About

Since 1989, Keystone has created hundreds of millions of dollars in sports partnerships and program management for some of the world’s largest and most iconic brands.  We are a sports and lifestyle experiential marketing company with one single promise – we will grow your business while we lower your blood pressure.  How do we deliver on this promise?  We become an expert on your business so that we operate as an external extension of your internal team.  We operate in a culture of creativity that uses efficient systems and processes that allow our team members to get out and explore culture so they come back to your business refreshed, more productive and full of ideas to deploy on your business.  And, they engage with you in a low sodium way that brings big agency talent and expertise delivered with efficiency and agility of a smaller shop devoid of the typical big agency antics.

Our focus is commerce-based creativity – strategically driven, high quality creative focused on your business objective.  Our work product manifests in sports and lifestyle event experiences, not merely spaces in an environment.  Our experiences engage both your B2B and B2C target audiences to deliver business results.

We are powered by Wildfire, a fully integrated marketing communications company that is best described as Intrapreneurs who determine the right communication tool to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time to motivate them to do what we want them to do – buy, be aware, try, share.  Wildfire works in all disciplines with a compliment of cultural anthropologists, designers, writers, web experts, digital community strategists, developers and managers as our secret weapons who help create not only the physical interactive space, but also the 360 degree touch point experiences before, during and after on site engagement.  And, we base it all on consumer insights which leads to sports and lifestyle events that blow your target’s mind.

Our specialties are strategic planning, trade relations, field marketing, promotions, communications and design.  We are the “keystone” for our clients, the solid support that locks everything together, and brings their brands to life.  We are driven by our clients’ success, satisfaction and confidence.  Take a ride and see what we have been up to over the past 25 years…


Brad Bennett
Principal/Chief Executive Officer

A graduate of UNC – Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem native, Brad began his career in fundraising with the American Heart Association. He joined Long Haymes Carr (now Mullen) where he led new business efforts that resulted in nine new business wins in six months. Prior to his new business role, Brad worked on major accounts including Hanes, Champion, and RJ Reynolds. He is the one that keeps us true to Wildfire’s brand promise to deliver commerce-based creative that produces impressive business results and he adds his expertise to all of our clients’ businesses—including Lowes Home Improvement, BB&T and Kraft. Today, he and his wife Paula are the proud parents of two children, Abbi and Beau.

Mike Grice
Principal/Chief Creative Officer

The agency’s creatively diverse Creative Officer. A graduate of the Central Academy of Commercial Art in Cincinnati, Mike moved to Winston-Salem in 1997 for a job with Mullen. Previously he had worked at prominent national agencies including J. Walter Thompson, Chicago and D’Arcy Masius Benton and Bowles, St. Louis. His past clients read like a blue chip list – Oscar Mayer, Wachovia, IBM, Kraft, M&M/Mars, Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Quaker, Maxfli, Sealy, Miller Brewing Company and Anheuser-Busch. Since founding Wildfire, Mike has helped build a client roster and direct creative on brands such as Lowes Home Improvement, Rubbermaid, Hanebrands Inc, BB&T, Coca-Cola Company, YMCA, Salem-Baking, Kraft Foods, Paula Deen Home, Better Homes and Gardens, Motorsports Authentics and Wake Forest Athletics. His creative leadership has been recognized by Communication Arts, The Dieline, Archive Magazine, Telly Awards, American Advertising Federation and the Sports Media Marketing Awards. He and his wife Caren have two beautiful children, Colsen and Emery.

Tina Kneisel

CFO / General Manager

My Motto:
One day at a time

Favorite thinking spot:
My screened-in porch

In my fridge, you’d find:
Lots of wine

One thing I can’t live without:
A nice cup of tea

Favorite vacation spot:
Hilton Head

Wanda Miller
Financial Account Director

Wanda has worked in the accounting field over 33 years with 15 of those years being with Keystone Marketing/Wildfire. She enjoys taking trips with her husband and spending time with her two sons and daughter-in-law. She also has a passion for card making and enjoys sharing her cards with others. Wanda is involved with a program called Operation Write Home which sends the homemade cards to those in the Armed Forces stationed overseas.

Jonathan Reed
Associate Creative Director

A battle-tested Art Director who brings conceptual and executional ideas to life in innovative ways. A Southern California native and graduate of Art Center College of Design, Jonathan’s talents have produced results for agencies ranging from the venerable Leo Burnett to less traditional shops like Wildfire. A look through his portfolio will reveal his award winning work with some of the countries leading brands including ABC television, Canon, Johnson & Johnson, Altoids, and Nettwerk Records.

Matt Rowland
Interactive Developer

Matt came to Wildfire by way of Southwest Virginia, where he graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Graphic Design. He now calls Winston-Salem home, along with his wife, Lauren, and daughter, Abigail. Matt works with Wildfire clients to deliver beautiful and cutting-edge online experiences. While he has a diverse background in many areas of graphic design, including print publication and large format, he has always had a passion for interactive. Matt embraces the latest web trends, such as HTML5/CSS3 and semantic markup, and works to ensure that Wildfire is constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to responsive design and mobile-optimized experiences.

Laura Beth Young
Account Manager

Laura Beth graduated from The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. Upon graduation, she went directly to Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC where she wore several hats – General Manager, Promoter, Chief Scorer, and “Anything else that needed to done”! From there, she went to Winston-Salem, NC and Keystone Marketing. She managed the Hershey/Reese’s Racing account and their NASCAR, Richard Childress Racing, and Kevin Harvick sponsorships. She also assisted with other accounts including AAA, American Commercial Lines, Nabisco and Toyota. At Wildfire, she continued to manage the Reese’s Racing program, along with the Winston-Salem Symphony, Susan G. Komen, Hbi event programs, AAA, and Honda. In her spare time, Laura Beth is very involved with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization. She enjoys reading, traveling, and going to rock concerts.