Global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets.

Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Branding and Communications

Responsible for developing a unified brand worldwide that transcended diverse business units and acquisitions; development and implementation of global marketing, branding and communications strategies targeting clients, shareholders, employees and business partners; upgrading the company’s marketing image; establishing a department to provide strategic company-wide marketing, communications and brand management services to the CEO, the corporation and divisions company wide; managing global crisis communications and serving on the Corporate Disaster Recovery Task Force; and improving ROI on branding, marketing and communications activities with increased efficiency, effectiveness and economy.

• Assumed lead role in developing first consolidated global brand platform to reposition the company for growth and profitability targets. Revenues 2001 through 2007 increased 46%; stock price increased for more than 14 consecutive quarters, with an overall 424% increase in stock price from 2001 to 2007.
• Managed crisis communications and served on the Corporate Disaster Recovery Task Force. Developed and managed crisis communications on a global basis, and served as corporate spokesperson. Crises that were managed included 9/11, Iraq reconstruction projects, public protests, employee layoffs, financial downturns, and project-related injuries, deaths, accidents and failures.
• Senior member of executive team responsible for planning and implementing ONE B&V corporate transformation to unify diverse global business lines, leverage new business opportunities and increase operational effectiveness, efficiency and economy to achieve quantum improvements in business performance and culture.
• Created a new department, Corporate Marketing, Branding and Communications (CMBC), to provide marketing, communications and brand management services to the CEO, the company, and divisions worldwide. To satisfy initial staffing needs, consolidated disparate marketing departments across 12 autonomous divisions. The integrated group enabled a 37% reduction in duplicate functions while managing an 83% increase in workload. Service levels were increased every year to keep pace with company growth and demands; annual increase percentages ranged from 83% to 90%.
• Responsible for 23 direct-report employees, as well as 50 dotted-line reports assigned to work in divisions worldwide.
• Directly managed budget of $5.6M for corporate-level marketing, branding and communications activities; shared responsibility of division-level budgets with division executives.
• Increased the quantity and quality of press releases, press coverage and interaction with the media worldwide each year to further support sales effectiveness and efficiency. Third-party analysis of media performance reported annual increases in reach, frequency, positive tone and overall net effect of media activities.
• Restructured and expanded global employee communications to increase employees’ understanding of company vision, mission, values, brand, positioning, messages and corporate strategies.
• Unified company-wide branding worldwide and increased visibility with consistent brand messaging and imagery; established corporate standards and policies for branding, communications and marketing; improved quality of company publications to become award winning.
• Established centralized systems for tracking, measuring and evaluating ROI for company-wide marketing, branding and communications activities implemented by my department which included advertising, media relations, internal and external communications, CEO programs, speech writing, client magazine, employee newsletter, annual report, retirees newsletter, internet and intranet sites, shareholder’s web site, collateral and sales support materials, videos, trade shows, client events, internal events, presentations, photography, graphics and design, trademarks, charitable and civic activities, corporate store.
• Served on a wide range of corporate-level task forces focused on: corporate social responsibility (CSR); sustainability and sustainable development; climate change and the environment (“green” efforts); Drive For Value; future state; Blue Ocean; diversity; Value Based Management; performance culture; market leadership; financial performance; strategic intent.
• Launched a measurable international Client Satisfaction Program to improve relationships with clients, establish a reliable feedback mechanism, and measure improvements with a Client Confidence Index scoring system.

Global provider of integrated end-to-end electronic transaction management solutions for financial institutions, government agencies and healthcare organizations; headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Branding

Responsible for building brand equity and market awareness through the development and deployment of strategic marketing and branding strategies. Part of executive leadership team that turned around underperforming U.S. operations, allowing the company to sell its U.S. operations for 4 times acquisition price. Key accomplishments included: rebuilt positive and industry leading company image; established positive media coverage within industry publications of target markets – financial, government and healthcare; developed a consolidated client database; built and managed a branding and marketing department that provided marketing and communications services – media relations, marketing materials, sales tools, product promotions, corporate web site, sales training, advertising, trade shows, consolidated client database, employee communications and client communications.

E-commerce infrastructure and solutions for online retail and business-to-business processes.

Vice President of Marketing

Responsible for development and implementation of strategic marketing and communications to establish brand identity and position the company and NetSales’ CEO as industry leaders in e-commerce during the height of the Internet boom. Joined the company when it was a start-up; was 9^th employee hired and first executive. Established and managed a branding, marketing and communications department to implement strategies to raise visibility, establish credibility and build relationships. The company achieved high growth with over 580% revenue growth in 1998 and more than 300% expansion of its client base that year. NetSales’ CEO was declared a pioneer and leader by leading industry and business media. Managed a staff of 10 employees.

Strategic marketing and consulting firm.

Account Executive

Responsible for acquiring new technology accounts, developing and implementing marketing and communications strategies for clients, and managing and expanding client accounts. Clients included firms from media, education, technology, banking software, wireless communications providers, law, architecture, and heavy industry.

Manufacturer of tape backup devices and network storage systems.

Director of Marketing and Channel Development

Responsible for developing and implementing strategic marketing programs and activities to promote products and increase channel and market awareness. Formerly Tallgrass Technologies, the corporate goal was to achieve profitability within 2 years and sell the company to a major manufacturer. The goal was accomplished and the company was acquired by Exabyte. Accomplishments: built a marketing department serving U.S. and Europe; achieved marketing objectives with channel marketing activities and events in the U.S. and Europe, media relations, product promotions, client newsletter, advertisements, direct marketing, and trade shows. Developed a program management system to improve time-to-market for new products by streamlining and managing product development and launch cycles.

Manufacturer of enterprise database powered solutions.

Director of Market Relations

Responsible for developing and administering market relations strategies and programs to promote software products to multiple markets and the media. Worldwide multi-platform product launches included Macintosh, Windows, UNIX, and NeXT, with multiple foreign language versions. Strategies included direct marketing, trade shows, media relations, analysts program, newsletters, press conferences, company-hosted seminars, working with publishers to produce books on the company’s products, speaking opportunities, and user group programs.

Manufacturer of mass storage devices.

Marketing Manager

Managed worldwide marketing for the company’s product lines including tape and disk subsystems, networking products, and optical storage systems. Marketing activities included media relations, advertising, investor relations, trade shows in the U.S. and Europe, direct mail, promotional campaigns, channel marketing, and sales training. Coordinated marketing efforts between the U.S. and distributors worldwide. Additional position was product manager for the company’s line of internal subsystems.

Pittsburg State University, Major French, Minor Business

• Author of “Thinking Strategically and Globally” chapter in the book, Inside the Minds: Marketing Benchmarks for Success, published by Aspatore Books 2007.
• Volunteer with educational institutions and business groups to lead classes and give presentations on branding, marketing and communications topics and careers.