Amy Crouch

** ******* ****** ******, ******* ****2 ad1dep@r.postjobfree.com c +1-802-***-****

About

Widely respected. Rallies the team. Entrepreneurial spirit. Builds brands. Focuses on customer experience. Hands on. Sells products. Deeply loves the work. Kind. Smart. Hardworking. Trusted. Rolls up the sleeves and gets to work. Results driven. Strategic. Creative. Common sense approach. Performance Excellence. Does more with less. Produces award winning work. Calculated risk taker. Empathetic. Thought leader. Simplifies and streamlines. Gets the job done. Happy.

Professional Experience

Manager, Brand Strategy 2022 to Present

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont Berlin, Vermont

Quickly learned the non-profit health insurance industry, turning research & analytics into actionable insights.

Identifies customer attitudes and behaviors, serves as the voice of the customer in brand positioning and campaign development. Thought leader with an entrepreneurial spirit, rolls up the sleeves and works alongside the team.

Marketing Strategy: Leads internal team comprised of marketing strategists, B2B product managers, social media, digital marketing, and internal creative design studio. Authors creative strategy briefs. Introduced retention and acquisition marketing strategy to drive longer-term market share gains by product line. Differentiates products by segment type for B2B, Medicare and B2C. Manages multiple external creative studio or advertising agencies for advertising campaigns, all direct mail efforts, all marketing collateral for open enrollment process (catalogs), marketing flyers, logo guidelines, brand standards & regulations. Non-profit marketing budget management (under $2M). Led outside agency to create B2B advertising campaign, focusing on storytelling B2B client experiences, which are known iconic Vermont brands that utilize Blue Cross products to insure their workforces. A campaign a first-of-its-kind within company. Generated millions of online impressions, high CTRs, leads and RFPs.

Inside Marketing Management & Sales Strategy: Lead marketing efforts with inside sales team to develop tradeshow materials, marketing collateral, sales pitch decks, client retention renewal activities & wellness fairs. Manages internal communications, employee communications, press releases and intranet editorial calendar. Executed all external communications for the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Works with both state and federal agency regulators to gain approvals for all marketing and advertising campaigns.

Product Strategy & Product Improvement Planning: Assumed responsibilities for product strategy and product improvement planning for all B2B products. Developed recommendation leading executive leadership toward combining various internal workstreams to build new cross-functional team focused on product strategy. From there, crafted and introduced new product strategy planning and improvement documents, used research and analytics to fundamentally change how the organization does product innovation from analytics to implementation, consumer adoption and product improvement.

Executive Leadership: Sitting member of multiple executive committees. Worked as thought leader to develop new market segment strategy, a strategy to zero in on the most profitable growth segments in B2B, Individuals & Medicare to off-set risk based capital deficit.

[Gap Years 2020 – 2022: Bought and restored 1900’s vintage farmhouse in Northern Vermont while making career pivot.]

Regional Director, North American Brand Development 2018 to 2020

Best Western Hotels & Resorts Phoenix, AZ & Canada

Recruited by Best Western to infiltrate Canada & rejuvenate stagnant brand growth. B2B focused.

Sales Strategy: Relocated to Montreal, Quebec to build sales strategy, growing Best Western distribution across Eastern Canada. Executed sales deal activity in excess of $200M annually.

Trade & Media Management: Represented brand among Canadian financiers and feasibility analysts. Handled all media inquiries and press coverage for Canadian lodging trade publications. Hosted and participated in key tradeshows & hotelier leadership conferences boosting brand image & sales.

Executive Leadership: Worked with executive leadership and board of directors monthly for deal approvals and pipeline development. Thought leader for Eastern Canada market & segment growth strategy. Utilized Lodging Econometrics, STR Reports and internal market data to support growth trends and planning.

Director, Brand Strategy 2012 to 2015

AvalonBay Communities Arlington, VA

Strategically, repositioned the AvalonBay Communities brands into three distinct brands, appealing to three different audiences. This aligned product strategy, created appealing price points, gained and sustained maximum occupancy and optimized revenue. B2C focus, however required a lot of internal B2B training and sales operations work.

Brand Positioning: Advanced "differentiated branding" into the multi-family industry and created strategy to reposition flagship brand, Avalon, redefining “luxury” apartment rentals in a congested marketplace, for new developments, redevelopments and product repositions. Executed re-imaging & branding efforts for $6.8 Billion real estate acquisition, reimaging 200+ assets within 12 months post-closing. Worked with general counsel, product design, marketing, procurement, customer care & onsite teams to merge each property into a brand portfolio.

