Martha Bartlett Piland
President + CEO

She was responsible for guiding marketing strategy and planning for many of the firm’s major clients.

In 1997, she joined Heartland Health as Marketing Director where she built the fledgling insurance company’s marketing department from the ground up. She developed marketing plans, supervised two advertising agencies, and directed communications and PR.

In 1998, MB Piland Advertising & Marketing was born. Martha started the company with a unique new philosophy—Fat Free Advertising™. Her goal was to provide small and medium sized clients with “big agency” strategic planning and creative experience. Her unconventional strategic planning means creative thinking is applied to client problems.

Creating word-of-mouth “buzz” and alternative PR approaches are just a few ways she helps clients be more effective and more visible in an overcrowded marketplace. Her experience working both with clients and as a client brings added value to the clients she serves.

Martha is a graduate of Leadership Topeka, Leadership Kansas and Leadership America. She was chosen as IABC’s EXCEL honoree in 2008. She is also a highly-sought speaker, conducting seminars and motivational talks as nearby as Topeka—and also throughout the US and Canada.

Under her leadership, the firm has won numerous awards, including Topeka Chamber Small Business of the Year, State of Kansas Woman-Owned Service Business of the Year, and hundreds of local, regional and national awards for its creative work.

Alex Reilly
Vice President + Agency Principal

Energy, enthusiasm and leadership are Alex’s strengths. With more than 14 years of agency experience under her belt, she is a seasoned professional whose mantra is to provide clients with excellent service and business solutions.

Alex is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a B.A. in French. (Bonjour!) After two years with an association management and lobbying firm, Alex joined one of the state’s largest advertising and marketing firms where she learned about nearly every aspect of the agency business. Beginning as the traffic manager, she worked her way from the creative department to the account service department, where she advanced to the position of Account Supervisor. She cut her teeth on such clients as Hill’s Pet Nutrition, working in both the U.S. and international divisions, Payless ShoeSource, Parade of Shoes, Security Benefit Group of Companies, Capitol Federal Savings, Kansas Innovations and TRI-KES.

Alex became part of the MB Piland team in 2005, putting her skills to work for a new set of clients. Her experience includes developing and implementing marketing plans, leading research projects—both primary and secondary, brand image re-launches, business development and training programs, corporate magazines and newsletters, point-of-purchase materials and web sites with database driven content and Flash animation.

Alex is deeply involved in making the world a better place. She’s contributed numerous volunteer hours to United Way, Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy and the Auburn-Washburn School Foundation. She was a YWCA Women of Excellence Honoree in 2009.

Clients appreciate Alex’s attention to detail and keen watch on costs while guiding creative that is strategically sound.

Andrea K. Engstrom
Senior Account Manager

Andrea understands firsthand the challenges businesses face. She has been a small business owner in Topeka for 8 years. She developed marketing strategies for Home Connections, an Audio/Video retail store and installation company. While growing her family’s business, her responsibilities included strategic growth planning, writing and production of media spots, handling PR and networking. She also enjoyed designing the retail store layout and developing creative trade show booth spaces.

She has also served as Marketing Manager for Thompson Dehydrating Company, an industrial engineering and design company. She built a marketing department from scratch, and created a program that would cast vision for growth in the company for years to come. While there, she originated creative strategies for client communications, oversaw the development of a new website, and developed the company’s first nationwide print campaign.

Andrea joined the MB Piland team in 2007, bringing with her tremendous enthusiasm to make budget dollars stretch by developing creative solutions for businesses—a truly Fat Free philosophy. Her favorite activities include networking, event planning and designing creative trade booth spaces. She is continuing her education at Washburn University, enjoying classes that focus on business in particular.

Mandi Walter
Account Coordinator

Mandi held two prestigious business internships during her college career. The first at MB Piland in 2007, followed by a Customer Solutions Group internship with Viterra in Regina, SK, Canada. In addition to her internship experience, Mandi diversified her undergraduate education with several study abroad endeavors. She studied at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England summer of 2006. And in July 2008 she presented at the 4th International Conference of the Academy of Wine Business Research in Siena, Italy based on research she conducted over local Kansas Wineries.

In 2009, Mandi began serving as an Office Manager for MB Piland where she quickly graduated to Account Coordinator. Mandi brings great organization and attention to detail to her account service and agency work. Motivation to develop higher project efficiencies shines through in her involvement with clients such as the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Mize Houser & Company and other key clients.