02
our clients. lifestyle consumer brands in north america + asia
STUDIO MUNGE
TORONTO, CANADA
ROLE Business + Management Consultant I 8 Month Project I 2012 - 2013
Studio munge is an award-winning, internationally recognized interior design firm. The company’s goal was to better position the brand for expansion in the luxury hospitality market into the us + international market
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​TMS ACTIVATION Mark lead an in-depth discovery session to provide a company-wide proposal that included a strategic plan + communication strategy to improve awareness with high profile prospects. He also implemented measures to improve the in-house marketing team’s capability + work efficiency and provided the management team with hr recommendations to improve company engagement
BIGBIG
SHANGHAI, CHINA
ROLE Brand + Marketing Strategist I 5-Month Project I 2019
BIGBIG, a shanghai-based luxury women’s activewear start-up required strategy and marketing support for the brands global market entry through an
E-commerce platform (via Shopify), company website and
US launch
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​TMS ACTIVATION Mark embarked on a full-up brand identity and customer proposition build. The project scope included: researching the category, competition and marketplace; building its brand positioning + customer segmentation strategy; and developing its go-to-market strategy + communication plan for its e-commerce, trade + retail channels
HSBC
TORONTO, CANADA + NYC, USA
ROLE Marketing + Management Consultant I 5-Month Project I 2014
HSBC was on deadline to relaunch HSBC Advance, a retail product re-engineered to target the ‘Emerging Affluent’. They needed someone to lead, build and activate the program for the North American launch
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​TMS ACTIVATION Mark lead the HSBC marketing team in Toronto + NYC with an in-depth review to build-out the product benefits and customer positioning. He was the point person to their creative + media agencies to build the go-to-market strategy, communication + creative plan. Additionally, he supported the SVP with a recommendation to optimize their North American structure + improve team business capability + work efficiency
J.WALTER THOMPSON AGENCY (JWT)
TORONTO, CANADA
ROLE Brand + Management Consultant I 8-Month Project I 2013 - 2014
JWT was one of Canada’s largest and most successful advertising agencies with Tim Hortons, Walmart + HSBC as clients. The prestigious $20+mm Air Canada account was in play for an agency review. JWT’s CEO hired trademark strategy to provide facts + insights on the airline industry to educate the ‘pitch’ team and give them the edge it was looking for to beat out the 20+ competing agencies
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​TMS ACTIVATION Mark provided in-depth information, strategy and presentation recommendations throughout the RFP process. After a rigorous 3-month battle, JWT was victorious! He continued working for the CEO on a number of key priorities including supporting the seasonal strategic plan build for its Walmart client; senior team talent acquisition support; and providing process improvement ideas for its account management team
JACKMAN REINVENTS
TORONTO, CANADA + ASHEVILLE, NC USA
ROLE Strategy Consultant I 5-Month Project I 2014 - 2015
Jackman Reinvents is known as the McKinsey of retail for North America. Their client, NY-based Oak Hill Capital had acquired a 40-store organic grocery chain based in Asheville, NC in 2012. Fast forward two years, jackman recognized the need for a seasoned marketer to lead its team of consultants on-the-ground for their rebrand activation
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​TMS ACTIVATION Mark commuted to Asheville, functioning as the go-between Jackman’s’ Toronto office and the client directly to ensure initiatives in play were on-brand. Additionally, he provided recommendations to the client’s Marketing VP to improve workflow, organizational structure and planning processes
EARTH FARE
ASHEVILLE NC, USA
ROLE VP Marketing I 24-Month Project I 2015 - 2017
Oak Hill Capital recognized Earth Fare was a ‘diamond in the rough’. The US consumer was moving to ‘healthier’ eating and the natural + organic grocery chain was positioned well to tap into this market. Jackman Reinvents was hired to completely overhaul the brand but the client needed a full-time senior marketer to activate the company’s business plan and new brand identity
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​TMS ACTIVATION Earth Fare hired Mark as its VP Marketing for a two-year contract. Continuing the momentum established at Jackman, he worked to further amplify the Earth Fare story and refine its marketing strategy. Specifically: building + directing a 20+ person in-house team, annual promotional plan + store opening strategy and company website re-build
FASHION CARES
TORONTO, CANADA
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ROLE Philanthropic Brand + Marketing Strategist I Ongoing Project I 2020+
Fashion Cares was the longest running Canadian fundraiser against the fight against HIV/AIDS raising over $13mm from 1987-2012. The event attracted the attention of thousands for its spectacular shows and celebrity appearances: RuPaul, Katy Perry and Elton John …. There is a plan currently underway to create a retrospective exhibition of the show + its history over a multi-year, national tour
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​TMS ACTIVATION Mark volunteers his time to support the curation of the 1000+ garments. He is working closely with the co-chairs, building the exhibition proposals and ‘pitch’ decks for key audiences:
I). Exhibitors - provincially run museums + galleries
II). Government grants - national, provincial and municipal
III). Corporate + private sponsorship
PARTY CITY HOLDINGS (PCHI)
ROLE Strategy & Activation Consultant I 8-Month Project I 2020/21
PCHI is the world’s largest vertically integrated supplier of party goods and America’s premier retailer of Halloween costumes, accessories and decorations. Party City, it's US retail division has over 900 stores and +10MM online customers. Anagram Balloons is the global leader in marketshare and innovation for the $1+ billion foil balloon market.
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TMS ACTIVATION Mark supported PCHI's divisional marcomm teams with strategy development (communication & project briefings) to activate projects with its internal team and external agency partners. He provided day-to-day oversight of communication program development and implementation. In addition, he built the strategy to introduce ‘Innovation’ as a key business and communication pillar and operationalized a more efficient approach for its omni-channel planning process with its retail division.
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