Rick Griffin is a marketing communications industry expert and serves in a full-time capacity as a lecturer for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Griffin currently teaches undergraduate courses in business writing and technical communications writing. His teaching experience includes the University of California San Diego, University of San Diego, San Diego State University, National University and UNL.
Griffin has more than 30 years of experience in writing, business communications, marketing communications solutions, technical communications, journalism, public relations, media relations, government affairs, public advocacy, coalition building, advertising, strategic corporate and nonprofit marketing communications strategies. He has worked as a newspaper reporter, radio broadcaster, TV news writer and magazine editor. As a journalist, he has covered presidential visits, city councils, sports, breaking news and watchdog beats uncovering fraud at military bases, city hall and organized crime. Griffin remains a working journalist covering emerging trends in the changing news media landscape, as well as the advertising, public relations, marketing and creative industries, in a weekly online column for a news website that draws a half-million unique visitors monthly.
He is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award in the areas of writing, journalism and public relations from the San Diego Press Club, one of the largest active press clubs in the nation. He also is a recipient of the AAF Silver Medal Award, a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the advertising industry from the American Advertising Federation, a global trade association representing the advertising and creative communities.
Griffin’s award-winning, real-world career work in public relations and advertising includes previous positions with some of the largest creative and advertising agencies in Southern California, overseeing brand building with a focus on creative and measurable results for regional and national accounts. His hands-on experience and creative marketing promotions to target audiences have helped clients explore how strategic alliances, advocacy, relationships, conversations and storytelling can be strategically formed into result-driven solutions and tangible business impact to help achieve business goals. He also has served in multiple in-house roles overseeing writing, content development, public outreach, investor relations strategy and marketing communications for Fortune 500 corporations.
For several decades, he has operated his own full-service marketing communications, advertising and public relations consultancy, offering a spectrum of services as a sole practitioner. His portfolio of clients has included private and public companies, organizations, institutions and public-sector government agencies.
During his career, he has advised clients across a broad range of industry sectors, including higher education, the arts, business-to-business, government, land development, technology, financial services, manufacturing, biotech, non-profit, consumer products, healthcare, commercial and residential real estate, trade associations, media outlets, hospitality, tourism, active sportswear, consumer products, energy, transportation, public utilities, politics, entertainment and the Super Bowl.
Griffin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in marketing from National University.