Natasha Forouzannia
Chicago, IL
OBJECTIVE
SKILLS
Business Marketing; strong organizational, interpersonal and time management abilities; Internet, Social Networks-advanced; Microsoft Office Applications-advanced; SAP–proficient; Spanish and Farsi–beginner/conversational
PERFORMANCE
Known by supervisors, co-workers, and clients as “market savvy; takes initiative, dependable, innovative; analytical, quick learner, energetic, good listener, independent worker and team player, and often witty and funny”
EDUCATION
Michigan State University: Eli Broad College of Business; East Lansing, MI
Degree: Bachelor of Arts, Business Marketing Graduated: December 2008
Marketing Core GPA: 4.0; Overall GPA: 3.1
EXPERIENCE
Associate Retail Channel Manager, Newell-Rubbermaid, Writing, Oak Brook, IL
(2/13- Present)
Brands:
Sharpie, Paper Mate, Expo, Uniball
Managed Accounts: Bed, Bath &
Beyond, Toys R Us, Buy Buy Baby, Burlington Coat Factory, JCP, Sports
Authority, Lowe’s, Home Depot, ACE
- Support 13 retail accounts
with strategic planning and custom merchandising options to present to
customers
- Serve as main contact for
sales reps for any product or brand knowledge, generation of creative
assets and/or merchandising options, financial feasibility and sale
execution
- Work with Creative and
Packaging team to develop customer specific display vehicles, signage and
promotional literature
- Guide creative
development to align all
merchandising graphics with product assortment, customer specific requests,
strengthen and maintain brand image, style guide consistency and
competitive advantages on all creative communication
- Use SAP on a daily basis
to gain product data and insights
- Communicate with supply
chain to input forecasts while working within capacity allowances and production
timelines
- Work with packaging
engineers to obtain materials, L&OH estimates and innovative solutions
to customer specific requests
- Utilize E&O opportunities
to help reduce inventory
- Perform new item and
creative setups with internal systems
- Responsible for P&L
creation and management with weekly Investment Council meetings to discuss
strategic approval
- Collaborate with sales
reps to utilize and properly present brand IMP plans and social media
strengths to customers
Channel Analyst, Newell-Rubbermaid, Writing and Creative Expressions, Oak Brook, IL
(3/12- 2/13)
Brands: Sharpie, Paper Mate, Expo, Uniball,
Prismacolor
- Maintained previous Asst. Channel
Manager role and responsibilities for Office Max New Business Development
- Used current retail data
to create pricing analyses for all writing and marking categories to
provide insights to channel, brand and sales to build a competitive and
brand conscious pricing strategy for existing and new products
- Collaborated with Business
Insights to deliver strategic recommendations on competitive pricing
- Created product margin
analyses for all categories to support the VP of North America sales and
channel with building sales strategies
- Pulled POS and Nielsen
data to support strategic decision making or track product performance
Assistant Channel Manager, Newell-Rubbermaid, Writing and Creative
Expressions, Oak Brook, IL (4/11- 3/12)
Brands:
Sharpie, Paper Mate, Expo, Uniball,
Prismacolor
Channel Management Responsibilities:
Assisted Clubs, Dollar Stores and Office Max New Business Development Channels (Food, Drug, Mass) with the following:
Assisted Clubs, Dollar Stores and Office Max New Business Development Channels (Food, Drug, Mass) with the following:
- Performed new item and
creative setups with internal systems
- Supported the sales teams with channel
specific strategic plans to present to customers
- Used SAP on a daily basis
to gain product data and insights
- Communicated with supply
chain to input forecasts while working within capacity allowances
- Worked with packaging
engineers to obtain materials, L&OH estimates and innovative solutions
to customer specific packaging
- Utilized E&O
opportunities to help reduce inventory
- Collaborated with brand to
strengthen and maintain brand image, consistency and competitive
advantages on all creative communication
- Performed P&L creation
and management
- Attended professional
onsite customer meetings on a regular basis
- Brainstormed with sales
and packaging to create strategic pack/display configurations and
merchandising
- Served as channel lead to
all retail and commercial channels for creation and implementation of new
global forecast kit
Commercial
Responsibilities:
- Maintained and updated
commercial reference files that identified improvement opportunities and
share potential
- Managed three national
tradeshows (NEA, IAAP, NAEA) across six different brands (Sharpie,
