Bernard Silverman Ph.D.

Address: *** *. **** ***, **********, IL 60563

Phone: 630-***-**** or ad3vdd@r.postjobfree.com

Objective:

To conduct and/or manage research and apply findings to solve business problems contributing to profitability, including customer acquisition, customer loyalty (persistency), enhancing customer value, new product development and creative positioning in either a business to business or business to consumer setting. Would consider project/contract work.

Qualifications:

An innovative, analytical thinker, able to quickly recast business challenges into research methodologies and research findings into practical marketing activities. Conducted, managed, presented, and sold marketing research. Experienced on both the client and supplier sides. Areas of expertise include direct marketing, retailing, financial services (insurance, credit), supplemental health care (dental, vision and drug plans), and hospitality (restaurants, casinos, hotels). Specific qualifications include:

Developed/managed/strategically applied response, profitability, and persistency models. Managed the integration of NPV analysis to customer acquisition. Taught modeling course for Chicago Association of Direct Marketing.

Over 25 years experience applying qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Designed and moderated almost 1,000 focus groups (with both consumers and professionals, e.g. dentists, lawyers, insurance agents, etc.) in areas of creative refinement, new product development, and product/store/process evaluation. Comfortable with one-on-ones. Excellent statistician (have taught marketing research and statistics in an MBA program for 30+ years).

Designed and conducted new product concept tests. One of the first to employ Power Analysis to structure “guaranteed readable” live tests of products sold direct. Published Power Analysis articles in the Direct Marketing Association’s Research Council Journal.

Personally sold between $500,000 and $900,000 of marketing research from 1998 to 2002.

First in direct marketing to use computer-assisted focus groups to monitor consumers’ moment-to-moment reactions to direct mail copy and direct TV advertising.

Adept at client presentations. Made numerous presentations at conventions as well as provided support to sales staff when prospecting and then when delivering results and business implications.

Founded, edited, published, and marketed the Journal of Direct Marketing Research, the first scholarly journal in the direct marketing field.

Management style creates a supportive environment and a cohesive work force. Several of those who have worked with me at one company have moved to work with me at another. I take pride in paying attention to what my direct reports are doing and giving advice and direction as needed while at the same time getting out of the way as much as possible and giving credit to those who do the work.

Experience:

Senior Research Manager, Maritz Research (Oak Brook, IL): 2004-2008

Manage ad hoc and tracking studies for companies in the financial services and hospitality industry. Job entails writing proposals, consulting with clients, constructing questionnaires, coordinating both on-line and CATI survey administration, conducting and coordinating statistical analyses, writing reports, and making presentations. Clients include Bell South, Regions Bank, Foxwood’s Casino, The Venetian, Famous Dave’s and Subway.

President, Bernard Silverman & Affiliates (Naperville, IL): 2002-2004, 2010-15

Sold, designed, and conducted surveys, focus groups, and depth interviews and provided consulting services to companies that used data base marketing as one of their distribution channels. Clients included The Chicago Tribune, Mutual of Omaha, ServiceMaster, Bank of America, GE Financial Assurance, ACE INA Insurance, Zurich Life, Trans Union, US Cellular, R. R. Donnelley, Subway, Tough Mudder, Zoro, and several medium sized advertising agencies. Research focused on new product development, creative refinement, and decreasing customer attrition.

Vice President of Research, Market USA (Des Plaines, IL): 1998-2002

Launched, organized and led the research division of Market USA, one of the nation’s largest telemarketers, with over $75 million in sales. Responsibilities, for clients such as Blue Cross of Pennsylvania, Zurich Life, GE Financial Assurance, Sears, Microsoft, Readers Digest, Rave Girl and several advertising agencies, include:

Managing a department of three researchers.

Assessing clients’ needs, write proposals, conduct research, and make marketing recommendations.

Designing, organizing, and moderating focus groups. Writing surveys (mall intercepts, phone, mail and Internet), and managing the construction of models for direct sold products.

Collaborating with advertising agencies providing research services to their clients.

Prospecting for clients directly, personally selling over $500,000 in research annually.

Data Base Marketing Officer, Zurich Kemper Insurance (Schaumburg, IL): 1997-1998

Served as an internal consultant to both Zurich Kemper Life ($460,000,000 in agent sold life insurance premium) and to Zurich Direct using direct television, radio, and print advertising combined with in-bound telemarketing to sell quality term life coverage. Consulted with Zurich Direct during their start-up (designing their first readable direct mail test, managing model construction, interpreting and presenting findings). I…

Conducted survey research and moderated focus groups in support of Zurich Direct’s entry into the small business life, and auto and homeowner’s insurance markets.

Laid the groundwork for the construction of a policyholder data base by mapping out the location of data on several files. Identified needed elements for marketing efforts.

Built response model for Zurich direct.

Vice President of Research, Customer Development Corporation (Peoria, IL): 1992-1997

Customer Development Corporation was a $110,000,000 direct mail/data base advertising agency, used targeted mailing campaigns to drive consumers into branches of banks, finance companies, retailers, and insurance agencies. Duties included:

Managing a department of eleven research professionals

Presenting, selling, and then providing research services (NPV calculations, database construction, scoring equations, cross-selling analysis, and focus groups) to existing clients such as Beneficial Finance, Household Finance, Avco, and Allstate. Won “President’s Award” in 1993 for helping save largest account by constructing suite of scoring equations that resulted in more precise prediction of loan renewals in various subgroups.

Selling and conducting focus group and survey research for “research only” clients such as Sears, Sears Catalog, Montgomery Ward, and Prudential/AARP.

AVP of Consumer Research, The Signature Group (Schaumburg, IL): 1979-1992

The Signature Group, at $400,000,000 in annual sales, was a leading provider of direct sold club and supplemental insurance services to large credit card files, such as that of Montgomery Ward, its parent company. Played the role of marketer as much as marketing researcher in designing and testing new products such as Signature Dental Plan and Dining a la Card. Responsibilities included…

Starting, and then managing a research department of four, providing a full range of consumer oriented marketing research services for Montgomery Ward Life (life, health, casualty products) and Montgomery Ward Enterprises club services (auto club, dental plan, legal plan, credit card security, and home protection plan).

Using regression and clustering techniques to segment and select outside lists, used surveys and dry tests to investigate the viability of new product concepts, and used moment–to-moment computer assisted focus groups to refine direct mail and telemarketing creative.

Educational Background:

B.A. in Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

M.A. in Social Psychology, Michigan State University

Ph.D. in Social Psychology, Michigan State University

Additional Information:

From 2008 (Sept) to 2010 (Feb) I was Vice President of Research at DataCo – a database marketing research company in Arlington Heights Illinois.

Registered Psychologist, State of Illinois

Technical skills include SPSS, Word, PowerPoint, Excel

For the past 37 years I taught continuously at the MBA level, one course per term, at Benedictine University. Courses taught include quantitative methods (business statistics), marketing research, and direct marketing. Prior to teaching part-time, I received tenure as Associate Professor of Psychology at Roosevelt University in 1978. I have published over 20 articles in academic and trade journals. I founded, edited, published, and marketed the Journal of Direct Marketing Research, the first quasi-academic journal in the direct marketing field.

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS:

Maloney, John & Silverman, B. (editors). Attitude Research Plays for High Stakes. Chicago. American Marketing Association. 1979

ARTICLES:

1. Silverman, B. The use of focus groups in direct marketing research. DMA Research Council Journal. 1999, 4, 23-31

2. Silverman, B. How many to test: Another look at Power Analysis. DMA Research Council Journal. 1998, 3, 1-9

3. Silverman, B. Using magic number tables to design direct marketing tests – achieving the power and confidence you desire. DMA Research Council Journal. 1997, 2, 22-26

4. Silverman, B. Designing direct mail tests: Power and Confidence. DMA Research Council Journal. 1996, 1, 6-10

5. Silverman, B. Why rollouts almost never do as well as tests. Journal of Direct Marketing Research. 1986, 1, 105-115

6. Silverman, B. Marketing research in Fact Book: An overview of direct Marketing and Direct Response Advertising. New York. Direct Marketing Association. 1986, 89-104

7. Etzel, M. & Silverman, B. A management perspective on directions for retail customer dissatisfaction research. Journal of Retailing. 1981, 57, 124-136

8. Silverman, B. Test bias and ability level testing. Journal of School Psychology. 1979, 17, 255-259

9. Silverman, B. Barton, F. & Lyons, M. Minority group status and bias in college admission criteria. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1976, 36, 401-407

10. Silverman, B. Jaffe, J. & Bishop, G. F. Terminal and instrumental values of American psychology graduate students. Psychology Reports. 1976, 39, 1099-1108. Also excerpted in Human Behavior. 1977, 6, 22-23

11. Silverman, B. Reverse discrimination. Peabody Journal of Education. 1975, 52, 116-121

12. Silverman, B. and Battram, S. Canadians and Americans mutual awareness. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 1975. 7, 104-117

13. Silverman, B. Studies of Astrology. Journal of Psychology. 1971, 77, 141-149. Also excerpted in Human Behavior, 1975, 4, 131

14. Silverman, B. and Battram, S. Canadians and Americans national impressions. Sociology and Social Research. 1975, 59, 163-170

15. Silverman, B. Consequences, racial discrimination, and the principle of belief congruence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1974, 29 497-508. Also reprinted in Thomas Blass’ Contemporary Social Psychology. Itasca. F.E Peacock, Inc. 1976, 108-127.

16. Silverman, B. and Whitmer, M. Astrological Indicators of Personality. Journal of Psychology. 1974, 87, 89-95

17. Polite, C. Cochrane, R. & Silverman, B. Ethnic group identification and differentiation. Journal of Social Psychology. 1974, 92, 149-150

18. Silverman, B. and Cochrane, R. The effect of the social context on the principle of belief congruence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1972, 22, 259-268

19. Kelly, K. Silverman, B. and Cochrane, R. Social desirability and the Rokeach Value Survey. Journal of Experimental Research in Personality. 1972, 6, 84-87

20. Bishop, G. and Silverman. B. Contemporary campus-issue orientations among college students. College Student Survey. . 1971, 5, 55-58

21. Silverman, B. and Cochrane, R. The relationship between verbal expressions of behavioral intention and overt behavior. Journal of Social Psychology. 1971, 84, 51-56

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