Natalie Berger Email & Phone Number

Shanghai, China

Hong Kong Sar

Oversee integrated brand and seasonal marketing plans balancing and prioritizing business & category initiatives to tell the most engaging story while increasing brand relevance across Asia Pacific.Develop and execute major regional marketing campaigns for product launches, promotions, and digital & loyalty initiatives for all 15 Starbucks Asia Pacific licensee markets. Lead execution of regional marketing campaigns for 7 seasonal windows, including visual merchandising guidelines, leveraging global marketing creative narratives and guidelines, adapted to deliver local relevance. Strategize, shape, and unlock the potential in in-store, out of store and social media marketing innovation considering varying levels of brand maturity throughout the region. Lead an outstanding team of marketing professionals and collaborate directly with 15 in-market category leads elevating the customer experience for Starbucks.Manage large global, and local creative agencies, to deliver desired scope on-budget, within designated hours and with quality output while maintaining strong professional relationships. Led and organized a 400+ person cross functional leadership conference for all Asia Pacific Starbucks leadership in Bali, Indonesia to foster shared collaboration, drive best practice sharing and enhance professional development while meeting budget objectives.

Hong Kong

Oversaw and managed the design, development and commercialization of regional merchandise and packaged coffee business, delivering $400M sales. Created and executed 5+ year strategic objectives for the Merchandise & At Home Coffee categories in Asia Pacific, meeting growth targets of +20% annually. Set highly diversified assortment strategy, led product development, and set strategic direction of all products sold in the retail lobby across 15 licensed Starbucks markets in Asia Pacific Led the business through sustainability efforts by researching and onboarding new vendors to the matrix with varied capabilities to meet our long-term corporate vision and objectives. Integrated trend travel, material research, and design thinking into foundations of product assortment considering a wide array of varied customer preferences across the 15 markets across Asia Pacific Consistently collaborated with 15 category managers leading Coffee and Merchandise within Asia Pacific, being a steward of the brand and helping set product strategies for their category. Managed and coached a team of two direct reports, who supervised development and management of all coffee and merchandise related product for all Starbucks stores across Asia.

Hong Kong

Designed and implemented a unique brand collaboration strategy for the Asia Pacific region leading the company in global partnerships.Led the development of all product platforms and product-related marketing opportunities for Starbucks Asia Pacific retail merchandise from concept through commercialization, resulting in over 400 new products delivered annually. Negotiated and partnered with external design agencies to deliver relevant and impactful merchandise designs for Asia Pacific.Collaborated with cross-functional teams including Design, Quality Control, Sourcing, Supply Chain and Marketing, to drive retail and category priorities and support growth of the Asia Pacific regional merchandise business.Delivered a cohesive merchandise assortment through strategic supplier selection and cross-functional partnerships focused on ROI.International and multicultural collaboration with 15 individual Asia Pacific countries with annual travel to build successful partnerships and gather local trend and business insights.

Greater Seattle Area

Greater Seattle Area

Lead the development of new products and product-related marketing opportunities for Starbucks China & Asia Pacific retail merchandise from concept through commercialization.Responsible for delivering brand appropriate and revenue-driving merchandising strategies for 9 annual development cycles, including Holiday and Summer, two of the biggest campaign windows for the Asia Pacific region.Develop 200+ promotional SKUs annually that support the Starbucks business objectives and brand approach.Lead design creative & objective briefs with internal design studio for each development cycle, and establish merchandise collections based on country-level insight and trend-based product research.Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Design, Quality Control, Sourcing, Supply Chain and Marketing, to drive retail and category priorities and support growth of the Asia Pacific regional merchandise business.Deliver a cohesive merchandise assortment through strategic supplier selection and cross-functional partnerships focused on ROI.International and multicultural collaboration with 15 individual Asia Pacific countries with annual travel to build successful partnerships and gather local trend and business insights.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Manage negotiations and strategically source high-quality, trend-right merchandise for Target's private label Picture Frame and Mirror departments, while continually meeting demanding costing and gross margin goals. Implement both short (seasonal) and long-term sourcing strategies considering factors such as individual country capability and supplier ability, capacities and growth plans. Managed and diversified supplier relationships in order to execute creative product designs, ensure product quality, and offer speed to market, all while maximizing profitability and mitigating risk. Collaborate with cross-functional team on a daily basis (Buyer, Design, Technical, Packaging, Quality Control, Merchandise Planning) to deliver merchandise from concept to stores according to company quality, design and cost specifications.Work with the design/technical team during the development process to identify markets and suppliers for requested materials, finishes and products. Elevate vendor performance through coaching, communication of expectations and continuous feedback, resulting in improved year over year performance. Coordinate all sourcing processes to successfully execute and deliver Target products on time, meeting the design, quality and value expectations, including managing vendor timing and action, new vendor identification and research, material development, management of production approvals and product procurement. Actively led team of 2-3 direct reports, providing one-on-one coaching and stretching work assignments resulting in promotions and continued professional development.Travel internationally to source product, conduct country research, and identify production markets and suppliers that meet the product specifications of the frames & mirrors categories.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Helped to ensure flawless execution and on-time delivery of quality products in the Kitchenware categories. Forecasted, planned, and managed vendor timing and action for Target’s private label Kitchenware categories (cookware, bakeware, tools and gadgets, cutlery and warm beverages). Identified sales trends and evaluated program success to assist merchandise planning in developing future inventory strategies and contingency plans with vendors.Worked with testing, packaging, QA, and transportation to ensure all pre-production activities are completed in a timely manner.Managed the pre-production activities and actively worked to solve complex shipping/production problems quickly, and communicate appropriate actions needed to be taken.Created and executed contingency plans to maximize receipt flexibility and protect in-stocks.Analyzed vendor production timing to reduce lead times.

Greater Los Angeles Area

Drove positive Guest Experience results throughout the store by leveraging team talent from five direct reports.Recognized, coached and provided feedback to my team through active performance management. Selected to join Campus Recruiting team to help acquire executive talent for Target. Appointed as Red Card captain to help drive credit card performance and adoption throughout the Los Angeles region. Managed financial results through helping lower operational expenses; including payroll.Analyzed daily guest survey and financial data in order to measure store success and to improve overall store results.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Worked directly with the economic legislative assistant on development and research projects.Represented Senator Coleman to Minnesota constituents by responding to letters and giving capitol tours.Observed the legislative process by attending daily committee hearings.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Served as a student leader and mentor to 30 students while working at full-time internship.Planned and organized fun and educational group activities throughout the city.

London, United Kingdom

Worked in the London office, assisting with many different promotional and marketing materials.

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Business Administration And Management, General

Activities and Societies: South America Study Abroad Pursued global focused MBA

B.S, International Busniess

Education record