Digital Marketing: Delivered a new web experience, new email marketing and drip campaigns, new marketing collateral, new lobby experience, new employee personal style guides and pushed out branded strategy into all touch-points delivering an end-to-end branded experience for customers.

Market Research & Customer Experience: Honed Customer Insights for brand launch(es) by adopting Net Promoter Score (NPS) in areas of customer experience and enhancements. Established thresholds for NPS in key areas of the business cycle to further develop programs that improved customer pain points. New program development included “Clean Sweep,” “Move-Out Appointments,” “Signature Apartments,” and “WAG, a Pet Program.”

Marketing Management: Influenced to leverage change within creative services, digital marketing, customer insights, maintenance service teams and customer care divisions. Supervised and managed all vendor relationships, budgets & contracts, partnerships, including internal cross-functional teams all of which supported the long-term strategy and initiatives. Authored creative briefs, communication pieces for associates, corporate social responsibility reporting and brand performance for annual report.

Executive Leadership: Conducted presentations to Executives and facilitated corporate committees such as: Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Focus Initiative, LEED & Eco-Practices, Engineering & Maintenance and Women's Leadership.

Director, Brand Strategy 2006 to 2012

Choice Hotels International Rockville, MD

As part of the relaunch of Choicehotels.com and the launch of the Choice Hotels app, worked to differentiate the value proposition and positioning for the Quality Inn, Clarion Hotels, MainStay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay Hotels brands. Provided leadership for brand transformations and performance turnarounds. Earned multiple service excellence awards and promotions. B2B and B2C focus:

Brand Strategy: Managed 2,000+ hotel portfolio for franchise development, product improvement plans (PIPs), brand products & service standards, franchise disclosure documents and fees structures. Devised brand performance improvement strategies to differentiate hotel chains by utilizing integrated information and analysis regarding customers, competitors and overall marketplace. Generated actionable strategies that aided performance, positioning, global distribution, revenue and improved KPI competitiveness.

Field Marketing Management: Developed local-level marketing program SMARTMarketing (Strategic Marketing and Resource Tools) for portfolio of 100+ extended stay hotels in the US, while maintaining controlled brand identification and targeted messaging. Over 60% adoption resulting in company savings of over $300K annually.

Sales Strategy: Expanded brand distribution into Canada, overseeing North America relations with franchise owners and Choice Canada subsidiary offices. Led hotel operations migration from U.S. to Canada for extended stay brand management.

Marketing Management: Relaunched brand marketing for Choicehotels.com and Choice Hotels booking app. Leveraged internal departments for corporate communications, ecommerce, creative services, digital marketing, and guest insights to develop annual plans. Supervised and managed all vendor relationships, $250M+ marketing budgets & contracts, brand partnerships, rewards & loyalty marketing. Authored creative briefs, communication pieces for associates, managed trade media publication advertising campaigns.

Agency & Accounts Manager 2004 to 2006

Triad Advertising Canton, MA

Emerged Triad as one of Boston's Top 25 Advertising Agencies based upon increased revenue and client base. Client industries: financial services, senior health care residences, real estate, hospitality, pharmaceuticals and universities.

Service Corps Member 2001 to 2002

AmeriCorps Montpelier, VT

Post 9/11 provided one year of AmeriCorps service to the United States. Earned State of Vermont Governor’s Certificate of Merit and AmeriCorps Service Award.

Senior Marketing Manager 2000 to 2001

Chittenden Bank (now M&T Bank) Burlington, VT

Managed field marketing for all bank branches, philanthropy and community relations support. Managed annual media buy and placements. Assisted Product Managers with development “eBanking for Business” product, and developed all marketing collateral. Managed promotional calendar.

Education

MBA, Marketing, Argosy University, Sarasota, FL

B.S., Business, Champlain College, Burlington, VT

A.S., Marketing Management, Champlain College, Burlington, VT

Graduate Certificate Revenue Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Resort Operations Certificate, Walt Disney World University, Lake Buena Vista, FL

Training & Awards

THRIVE! Leadership Development 2023 Cohort participant

LEAN Manufacturing Training

Strategy & Innovation, STAR Award Choice Hotels International

Leadership, STAR Award Choice Hotels International

Brand Positioning, HSMAI Award (Hospitality Sales Marketing Advertising International)

AmeriCorps Service Award

State of Vermont, Governor’s Merit Award

Service Award, Champlain College

Community Service

Chair, Board of Trustees, Jones Memorial Library, Orleans, VT

Chair, Irasburg Community Fair, Irasburg, VT

Food Prep Volunteer, Central Vermont Meals on Wheels, Montpelier, VT

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