Christopher Brown Email & Phone Number

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

CO-CEO with Steven Pauwels

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Creating cohesive sales and marketing plan for Great Lakes Brewing, a top 20 Craft brewer and the largest craft brewery in Ohio. Managing team of 45 helping them to create the best version of themselves and creating innovative and commercially viable adult beverages for Ohio's first craft brewery. We work on continuous improvement in our jobs, lives and as a member of this community with values and integrity. Making great beer since 1988

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Atlanta, Ga

Georgia’s fastest growing craft brewery; one of the “Best New Craft Breweries in America” in 2018. Recruited to lead sales and marketing strategies, future growth and expansion plans, staff development, and distributor management. Oversaw budgeting, pricing, product development, customer management, and strategic partnerships. Overhauled digital platform; rebranded / upgraded all packaging, leading entire redesign from packaging to point-of-sale. Forged corporate partnerships for national account chains that led to statewide mandates.• Grew brand from 9600 barrels to 26000 barrels. Created explosive growth for two years along with developing new channels and organizing a chaotic group into a thriving business. • Achieved Top 25 Brands in the US for Chain growth in beer for 2019.• Boosted employee engagement by coaching eight salespeople while establishing field sales training and onboarding programs for current and future hires.• Developed new Hard Seltzer product line from concept through market launch, including product and packaging.• Initiated a point-of-sale plan for Scofflaw creating a new marketing platform and developing marketing / sales assets, including large scale off-premise displays and tap handles.• Led expansion strategy by state, which included interviewing new distributors, market analysis / surveys, and go-to-market plan with a launch strategy for sales and marketing.• Negotiated State Farm Arena deal to develop the first on-site craft beer sponsorship, resulting in Levy concessionaire as customer and large-scale branded bar. Developed charitable beer with Dominique Wilkins.

Smyrna, Ga

One of Atlanta's top 25 privately held companies and a top volume beverage alcohol distributor in the United States.Managed sales and developed incentives / market programming for all craft suppliers while leading a sales overlay team to train the customer and consumers on product portfolio. Oversaw budget responsibility for sales and marketing investments. Interfaced with 25 beer suppliers and 58 craft spirits suppliers. Supervised supplier teams and hub for internal communication between divisions.• Implemented a three-pronged expansion strategy to acquire / convince brands to sign with United for full state distribution. • Surged craft beer sales by 75% and craft spirits over 1400% in total revenue.• Led a two-day intensive class educating the entire United salesforce for Cicerone and CSS testing.• Invited to National Craft Council, a 10-member association of leading distributors around the country. Won Distributor of the Year for multiple brands and was nominated for Craft Distributor of the Year through the Craft Beer Conference.

Smyrna, Ga

Leadership expanded concurrently with responsibilities as Director of Marketing for two years. Tasked with managing new division after leading one of two Tenth and Blake pilot programs with MillerCoors USA, designing a sales overlay team to specialize on growth of craft beer and cider brands. Drove strategic planning for acquisition of new brands in Georgia.• Developed MBO goals and annual planning for five sales divisions against craft beer brands while creating brand by brand sales goals and budgeting.• Substantially boosted sales in first three years as well as acquiring brand rights for popular companies such as Ballast Point, Boulevard Brewing, Scofflaw Brewing, AleSmith, Blake’s Cider, and numerous other local, regional, and national brands.

Hired to develop localized programming with co-op marketing dollars. Expanded department to working with beer, wine, and spirits categories. Increased the department to 18 direct reports and managed a multi-million dollar annual budget. Orchestrated numerous festivals, special events, and store and chain level promotions.• Initiated state-wide and local programming for suppliers, including MillerCoors, Brown Forman, Heineken USA, Diageo Guinness, and Bacardi. • Created a twelve-year running program with better rates and longer duration of programming by developing a mutual fund program where United purchased key billboards annually then parceled them month by month to various suppliers.• Acquired multiple arena and team sponsorship deals at Philips Arena, Georgia Dome and Turner Field.

Westlake Village

A growing portfolio of leading, global lifestyle brands.Led website redesign and e-business infrastructure redevelopment. Worked with VP marketing with creative input and direction for national media campaigns involving television commercials and print advertising. Served as liaison for Asian, European, and Australian offices to coordinate marketing efforts. Managed team of graphic designers. Implemented vision of packaging design.• Propelled a 500% increase in consumer redemptions while reducing annual costs by analyzing components of in-store promotions.• Slashed expenses by directing a team project that created new, more effective catalogs.

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Activities and Societies: The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM | Nationally ranked junior tennis player and Division 1 college.

Marketing And Management, Masters Of Business Administration (Mba) - Marketing And Management

Activities and Societies: Morton Aldrich Fellowship Award Dean's Leadership Award Simon Johnson Marketing Competition Winner TABA.