for Chevron, including the timeless “Simply Smarter” campaign for Chevron’s Techron gasoline. McDonald also served as senior vice president and account director for RadioShack with Young & Rubicam’s The Lord Group. RadioShack’s initial brand repositioning, including the tagline “You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers,” were introduced under McDonald’s leadership. McDonald has also worked on advertising campaigns for Pizza Hut, Ford, IBM, and many more.

McDonald joined RadioShack in January 1998 and now serves as senior vice president of marketing and advertising. RadioShack is currently using a celebrity advertising campaign initiated by McDonald to contemporize the brand.

“One of the accomplishments I’m most proud of is the television commercial we filmed on the International Space Station last year. No one had ever done it before and I enjoyed going to Moscow to work with the Russian Space Agency who made it all possible. Using space exploration to elevate the RadioShack brand is definitely applying an out-of-this world advertising approach,” joked McDonald.

McDonald would add, “Over the years my staff has been studded with UT graduates. My involvement with College of Communications’ advertising campaign classes has both generated some great work for RadioShack and served as a pipeline for top talent.”