September 2006 – Present (5+ years)
Vice President, Interactive
ARS Advertising Group, Chicago, IL
ARS is a privately owned marketing agency with 3 offices and 300+ employees and it has been in business for over 30 years. I lead the Interactive business unit consisting of creative, technology and account service teams. In my 5 years tenor, I have transformed a promotional production house into a full-service interactive company, serving retailers like Sears, Kmart and Wal-Mart as well as major household brands. Under my leadership, the agency won the following new accounts and became their digital agency-of-record:
Kenmore.com
Site overhaul, mobile apps, all marketing campaigns and site management
2011 CIMA Award for “Best Use of Mobile”
Craftsman.com
Site overhaul, mobile apps, loyalty program, all marketing campaigns and site management
Outlet.Whirlpool.com
Business model design, market positioning and mix, e-commerce site launch and all online tactics
From 5 avg. daily orders to 125 avg. daily orders within 60 days using promotional strategy and conversion enhancement
Shop.PBSKIDS.org
Business model design, go-to-market strategy and all online tactics
2011 CIMA Award for “Best B2C Website“
TheGreatIndoors.com
E-commerce site development and all marketing management
Site launched in 60 days; Break-even in 5 weeks post launch; better performance metrics than the parent Sears.com
DollarGeneral.com
Strategy, list acquisition, email program, site design and development
100,000+ relevant email subscribers (with only 6% opt-out rate) through an offline NASCAR sweepstakes
Amana.com
360 degree marketing campaign from point-of-sale experience to mobile and all online tactics
2011 CIMA Award for “Best Cross Media Campaign“
Monessen Hearth Systems
Site Overhaul for fireplaces, stoves and grills
242% more pages/visit, 71% fewer exits, 107% more time spent on site, 40% increase in SEO referrals
First organic search result for a broad-scope keywords like ‘fireplaces’
Gladiator Garageworks
Marketing strategy, media mix, campaigns, site management and all online tactics
Increased visibility by at least 34% for 3 years in a row without any media spend
Eureka.com
Site re-architecture and platform launch
First organic search result for a broad-scope keywords like ‘vacuum cleaner’
400% higher search equity, 4+ minutes avg. time spent on site
October 2004 – September 2006 (2 years)
Creative Director
B3 Interactive, Cleveland, OH
My role in this interactive agency (40+ employees) was to lead the creative team on NESTLÉ accounts including Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets and Meals.com. My team developed and maintained brand web sites and executed the seasonal campaigns. We managed the emails, newsletters and loyalty programs for these brands.
June 2002 – October 2004 (2 years & 4 months)
Interactive Design Director
Elliance Inc, Pittsburgh, PA
Elliance is an entrepreneurial web marketing services company (25 employees). My role was to lead the creative team and execute client projects including retail and brand sites, CD Roms and 3D game environments. I also the masterminded the e-marketing product suite developed by Elliance called Ennect.com. The tool included email marketing, survey, event planning and online collaboration system at that time.
May 1998 – June 2002 (4 years)
Web Design Consultant
Microbytes, Pittsburgh, PA
A dot com venture company (30 employees). I lead the design and development of an e-commerce venture. Despite the positive market response, the business could not meet its over-projected growth targets. It was a good entrepreneurial experience.
Techlogix Inc., Woburn, MA
Techlogix offers enterprise solutions for e-business, ERP & CRM (120 employees). I designed three B2C E-Commerce sites, one for fine diamonds and jewelry, another for South-Asian handicrafts and the user experience an online stock-trading website. I established the multimedia department and hired front-end designers for my team.
Freelance
Life-cycle experience of many small-scale websites for government, leading consumer brands, corporations and non-profits; also developed CD Rom brochures.