Marketing Sales

James Larson

Cincinnati, OH ***** 513-***-****

www.linkedin.com/in/james-j-larson/ *******@*******.***

Marketing & Consumer Relation Specialist

Drive Profitable Growth in Challenging and Competitive Consumer Products Markets

Versatile business professional with varied and strong marketing and consumer relations skills with particular strength in developing and launching promotional campaigns, client relations, and project management. Proficient in a variety of marketing platforms. Excel in customer service, staff training and development, problem solving, and relationship building. Relied upon as the “go to” source for quality assurance and analytics of marketing campaigns.

E-commerce, Print, and Retail Promotional Marketing

Quality Assurance and Detailed Testing

Cross-Departmental Liaison

Voice of the Customer

Packaging, Collateral Design

Corporate Communications

Event Marketing

Client Management

Detailed Analytics and Reporting of KPI Metrics

Staff Training and Development

Professional Experience

CINMAR AND CORNERSTONE BRANDS, West Chester, OH 2010 - 2019

Marketing Specialist (Frontgate and Grandinroad brands) 2014 - 2019

Served as interdepartmental Marketing Project Specialist, building brand awareness and profit through multiple channels including, email, print, retail, and charitable campaigns.

Managed email marketing campaigns with specific timing, themes, and offers to millions of customers, consistently improving KPI’s in demand, click-through rates, lower opt outs, and subscriber base growth.

Improved content and automation of triggered email campaigns, which saw consecutive quarterly increases in revenue.

Served as go-to source for planning, set up, and testing of daily marketing promotional campaigns, and daily set-up of promotional programs and codes using WebSphere marketing application.

Identified and implemented new email programs triggered by specific-customer events and customer segmentation and performed constant QA testing, analytics, tracking, and reporting of promotional marketing campaigns, determining maximum effectiveness with goal of increasing demand and customer awareness.

Liaised between Customer Care Center and the brands, ensuring customer agents were properly versed in brands’ marketing strategies and new seasonal lines. Worked cross-functionally, resolving issues with ordering, processing, and product quality.

Brand Services Supervisor 2010 - 2014

Managed, scheduled, and developed staff of brand specialists to advance the total quality experience. Built effective working relationships with associates, peers, and management.

Reported to executives as “Voice of the Customer”, researching and resolving hundreds of customer concerns each month.

Identified service trends and reported monthly quantitative results from outside marketing performance trackers, routinely increasing consumer ratings to highest levels while putting customer concerns first.

Led seasonal training and development of new agents on high customer service expectations by enriching training curriculum to maintain quality service levels that resulting in improved team metrics.

Reviewed and graded agent performance weekly, promoting professional development of staff and ensuring consistent customer experience; coached each agent to improve performance of key service metrics.

James Larson *******@*******.*** Page Two

Additional Experience

AVI FOODSYSTEMS, Cincinnati, OH, Catering Sales Manager

Oversaw selling and servicing events for large to mid-size corporate clients through menu planning, agenda setting, contract review and negotiations, facilitating communication and organization before, during, and post event.

Developed and directed quarterly sales / marketing blitzes, increasing client base and growth with largest customers.

HYATT REGENCY CINCINNATI, Cincinnati, OH, Assistant Food / Beverage Manager

Managed all aspects of hotel restaurants including training and development of staff, budgets, and purchasing.

Highlights included teaming with Hyatt Corporate in developing specific published menus, advertising, and promotional materials.

BENSUSSEN, DEUTSCH & ASSOCIATES, Woodinville, WA, Category Manager

Project managed multiple consumer product lines of toys, games, and confectionery goods of licensed brands including Disney, Crayola, M&M’s, MLB, and DC Comics.

Helped develop special packaging programs; analyzed P&L of product lines; developed seasonal mass retail promotions; organized participation in national trade shows.

Analyzed profit and loss of every item proposed for market to maintain strict internal and external margins.

GALERIE, Hebron, KY, Assistant Marketing Manager

Grew licensed product lines to a $40M business including creation of profit driving in-store displays for major mass accounts while building and improving relations with licensors, sales, and business team units.

Analyzed and reported market performance and product profitability, ensuring successful marketing plans and future product lines with Marketing Director.

Broadened creative expression in graphic design, packaging design, point-of purchase displays, presentations materials, marketing / sales collateral, and advertising (including ads in trade magazines and People Magazine).

Directed all aspects of product merchandising for internal and external presentations. Managed company participation in multiple yearly trade shows, supervised Sample Department and Staff and managed all business communications that included samples, catalogs, photography, and customer planograms.

Assisted Sales Director in sales of products to variety of high volume and high-profile retailers, developing new accounts and creating customized and branded niche products.

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA), French and History, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

Community Service

AmeriCorps, Adult literacy and ESL advocacy in Northern Kentucky; Refugee Connect of Greater Cincinnati

Computer Skills

Salesforce / Exact Target email marketing platform

SharePoint

Websphere

Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)

Litmus marketing analytics

Adobe Illustrator

Bazaarvoice and Satmetrix customer experience management systems

Custom inventory and order processing software

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