Marketing Sales

RICHARD N. VERSON

**** **** **** ( Naperville, Illinois 60565

630-***-**** ( *******@***.***

CORPORATE MARKETING SPECIALIST

Passionate, high performance, hands-on marketing practitioner with more

than 15 years of experience and a history of delivering exceptional

strategic marketing, communications and brand awareness programs.

Thoughtful mediator with ability to work with people at all levels within

corporate, marketing, sales management, and customer relationships.

Provides tireless attention to detail and timely, cost effective delivery

of marketing programs that accurately match strategic goals. Expert level

creativity, conceptual planning and production/trafficking.

Brand Management ( Strategic Planning ( Product Launches

Program / Product Development ( Client Relations

Project Management ( Vendor Management ( Team Leadership & Development

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ( Promotions

B2B / B2C ( Cross-Functional Collaboration ( Online Marketing

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

AMPED 11 MARKETING, Chicago, Illinois ( 2009 to Present

Marketing agency serving small and medium sized businesses - marketing,

advertising, public relations.

Co-Owner

Oversee day-to-day client management, new business efforts

Representative Accomplishments

. Grew business with a diverse client base - retail, banking, consumer

education, to name a few.

. Proactively concepted and produced a series of Public Service

Announcements for "Don't Text And Drive" which we presented to the State

of Illinois, and was personally endorsed by Secretary of State Jesse

White. Spots are to air statewide beginning in October. A nationwide

marketing campaign is underway.

. Designed and implemented a 2-year marketing/rebranding plan for a

major jewelry firm. Plan included national advertising, POP materials,

tradeshow exhibit design and procurement, photography, and website

revamp.

. Developed a long-term marketing campaign for an up-and-coming Chicago

bank, designed to encourage small to medium size businesses to consider

the bank for the commercial needs. With an emphasis on community public

relations, the plan also incorporated website redesign, local print ads,

neighborhood business gatherings, and positioning the bank as a trusted

business partner in the community.

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RAINSOFT WATER TREATMENT PRODUCTS, Elk Grove Village, Illinois ( 2000 to

2008

Global leader in residential water treatment systems with $150M+ in annual

sales.

Marketing Director

Develop and execute marketing/communications plans for the company's 3

manufacturing business units. Ensure timeliness and quality of projects /

programs by supplementing internal staff with external providers of

services including fulfillment: conceptualization, writing, photography,

production, and PR. Oversee and coordinate production of internal staff and

external vendors. Cultivate productive business relationships with

promotional partners, worldwide dealer network and external vendors.

Negotiate favorable business/partner agreements. Responsible for the

development and growth of 6 direct reports.

Representative Accomplishments

. Developed nationwide rebranding effort that included

web/internet/extranet development, consumer/dealer collateral, national

print advertising, consumer/dealer promotions, direct mail, industry

tradeshows, and worldwide corporate conventions.

. Developed, implemented and taught in-house tradeshow coaching program,

"Decision Point Marketing", for international sales staff.

. Developed in-store promotional campaign for partnership with The Home

Depot as their authorized water treatment provider, including training,

store displays/consumer materials, and a national rollout campaign.

. Develop and manage annual marketing budgets for (3) business units.

. Developed integrated CRM program for worldwide network of 200 dealers,

increasing revenues for consumables and creating partnership for cross-

selling programs.

. Initiated direct marketing program (lead generation) that included

direct mail, webmail, and cross-selling/up-selling to existing

customers.

. Decreased traditional print fulfillment costs by $620,000 by developing

an on-demand Dealer print ordering and fulfillment system, taking in-

house inventory levels to zero.

. Increased local brand awareness through participation in numerous city

of Chicago events.

. Negotiated an agreement for Florence Henderson to become national

spokesperson. Managed this 3-year promotional relationship: web, print,

direct mail, tradeshow appearances, and all related production.

. Chaired numerous industry association committees for the Water Quality

Association, Lisle, IL.

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VALENTINE RADFORD ADVERTISING, Kansas City, Missouri ( 1998 to 2000

National advertising agency with more than 200 employees and annual

billings of $154M.

Account Director, Sales Promotion

Oversaw major client marketing/promotions. Developed and deployed national

promotional strategies and plans, primarily in-store launch initiatives.

Devised innovative marketing solutions to support client penetration of new

markets. Established programs to increase effectiveness/ROI of client's

national trade show program.

Representative Accomplishments

. Managed national in-store marketing and promotional programs at big box

and hardware retailers to support Bayer's launch of new lawn and garden

(chemical) products, "Bayer Advanced".

. Headed team that oversaw product naming convention, packaging

development, retail over-pack displays, on-shelf displays, and

negotiations for in-store shelf positioning. Directed trafficking

efforts through account service, creative and production.

. Developed, implemented and taught tradeshow coaching program, "Decision

Point Marketing", implemented by various clients including Bayer,

Hallmark and Sprint.

. Optimized Bayer's market penetration and achieved 100% retailer

participation by creating over-pack displays, aisle displays,

initiatives to involve retail location employees in promotions, and an

industry-first on-shelf video talker.

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EVERPURE, INC. / CULLIGAN INTERNATIONAL, Westmont, Illinois ( 1991 to 1998

Global leader in water purification systems with annual revenues of $80M.

Manager, Marketing Communications

Oversaw strategic marketing for the U.S. and international consumer

markets. Maximized brand penetration by devising print / web materials, co-

op advertising content, major national tradeshow program, and incentives

for dealers and customers. Led major initiatives for both Everpure and the

parent company (Culligan).

Representative Accomplishments

. Spearheaded successful Culligan retail consumer products launch.

. Enhanced brand's position in the marketplace through an innovative

campaign leveraging marketing research to emphasize product health

benefits.

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EDUCATION

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

REPRESENTATIVE COMPUTER EXPERTISE

Expert level Adobe InDesign, advanced level Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator,

video production, Keynote; MS Office Suite, Mac / PC

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