Holland, Michigan, United States
As an experienced Brand + Innovation leader, I have built purposeful, humanly connected brands that disrupted saturated categories and accelerated business growth. It has been a privilege to build iconic and emerging brands through both top-tier agency roles and in-house executive marketing positions. Along the way, I have managed and elevated internal teams, including world-class agency partnerships, positioned brands for the long-term, developed performance measured go-to-market strategies with award-winning creative executions, and invented consumer-centric new product innovation that transformed categories, increased market share, and skyrocketed brand equity. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS GO TO MARKET EXECUTIONS Wendy's "Get Real" • California Almonds "Almonds Are In" • Frontier Airlines "A Whole Different Animal" • Schick "Free Your Skin" • Rudi's Bakery "Baked On The Bright Side" • Kelty Outdoors "Built For Play" • Della Rice "Create a Stir" • Stonefire flatbread "Hello Naan" • Hudsonville Ice Cream "Go To Town" NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES Smirnoff Ice • Starbucks Refreshers • Frito-Lay Late Night Doritos, Domino's Core Menu • Annie's Snacks and Meals • Jack in the Box Buttery Jack • Yoga Organics Light Brown Rice • Hope Foods Cashew & Almond Dips • Stonefire Naan Dippers • Rubbermaid Pro-Chef • Cascadian Farm Cereal • Little Debbie + Hudsonville Ice Cream Pints and Novelty Bars HISTORIC CLIENTS • Kraft Heinz • Frontier Airlines • California Almonds • Starbucks • Annie’s Organic • Sabra • Rudi’s Bakery • Frito-Lay • Schick • Avon • Kashi • Pfizer • Google •Tervis • Aspen/Snowmass • Wendy’s • Diageo • General Mills • Hershey Company• Einstein Bagels • International Delight • Walmart • Horizon Dairy • Domino’s Pizza • Olive Garden • ConAgra Foods • PepsiCO • Kelloggs •McDonald’s • Old El Paso • Ad Council • AT&T • Yogi Tea • Cascadian Farm • Gultino • Rubbermaid
Brand Growth • Grew Hudsonville branded sales from $29 MM to $109 MM (2021-2023) • Licensed Little Debbie for co-branded Hudsonville Ice cream generating $48 MM sales in 2022 • Little Debbie’s success boosted core brand’s distribution and revenue by 46% in 2023 • Executed award winning, digital, omni-channel campaign, boosting regional Market Share by 3% Leadership • Crafted brand positioning using consumer research, category IRI data, trends, and insights • Hired and managed in-house marketing team and top-tier agency partnerships • Developed new licensing relationships with category CPG leaders, fueling a 5-year growth pipeline • Planned annual marketing strategies with P&L budgets for media, innovation, and owned assets Achievements • Achieved #2 best-selling pint ice cream at Walmart, earning “Vendor of the Year” award • Established an innovation framework and process to facilitate strategy and execution • Introduced “new to category” Hudsonville Ice Cream Bars achieving $10 MM sales in 2023 • Orchestrated launch of 38 new flavors within the Hudsonville branded portfolio • Executed full funnel marketing strategies for a seamless brand and customer experience • Directed creative content, brand identity, packaging, PR, website, and social media • Executed E-commerce strategy for Walmart, achieving 10% MoM ROAS growth in 2023 • Utilized HubSpot for real-time interactions, customer satisfaction, and automated emails • Awarded silver ADDY (American Advertising Awards) for best campaign 2024
A consulting practice enhancing brand cultural relevancy to gain market share growth. Project Highlights • Reynolds Kitchens: Built a brand engine to drive scalable growth and facilitate corporate sustainability and eco-friendly goals • Camelbak: Crafted a “Hydration Trends & Rituals” framework for brand and product innovation • Kelty Outdoor: Repositioned the legacy category brand, increasing sales by 34% in the first year and capturing millennial audiences in a competitive market • Hope Foods: Developed a brand experience based on custom qualitative consumer research, validating the successful product launch of "Nut Dips and Spreads" across 4,000 retailers and charting a new growth path for the core hummus line in natural and conventional channels • Calyx Peak: Designed the Josh-D Farms cannabis brand for private equity firm Calyx Peak, securing the flagship product line presence in publicly traded MedMen stores nationwide
Brand Growth • Positioned brand into a growing $100 MM category leading, flatbreads business • Achieved 28% in sales growth YoY, surpassing the target goal of 18% • Doubled HH penetration from 3% to 6% through a full funnel “Hello Naan” campaign launch • Increased UPSPW and household consumption through social media and in-store POS messaging Leadership • Built complete annual brand strategies, budgets, marketing plans, and creative production • Managed a diverse remote team and agency partners specializing in shopper and digital media • Collaborated with cross-functional executive stakeholders, including Sales, R&D, and Finance • Established a collab relationship with Sabra to execute an experiential marketing program Achievements • Created a new brand identity across packaging, website, in-store, and tradeshow displays • Completed consumer need states & usage research, leading to a 3-year new product launch plan • Achieved #1 best-selling new product for Naan Dippers in Kroger’s Deli category nationwide • Executed an omni-channel marketing campaign by integrating social, E-comm with in-store POS • Designed a segmentation research study resulting in the creation of consumer journey maps • Built brand foundations through consumer and category research, launching Yoga Organics and Della Rice product lines nationwide in both grocery and club store retailers
Leadership • Partnered to transform an agency start-up into a globally recognized brand development firm • Recognized by Ad Age's “Best Agency of the Year” and Outdoor Magazine's “Best Places to Work” • Co-built the brand strategy and innovation practice and managed a 35-person integrated team of marketing analysts, strategists, designers producing $12 MM revenue YoY Achievements • Pioneered the brand positioning, identity, innovation, and advertising for emerging natural food brands including, Cascadian Farm, Annie’s Homegrown, Larabar, Glutino, Rudi’s Bakery and Yogi Tea • Expert in global insights, cultural ethnography, and various categories, including CPG, lifestyle, natural foods, beverages, snacks, meals, beauty, home, personal care, beer, spirits, and restaurants • Worked with notable clients, including Rubbermaid, Starbucks, Pepsi Co, Frontier Airlines, Conagra Brands, Kraft Heinz, Frito-Lay, Tervis, Wendy’s, Avon, Schick, General Mills, California Almonds, Diageo, Miller Brewing, AT&T, Pfizer, Domino’s Pizza, Aspen/Snowmass, Storck, and Hershey