Ghent Metropolitan Area
My name is Sam Waeytens, an experienced marketeer with a deep knowledge of operations, (experiential) marketing, assets and project management. I have started my career on the agency side (Strategic & Executional Field Marketing agency). During those 12 years of experience, in Belgium and with my colleagues in other countries, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about FMCG brands, how field, logistical and HR operations and project management works, how finance should be controlled, monitored & followed-up closely, how ways of working can be simplified and rolled-out across the company, how to manage timelines, how to improve and challenge during the course of a project, deliver on KPI’s and achieve goals set forth by our clients. As a team leader, I also learned how to work with people, how to create and empower a team. I learned how to build bridges, have empathy and how to grow and motivate people. At the agency delivering upon strategic briefing by leading in operational excellence was our main purpose. After those 12 years, it was time for me to broaden my horizon, time for a change. The brands I had worked on for years, now offered me the opportunity to see them on the other side. I started at Coca-Cola on the first of July (2019) as an Assets and Experiential Manager. Immediately, I had the feeling that I made a perfect choice. Combining my operational, financial, project management and people skills into this role was a match made in heaven. The knowledge gathered during my previous job, such as continuously questioning processes and thinking out of the box towards solutions, helped me in rolling out Experiential/Events and asset management to a higher level. Change is achieved as a team, working closely towards improvements. We are strong, but together we are powerful. Simplifying processes, creating an atmosphere of open discussion and finding solutions. Sometimes we do things because “we have always done it that way, so why should we change”, but looking with a pair of new glasses can open a world of new opportunities. Change is an intense process of continued adaptation and monitoring to achieve the final goals and maintain it. April of 2021 offered again new opportunities: I became the Operational Excellence Manager for Europe. Striving for efficiencies throughout our the organization. This last year was a year of learning: connecting with people around the globe (from The United States to Australia), understanding processes (resource allocation, finance, strategy,…),...
Small restaurant, with a focus on sustainability and diversity
- Building relationships with clients (Coca-Cola Services, AB Inbev, Unilever, Ford, ING Belgium,…) - Create business opportunities - Financial follow-up (cost vs revenue) - Project management (incl workload teams) - Organization and follow-up events (PR events, product launches, internal events, product samplings,,...) - Educating & coaching team (10 people). Functional conversations - Procurement (biddings) - Agile way of working