Brandon Bertz Email & Phone Number

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Account Leadership• Lead the strategy, execution and delivery of global wholesale account sales objectives in support of company volume, profit, and market share objectives.• Manage the entire new global wholesale account identification and onboarding process from researching online wholesale markets, sourcing potential wholesale accounts, introducing the brand to potential retailers, discussing business model with potential accounts, negotiating wholesale agreements, and executing the entire onboarding process.• Communicate with global network of wholesale accounts on an ongoing basis to proactively identify and address potential issues and increase product penetration and presentation.• Analyze results to measure the return on investment.Product Portfolio Management• Identify assortment gaps and new category opportunities in both the US and in international markets, based on data analytics, insights from relationships with retailers, and competitive assessments.• In collaboration with VP of Marketing and Senior Art Director, produce a product portfolio roadmap outlining where we should invest in new product development to meet the needs of retailers and end consumers.• Forecast sales of new products and compare those to real-time sales results to expose any early performance gaps that will result in identifying gap-closing opportunities. • Develop KPI’s for the product portfolio and measure progress against those metrics, such as customer acquisition within certain segments or profit margins; recommend ways to reallocate our people and money resources to maximize the ROI of our product portfolio.• Leverage the entire PlanetArt product portfolio and collaborate with cross-functional teams to influence the growth of the I See Me! product assortment while aligning to brand guidelines.• Lead I See Me!'s global go-to-market strategy for France and future countries.*Promoted from VP of Sales and New Business Development in October, 2021

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

•Successfully energized and led a team of managers to deliver sound strategic recommendations for all pet food categories, while securing category captainships across five key categories (more than any other category team at Nestle Purina).•Oversaw the development of financial analyses to build and influence shelf/adjacency/assortment recommendations for the total pet department to maximize category growth and Nestle Purina share of shelf.•Owned the overall assessment process of the customer category through the use of tools and available resources to develop 4P key insights and department growth strategies.•Ensured analytics were driving toward insight development and 4P recommendations that support customer and Nestle Purina category growth.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

•Seamlessly led a cross-functional team to develop a ground-breaking product assortment strategy challenging the current category environment, and paved the way for incremental unit and revenue growth in 2014 exceeding the aligned Joint Business Plan.•Delivered assortment, pricing, and marketing recommendations for multiple multi-million dollar categories (including personalized greetings, baby and birthday gifting) exceeding Walmart’s dollar and unit growth objectives.•Developed strong relationships with buyers identifying business synergies and delivering strategies that earned Hallmark sizeable revenue growth plans in 2014 and beyond.•Full responsibility of program P&L’s including sales forecasting and marketing, burdened with business and service costs that determine monetization for Hallmark and Walmart.•Established relationships and negotiated contracts with buyers and external partners to execute business opportunities that drove excitement and growth across all relevant parties.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

•Developed and led category assortment strategies that delivered on unit and revenue objectives in excess of $300mm while protecting retailer IMU.•Led a team that collected and comprehended market data, consumer insights, customer requirements and competitive pressures to drive strategy and development of product initiatives.•Generated sales forecasts based on insight, detailed analyses, and collaboration.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

•Managed a product management team responsible for the development of new greeting card innovation that aligned to cost targets and increased sales productivity.•Developed product and pricing strategies for a $1 billion business embedding consumer insights while aligning to retailer strategies.•Developed program and assortment P&L’s linked with internal partners to ensure alignment prior to launch.•Guided consumer and market analyses to understand consumer needs and buying behaviors which led to the appropriate mix of innovation to core formats to drive retail growth.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

• Supported Product Manager in executing solid growth strategies for a $1 billion business.• Partnered cross-functionally with creative and supply chain to assure full execution of strategies.• Developed strong relationship with Hallmark Licensing and implemented tools that resulted in adherence to major Hallmark Licensing agreements and increased licensor revenue.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

• Researched, evaluated, and purchased advertising media through web-based companies.• Managed external client relationships with Yahoo, MSN, and our affiliate management agency to execute promotions that led to increased revenue within strict budgetary guidelines.• Gathered consumer insights which led to the successful development of marketing programs, effective in driving traffic to Hallmarkflowers.com.• Increased conversion rates through effective product assortment and easy consumer navigation.