Barney Waters Email & Phone Number

Los Angeles, California, United States

Los Angeles, California, United States

• Steered company back to growth and profitability post-Covid, with record year in 2021.
• Created 3-year growth plan incorporating omni-channel growth strategy, G&A expense savings, margin improvement, product category expansion and operational effectiveness.
• Aligned company around single brand vision and purpose, centered on California Vision.
• Managing P&L, forecasting, pricing, margin analysis and work with CFO on cash flow.
• Repositioned sub-brand Mr. Leight to allow for incremental growth and price diversification.
• Oversee Operations, Logistics, IT, Legal and HR along with the commercial aspects of the business.

Los Angeles, CA

• Responsible for all aspects of the K-Swiss brand globally, managing revenue, operating expenses, profitability, and driving achievement of targets.
• Turned US region around in year 1, from -25% future bookings to a revenue gain for full year 2016.
• Cut global expenses by $10M and profitability improved by $3M in year 1.
• Double digit revenue growth in 2018 and a return to global profitability in year 3.
• Managed through two acquisitions, Eland Korea in 2013 and Xtep China in 2019.
• Revenue generation through wholesale, direct-to-consumer, distributors and licensees.

• Lead the rebuilding of the flagship K-Swiss brand, focusing on competitive differentiation, and creating disruptive brand campaigns in the digital space.
• Created a modern and differentiated brand platform around Entrepreneurship, on the premise that today’s youth want to be entrepreneurs more than athletes.
• Partnered with famed entrepreneur Gary Vee to create the first signature sneaker for an entrepreneur, selling 50,000 pairs across 5 releases.
• Created ‘The Board’ marketing campaign with Diplo, offering consumers the opportunity to work with K-Swiss on the brand relaunch, making real decisions for the brand.
• Oversaw brand strategy, marketing, product management and product design for a portfolio of global lifestyle brands, including K-Swiss and Palladium.
• Created overarching brand purpose for each brand, to forge authentic consumer connection.

Westlake Village, CA

• Lead the global relaunch of Palladium, a heritage footwear brand acquired by K-Swiss. Starting from a $24M regional European business, created a globally relevant brand with $110M in sales in four years.
• Starting from scratch, created brand I.D, brand positioning, distribution strategy, web presence, media planning, launch events, retail model and trade shows.
• Created ‘Engineered for City Terrain’ brand platform, executed in 75 countries around the World.
• Created innovative brand campaigns including digital content and short films, with Johnny Knoxville and Pharrell Williams, in partnership with Vice Media.
• Created product collaborations with Stussy, Maharishi, Neil Barrett and others.
• Drove global distribution strategy, product direction and all product initiatives.

Boston, MA

• Owned and implemented PUMA’s brand and marketing strategy in the North American market. Lead all aspects of marketing within North America, including:
• Ground-up recruitment of 25-person marketing team.
• Consumer definition and segmentation.
• Media strategy and planning.
• Branded content and advertising development.
• Sports marketing, including soccer, baseball, running, golf, action sports and motorsports.

Boston, MA

Creation of marketing strategy, value propositions, offers and marketing tactics to target business contacts with technology solutionsIdentify prospects and create compelling offers to generate new leads for software sales team.Lead and manage a team of 8 marketing executives and a $2M marketing budget.

Lead a team of 6 marketing managers to design and execute integrated marketing programs targeted at key decision makers in the mid tier market segment (customers with 500-3000 employees) to generate qualified leads.

Development of recruitment, accreditation and incentive programs for authorized resellers.Development of marketing programs to drive sales through designated channels, such as direct mail, trial software programs and local seminars.