# Ron Nelson

> Ron Nelson is the vice president and chief marketing officer of K. Hovnanian Companies, where he has applied a career in New York real estate advertising to the complex job of marketing new homes across regional divisions. Since joining the builder in 2017, he has helped centralize marketing, build an in-house creative operation, align sales and marketing, and support the rollout of designer-curated Looks interiors and digital home-design tools.

- **Role:** Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at K. Hovnanian Companies
- **Organizations:** K. Hovnanian Companies, RODE Advertising, Sherman Advertising Associates, Pace Advertising
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Visual and Performing Arts; Advertising and Speech, Syracuse University
- **Known for:** Co-led the 2013 transformation of Sherman Advertising Associates into RODE Advertising., Built an in-house advertising and marketing agency at K. Hovnanian., Helped centralize marketing across approximately 14 K. Hovnanian divisions through a specialist center-of-excellence model.

## Career timeline

- **1984-1987** — Worked as an account executive at Pace Advertising.
- **1987-2013** — Served as creative director and partner at Sherman Advertising Associates, working on real estate accounts and campaigns.
- **2013** — With Debbi Melman, assumed leadership of Sherman Advertising Associates and relaunched the firm as RODE Advertising.
- **2013-2017** — Worked as a partner at RODE Advertising, a New York agency specializing in real estate branding and marketing.
- **2017-present** — Joined K. Hovnanian Homes, becoming vice president and chief marketing officer.
- **2018-2019** — Helped roll out K. Hovnanian's centralized marketing and center-of-excellence model across its regional divisions.
- **2025** — Appeared at the Accelerate sales and marketing conference and Builder 100, speaking about marketing investment and broker strategy.

## Achievements

- Co-led the 2013 transformation of Sherman Advertising Associates into RODE Advertising.
- Built an in-house advertising and marketing agency at K. Hovnanian.
- Helped centralize marketing across approximately 14 K. Hovnanian divisions through a specialist center-of-excellence model.
- Helped establish a unified marketing message and a process for sharing campaign learnings across divisions.
- Helped connect marketing activity to a centralized lead-management approach that the company reported increased lead conversion from 8% to 26%.
- Participated in the brand rollout of K. Hovnanian's designer-curated Looks interiors and related Design and Price experience.

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — At Builder 100, Nelson said K. Hovnanian's shift toward quick move-in homes had increased co-broker participation to about 75% of sales and described brokers as a source of inventory velocity.
- **2025-03** — Nelson appeared on the CMO Spotlight at Zonda's Accelerate conference in Austin alongside marketing leaders from Mattamy Homes and Taylor Morrison.
- **2024-02** — In a K. Hovnanian Coffee Chat, Nelson discussed centralized marketing, lead acquisition, sales alignment, the Looks brand and a redesigned website.

## Links

- Website: https://www.khov.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nelson-3091146

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ron-nelson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-21