PaperMate, Uniball, Expo, Dymo, Prismacolor) including tradeshow contract
and sponsorship negotiations, managed sponsorship creative assets for all
brands and all media platforms, managed vendor relations and payments,
managed shipments of all samples and tradeshow assets, lead meetings with
brand and creative, participated in show execution, assisted with budget
management, debriefed brand teams for improvements
- Revamped commercial sales tools by updating and redesigning nationally used presentations
Media Associate, Starcom, Hallmark-Strategy, Chicago, IL (5/10- 4/11)
• Gained complete knowledge of Digital, TV, Radio, Local and OOH advertising through Starcom's Connections College (An internal college for new hires to gain an extensive understanding of advertising through every platform, 300+ hours)
• Participated in strategy development for all media for integrated promotions; from team brainstorming to independent research
• Created media authorizations for Hallmark Gold Crown initiative; responsible for all authorization management and tracking
• Collaborated with Digital, Television and Print activation teams to ensure proper campaign execution that met client objectives
• Worked with Vendor partners to monitor and ensure delivery of campaigns while providing regular status updates to client
• Lead on all client Digital, Broadcast, Print and Unwired monthly billing and all projects effecting or requiring billing/budget data
• Lead on flowchart management that communicates to the client all budget, campaign, and goal changes in media plan
• Lead on all Print added value execution; managed assets and deadlines between publications and clients
• Utilized strategic media and research programs (MRI, Adviews, Google Agencyland, Starcom: Space for Ideas) to gain consumer insights for target building, perform competitive analysis, gain industry knowledge and for efficient strategic planning
• Participated in strategy development for all media for integrated promotions; from team brainstorming to independent research
• Created media authorizations for Hallmark Gold Crown initiative; responsible for all authorization management and tracking
• Collaborated with Digital, Television and Print activation teams to ensure proper campaign execution that met client objectives
• Worked with Vendor partners to monitor and ensure delivery of campaigns while providing regular status updates to client
• Lead on all client Digital, Broadcast, Print and Unwired monthly billing and all projects effecting or requiring billing/budget data
• Lead on flowchart management that communicates to the client all budget, campaign, and goal changes in media plan
• Lead on all Print added value execution; managed assets and deadlines between publications and clients
• Utilized strategic media and research programs (MRI, Adviews, Google Agencyland, Starcom: Space for Ideas) to gain consumer insights for target building, perform competitive analysis, gain industry knowledge and for efficient strategic planning
Marketing Co-op, Kohler Co., Marketing, Kohler, WI (1/09- 9/09)
• Prepare, update and enhance sales presentations used by every domestic and international sales division
• Communicate all marketing and product updates to all domestic and international sales divisions
• Assist with updating, detailing and coordination of division website content and image
• Conduct inventory analysis, forecasts, and sales reports in SAP
• Edit and improve published new product ads and brochures; participate in corresponding budget planning
• Analyze and organize customer and product survey data; report trends
• Identify competitors and potential market share; conduct market segmentation analyses and visual reports
• Supervise the authorization progress of marketing Authorized Corporate Transaction requests
• Coordinate and update Product Options Catalog for sales and customer tool
• Participate, organize, and plan company events as a member of Kohler College Committee
Marketing Intern, DTE Energy, Strategic Marketing, Detroit, MI (5/08- 8/08)
• Assisted with company deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot
• Promoted renewable energy program, GreenCurrents; scheduled staffing at local events
• Created GreenCurrents event training packet and conducted training workshop for 20+ participants
• Performed data analysis of account cancellations
Marketing Research Assistant, Michigan State University, Eli Broad College of Business: Marketing Department, East Lansing, MI (1/08-5/08)
• Performed content analysis with Atlas.ti software; Strategic orientation coding of 100+ annual reports
Willing to Travel - Domestic/International
Willing to Relocate
