Brand builder, and the analyst who proves the return.
Marketing leadership for national retailers at $6B and $8B in sales, on the CEO Executive Leadership Team and in front of the Board quarterly. My work pairs brand transformation with measured financial return: every claim on this page carries the number behind it and the method that verified it.
Detroit, MI · Open to relocation · Fractional CMO in practice · Open to CMO, Chief Brand Officer and senior marketing leadership roles
Mass promotion treats millions of records as one shopper. My playbook splits the audience, funds each segment on tested return, and reads the results through third parties with no stake in the answer. Six examples below, each with its receipt.
Measured through
Every result above names its measurement source. Marketing earns its budget as an investment when the return is proven, not asserted.
“Progress over perfection. Test, learn, optimize, and prove the return.”
Operating principle
Two national retail rebuilds, a decade of rising roles beneath them, and a current practice helping founders treat marketing as an investment.
Independent Practice
Pogo
Big Lots Stores · NASDAQ: BIG, formerly · Fortune #447
$6B mass discount retailer, 1,450+ stores and ecommerce. Vice President, Marketing from July 2019, promoted to Senior Vice President, Marketing in April 2020. Led a 60-person organization and a $100M budget across brand, analytics, creative, media, ecommerce UX and analytics, PR, CRM and loyalty, accountable for proving an incremental return on marketing spend. Raised marketing from the second lowest employee engagement score in the company to the highest of any function. On the CEO Executive Leadership Team; presented to the full Board quarterly.
PetSmart, Inc. · NASDAQ: PETM, formerly · Fortune #376
$8B specialty retailer, 1,700+ stores plus ecommerce. Led 30 people and a $230M budget against a 37M-record customer file, with five direct reports.
PetSmart Charities
Independent 501(c)(3) arm of an $8B retailer, the largest funder of animal welfare in North America.
PetSmart, Inc.
Elevated into expanded roles four times across ten years: Director, Merchandising & Specialty (2010 to 2012); Director, Customer Experience, Events & Services (2008 to 2010); Director, CRM & Loyalty (2006 to 2008); Senior Services Marketing Manager (2004 to 2006); and Marketing Manager, Services Marketing (2002 to 2004).
Brand work that lives on packaging, in aisles and across every channel a national retailer runs, not just in a deck.
Portfolio ownership across the private-label and proprietary brand portfolio, from food to hard goods, briefing the intent and key benefits behind each positioning, packaging system and channel plan. Key examples below.
Co-branded lines with Martha Stewart, Bret Michaels and GNC reached about $80M in combined annual sales. The Ellen DeGeneres line launched across TV, digital, radio, CRM and hero in-store placement, and ran at about $40M in revenue a year.
The Puppy Starter Kit bundled negotiated free food from premium vendors with services and private-label coupons. It averages about $25M a year in direct sales plus an estimated $175M in downstream benefit by moving pet parents to premium food and services.
