Benjamin Bienert Email & Phone Number

Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

Leading brand building for all CPW global cereal brands across 100+ countries.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

General manager driving top line, bottom line and share growth of $1.6 Billion Pillsbury Franchise across 3 categories with full P&L accountability. Responsible for building, developing and leading a team of 6 direct reports and executing all levers of the P&L including brand strategy, pricing, product news, cost management, portfolio management, and retail strategy.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Delivered $85 Million annually to re-invest back into the $2B cereal P&L through revenue management (pricing) and Margin Management (cost savings) strategies. My work allows us to keep investing our terrific brands! I lead the development of our strategic long-range plans for Revenue and Margin Management to ensure we can continue to re-invest every year. I also lead a team of two direct reports and 20+ indirect reports, across all functions of the organization, to execute key projects that… Show more Delivered $85 Million annually to re-invest back into the $2B cereal P&L through revenue management (pricing) and Margin Management (cost savings) strategies. My work allows us to keep investing our terrific brands! I lead the development of our strategic long-range plans for Revenue and Margin Management to ensure we can continue to re-invest every year. I also lead a team of two direct reports and 20+ indirect reports, across all functions of the organization, to execute key projects that deliver our annual plan targets. This role is highly matrixed and relies on strong influence and negotiation skills with senior leaders to achieve buy-in and resourcing support (talent and capital). In the end, I have to convince other people to believe my strategies are the best way to continuously deliver P&L fuel for growing cereal in America! Show less

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Ran the $1+ Billion Cheerios P&L inclusive of pricing, volume forecasting and revenue driving executions. Analyzed business history in order to lead brand strategy and annual planning process and creation of the Long Range Plan. Led TV communication creation (briefing, feedback, production shoots) and launched the "Good Goes Round" platform. Managed media and creative agency relationships, media planning & budgeting and execution of the Cheerios campaign from idea to connections in market… Show more Ran the $1+ Billion Cheerios P&L inclusive of pricing, volume forecasting and revenue driving executions. Analyzed business history in order to lead brand strategy and annual planning process and creation of the Long Range Plan. Led TV communication creation (briefing, feedback, production shoots) and launched the "Good Goes Round" platform. Managed media and creative agency relationships, media planning & budgeting and execution of the Cheerios campaign from idea to connections in market. Built and executed in-store events including an event around our partnership with The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Show less

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Manage the $1 Billion Walmart cereal business. Serve as a conduit between the brand teams and the regional sales office to drive alignment and completion of key initiatives. Steward brand initiatives and co-develop innovation ideas that generate demand and garner incremental display opportunities in store. Execute marketing surround plans to activate against key initiatives and achieve differential business performance.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Commercialized new products for the Frozen Breakfast, Cookies and Sweet Rolls businesses. Led a product renovation across the entire Toaster Strudel portfolio (18 SKUs) in less than 6 months from kick-off to start-ship. Developed a seasonal sweet rolls strategy to capitalize on seasonal impulse from sweet consumers. Led cross-functional teams across three product platforms to execute innovation strategies and deliver new products with in business parameters (cost, time, etc...)

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

The Carlson Brand Enterprise program provides the opportunity to work on real projects for real clients. During my time in the Brand Enterprise I worked in teams of 4 to 5 people on projects for General Mills, Covidien, and DreamWorks Animation. These projects focused on digital marketing and advertising, competitive strategy around a new product innovation and determining brand equity for future commercialization. These projects were 14 weeks long, involved weekly updates with client contacts… Show more The Carlson Brand Enterprise program provides the opportunity to work on real projects for real clients. During my time in the Brand Enterprise I worked in teams of 4 to 5 people on projects for General Mills, Covidien, and DreamWorks Animation. These projects focused on digital marketing and advertising, competitive strategy around a new product innovation and determining brand equity for future commercialization. These projects were 14 weeks long, involved weekly updates with client contacts and delivered data-driven strategic analysis and recommendations to senior officers in the company. Show less

Camden, Nj

Performed brand management projects for the All-Family Beverage team (V8 Splash, V8 V-Fusion). During the summer I analyzed IRi market data of major brands in shelf-stable juice and derived valuable insights and key success factors. I also created a performance-based and data driven tool to identify trends in the category. Focusing on the consumer, I was able to partner with current brand managers and cross-functional stakeholders to create consumer profiles for each brand that will drive a… Show more Performed brand management projects for the All-Family Beverage team (V8 Splash, V8 V-Fusion). During the summer I analyzed IRi market data of major brands in shelf-stable juice and derived valuable insights and key success factors. I also created a performance-based and data driven tool to identify trends in the category. Focusing on the consumer, I was able to partner with current brand managers and cross-functional stakeholders to create consumer profiles for each brand that will drive a future flavor strategy. Additionally, I worked with a social media content creator to help generate ideas for the FY14 Facebook marketing plan. Furthermore, I led a discussion on how to drive brand awareness among African American and Hispanic households in the value segment of the shelf-stable juice category. Show less

Albuquerque, New Mexico Area

As a Team Leader I managed a team of 30 technicians with day to day operations in a manufacturing environment. This included managing production schedules, operating costs and any production issues on shift. I also led climate score increases of my team through regularly scheduled team building activities and transparency across all roles. To foster continuous employee development, I arranged for team members to actively participate and lead trainings in the plant.

Albuquerque, New Mexico Area

This was a rotational role in areas of engineering, safety, finance and operations to prepare me for a future leadership role of a Team Leader. While in these rotations I supported start-ups of Chocolate and Banana Nut Cheerios, created financial tools to improve accuracy of financial planning projections and led a packaging department of 14 technicians in daily operations.

Master Of Business Administration (Mba), Marketing

B.S., Mechanical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Chamber Singers member Men's Chorus Member