Associate Marketing Director
Barilla Canada
Total years of experience :16 years, 10 Months
• Championed a complete brand and packaging redesign for Catelli involving multiple rounds of senior-leadership sell-in, consumer research (quant & qual), long-term strategy definition and cross-functional team management - all of which drove a +23% increase in purchase intent for Catelli with its core audience.
• Directed the development of a new breakthrough animated visual approach for Catelli’s TV launch of the new brand positioning. This ad outperformed industry benchmarks for recall & brand messaging with statistically significant higher scores for “All Natural Ingredients” at 63% vs. 40% previously.
• Launched a 3-year portfolio optimization plan for Barilla Canada. Clarified roles & responsibilities for all brands, reduced brand interaction and grew overall profitability - resulting in a +10% reduction in total SKUs, meaningful operational efficiencies and realized +$2.0M in additional direct margin contribution.
• Oversaw a targeted $2M media campaign leveraging TV and OOH for the Quebec market, designed to bring back younger users - achieved +15% change in top-of-mind awareness among Millennials, a 1.3% penetration gain and a 9% sales lift. This test was used to successfully build the business case for a national roll out.
• Headed a broad cross-functional team that analyzed, identified and executed cost-saving initiatives on ingredients & packaging across total pasta portfolio. Savings of +$1.8M annually through recipe optimization, supply chain simplification and reduced componentry - with no discernible consumer impact.
• Identified and applied global best practices for eCommerce Content - optimizing imagery, improving search scores and copy descriptions - saw +50% organic sales growth after three months in market.
• Built a customized eCommerce portfolios for Amazon & Shopify retail models by creating differentiated offerings and values for both channels - drove +15% sales lift vs. previous year.
• Guided eCommerce redesign via optimized SEM, enhanced site content and Digital banners to improve consumer navigation/conversion rates - reduced bounce rate by 25% and increased time on site by 10%.
• Overhauled experiential marketing strategy for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas - and generated expanded Media outreach of +4 million impressions from content and interviews at the event.
• Designed strategic 3-year plan for Molson Non-alc Beer portfolio, taking it from losing $250k annually to making $2.5M in profit via new innovation pipeline, refined format strategy and a new distribution network.
• Charted development of Coors Light’s Social Blueprint and core brand activation pillars - Coors Light Games, NFL and NBA (Raptors sponsorship). Activations positioned Coors Light as a lifestyle brand to win back younger users, increasing core audience purchase intent by +13%.
• Founded the Coors Light Games, a one-of-a-kind summer activation across retail and on-premise accounts to increase relevancy with younger drinkers (+8% purchase intent). Program was inspired by in-depth consumer research and led to an integrated partnership with TSN, 8-week mobile tour, $4M media buy, $1.2M event, 30-minute Event TV broadcast and +8.1 M organic views of digital content.
• Architect of Coors Light’s Football Program - a $1.6M partnership with TSN and Yahoo Fantasy Football, designed to circumvent Budweiser's monopoly on NFL broadcasts and delivered +4% sales lift while in market.
• Charted refinement of Pizza Hut’s brand strategy - visual identity and brand purpose - while launching 4-5 innovations with full marketing campaigns per year (average budget of $1.5M per campaign).
• Spearheaded a 3-year innovation pipeline development, focused on strengthening relevancy with core audience & acquiring new users. Undertook a comprehensive flavor trend analysis, resulting in 10 new permanent ingredients & 9 high scoring incremental innovation concepts for launch.
• Brought to market successful strategic innovation with full 360o campaigns: Hot Dog Stuffed Crust +5.2%, Big Box Bundle +6.1% and Canadian Inspired Recipes +5% (Same Store Sales % Chg), all outpacing category growth.
• Charged with developing a 3-year strategic road map to double Seasonal sales - accomplished through the creation of a clear portfolio story, strong innovation pipeline, channel specific merchandising & defined media strategy - Year 1 saw +35% growth on $ Vol and & Year 2 grew +30%.
• Assembled detailed analysis of consumer need states and occasions to identify white space opportunities, which was used to build a 3-year innovation pipeline - innovation accounted for +25% of total Sales growth.
• Produced first ever Kinder Maxi TV ad in Canada for Easter, boosting retail sell-through +6% (92% TL) in a year Kinder sold in +50% more units - incredibly important in seasonal where there are penalties for write-offs.
• Developed & implemented strategic plan to revitalize Degree’s portfolio through a combination of mass media, integrated media partnerships, incremental innovation, powerful sales tools and clearly defined channel strategy - grew +16% on $ Vol in 2009 vs. +1% previous year.
• Coordinated a robust SKU rationalization involving a broad cross-functional team for Unilever’s Antiperspirants portfolio - analysis resulted in discontinuing 30% of portfolio SKUs, while driving higher distribution on top performers (+10 ACD) and overall profitability (+500k of DM Contribution).
Commerce Undergraduate Degree with a Major in Marketing.