John Schmidtke Email & Phone Number

Springfield, Mo, Us

Springfield, Mo, Us

Currently leading a team of 45 consumer and B2B marketers. Primary responsibilities include brand strategy/management, creative production, promotions and loyalty/personalization programs.Established and currently lead a formal brand management process including thought leadership, brand governance and ongoing brand tracking research.Lead the creative development and tactical execution of multiple proprietary brand product launches. Work includes brand creation, product positioning, package design and marketing support plans.Lead print/digital design, internal radio ad and do-it-yourself video and agency supported production of five national TV commercials. Led team to win the Radio Mercury Awards 2024 Radio Marketer of the Year award. Established and maintain enterprise-wide Style Guides. Steward of the famous O’Reilly audio jingle. Complete ~2,500 jobs per year.Updated the O’Rewards customer loyalty program strategy. Implemented improvements, including data hygiene, segmentation, lifecycle marketing, team member training and voice of customer feedback. Developed a roadmap to solve top customer pain points.Onboarding a Customer Data Platform (CDP) to enable stronger cross-channel personalization.Led the electronic media (TV, radio, print) agency selection process. Improved efficiencies and saved the company ~$200k/year. Oversaw the media planning and buying process through December, 2023. Delivered Marketing Mix Modeling/Multi-touch Attribution capabilities to O'Reilly. Conducted RFP, led cross-functional scoring, selection and implementation. Currently use results to inform annual marketing plans. 2023 optimizations uncovered over $20M of profit upside while holding the marketing budget flat.

Deerfield, Il, Us

Led the development and execution of a multimillion-dollar media plan to promote the Walgreens Plus paid subscription program to consumers. "Plus" sales and trips increased 17% and 46% respectively and the program has improved value perception among participating customers.Led a cross-functional effort to develop and deploy a $4M marketing plan to support the launch of Beauty Enthusiast, our Balance Rewards beauty club. Exceeded goals by delivering 5.7M club members and ~$110M in incremental beauty and personal care sales. Digital marketing tactics delivered strongest respond rates of any FY17 campaign. Led marketing strategy and execution for a prepaid MasterCard launch. Developed and executed a $6.4 million multi-media marketing plan that included an innovative motorsports activation called Race Around America. The promotion created awareness and engaged participants in card benefits through entertaining “webisodes” with Roush Fenway drivers. Throughout the promotion, customers guided the conversion of a street car into a Roush Stage 3 Mustang that was ultimately given away to a lucky winner. Registered cardholders loaded nearly 3x more value on their cards and generated more than 2x the fees than non-registered cardholders. Winner of the 2015 PayBefore Awards “Consumer Connection” category for Race Around America.Winner of the 2015 NASCAR “Most Innovative Driver Integration Event/Program” award for Race Around America.

Deerfield, Il, Us

Led marketing plan development and execution for the Balance Rewards loyalty program relaunch. Plan elements included digital display, social media, radio, streaming audio, circular, in-store signage and direct marketing elements. Oversight of $6.8M relaunch marketing budget.Developed a $30 million loyalty marketing budget to support the national launch of Walgreens loyalty program, Balance Rewards. The budget included social, digital, mass, direct and in-store marketing tactics that drove program awareness, customer enrollment and engagement.Created and executed a $12.5 million in-store marketing plan. Translated program strategy into a clear and concise value proposition that was impactful and easy for customers to understand. The plan included collateral for 8,000 stores and supported the enrollment of over 70 million customers during the first year.Developed, implemented and managed a $3 million integrated marketing plan to support the Walgreens Rewards loyalty pilot. Led a team to create a one-to-one marketing initiative that presented loyalty customers with unique offers based on previous buying behavior (a Walgreens first). Delivered over $5.8 million in incremental revenue and over $1.7 million in incremental gross profit.

Deerfield, Il, Us

Responsible for the strategy development, tactical planning, creative/copy direction and mailer production and fulfillment of the company’s $14+ million direct marketing program. Vision: Developed a plan for taking the Direct Marketing function “to the next level”. Identified the strategies, tactics and tools required for success. Supported the proposal with a detailed business case. −Wrote a white paper about the benefits of consolidating direct marketing activities at Walgreens.−Led a process to evaluate enterprise campaign planning/management software alternatives. Interviewed stakeholders, developed requirements, identified vendors and designed/conducted “proof of concept” testing. The above work contributed to the purchase and implementation of the Unica platform.−Identified mailer and customer metrics that should be used to measure campaign results.−Developed the requirements for a proprietary customer-specific barcode to be used when a loyalty program is not available. When scanned, this barcode was designed to provide detailed information about the customer transaction.−Created a database hygiene process that will ensure the highest number of mailable addresses.Created a Project Brief to ensure that clear objectives and measures have been defined for each project. Tested offers and refined mailer copy.Developed a process to enable customers to manage their contact preferences. Established a new process that better controlled postage funding activities. Saved over $100,000.Developed automated trigger campaigns to reward customers who responded to previous offers.Mailed over 40 million pieces in FY ’10 with a staff of three and multiple print vendors. Generated over $15.8 million in net profit.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Designed and built True Value’s first Loyalty and Direct Marketing programs. Built a team to develop and test program. Hired staff, including a direct marketing agency. Developed the program structure. Collaborated with the IT department to develop software. Created a process for capturing and cleansing program data. Identified 20 retailers to participate in a one-year test. Led the design and development of program collateral materials, mailers and e-mailers. Developed and implemented program training. Organized and deployed teams to manage in-store launch day activities.Evaluated the test. Conducted research with participating stores and consumers. Overall, the program increased sales for two-thirds of test stores compared to the control group. Received approval for national rollout after eight months. Conducted national rollout. Established a Loyalty Council made up of retailers to guide on-going program development. Hired additional staff and created a marketing plan and process to sign-up and rollout stores. Created a scalable infrastructure to handle mass participation, including customer service capabilities and the development of a state-of-the-art web-based training platform. Co-developed a technology platform that enabled participating retailers to order materials, view reports and analysis, manage store and customer data, select promotional items and print price cards. Conceptualized and developed a web-based targeted direct marketing platform that allowed participating retailers to plan, target and send specific offers to various customer segments. Over 750 retailers participated, with some campaigns achieving a 100% + ROI. Signed up 500 + retailers and over 1.5 million customers. