SUMMARY
Corporate communications professional with seasoned creative and professional writing skills, focusing on executive presentations to clients, analysts and internal staff. Extensive experience in all aspects of product marketing, from strategic launch plans to packaging, sales and training materials. Expertise in advertising, project management, and the translation of arcane technical documents into effective marketing tools.
WRITING EXPERIENCE
Proposals, creative briefs, positioning documents, product launch plans, PR releases, demo scripts, packaging content, promotional, training and merchandising materials, tradeshow presentations, sales brochures, e-brochures and web content, direct mail campaigns; radio, television and print advertising; PowerPoint presentations; stage plays and screenplays.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
IBM CORPORATION, ARMONK, NY ••••• - •••••
Executive Communications Specialist, IBM Pervasive Computing •••••
Development of communications vehicles for IBM Pervasive Computing Group executives
Consolidated diverse, specialized IBM Pervasive / Wireless product information decks into clear, comprehensive, strategic “Pervasive Story” presentations, enabling executives to deliver consistent messages tailored to client, analyst and ‘in house’ audience requirements.
Authored concise, informative, motivational executive messages to the extended IBM Pervasive / Wireless team, timed to key product announcements and industry developments.
Marketing Specialist, IBM Consumer Voice Systems •••••
Creation and execution of all marketing deliverables for the launch of IBM ViaVoice consumer software products.
Developed strategic marketing plans, marketing collaterals and packaging, in collaboration with product line manager and development colleagues, for the launch of ViaVoice for Mac, a •••••K + seller rated among Top 5 retail software titles by the New York Times.
Directed re-design of graphics and layout and created new messaging for ViaVoice product packaging, contributing to a •••••% increase in product placement with key retailers.
Extracted salient marketing points from technical ViaVoice functional specification documents, positioning them to the greatest advantage vis a vis the competition in product demo scripts, packaging, sales brochures, web content and other marketing collaterals.
Authored new product, support and promotional messaging on ••••• partnered with web manager to re-design site resulting •••••% increase in online ViaVoice product sales.
Created ViaVoice for Mac and Windows demo scripts, managed budget and third party production of demo CDs in time for product launch, sales and trade show presentations.
Completed, on time and within budget, packaging, marketing and demo materials for ViaVoice PDA titles, which had been ‘thrown into the mix’ in the middle of a product cycle.
Marketing Specialist, IBM PC Company, Consumer Division •••••
Development and execution of IBM Aptiva and Thinkpad retail computer marketing materials
Negotiated authorizations with retail computer business partners for store placement of Aptiva and Thinkpad product merchandising, promotional and training materials.
Managed vendors and coordinated production and distribution of Aptiva and ThinkPad merchandising materials, carefully timed to scheduled promotional and training activities.
Authored training presentations to third party in-store product merchandising staff.
INTELLIGENT ELECTRONICS, INC., ENGLEWOOD, CO ••••• – •••••
Retail Sales Director
Developed retail accounts and identified retail sales opportunities for major national distributor of technology products.
Directed ••••• person sales group covering ••••• + accounts. Achieved •••••% quota attainment, a superior group average during this time period.
WHOLE EARTH ACCESS, BERKELEY, CA••••• ••••• & •••••
General Manager, Computers / Computer Dept. Sales Manager
Created print, radio and TV advertising campaigns for WEA computer products.
Increased GPD •••••% through sell-through sales training and total revamping of sales incentives, commissions and warranty sales programs.
Managed multi-store sales associate and computer service technician staff.
FRY’S ELECTRONICS, PALO ALTO / MANHATTAN BEACH, CA••••• ••••• Advertising Specialist / Computer Department Manager
Planned, created and placed ROP advertising for computer products. •••••
Opened computer superstore in Manhattan Beach, first store outside Fry’s core San Jose market, registering $••••• million first year sales. Hired and trained all department employees.
•••••
A+ COMPUTERS, BEND, OR••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• to •••••
Sales Associate
•••••
RUTH KAHN COMPUTER LEARNING CENTER, BEND, OR ••••• ••••• to •••••
Instructor
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER, CO
B.A., philosophy and history
SOFTWARE SKILLS
Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Lotus Notes, Adobe Acrobat, Final Draft
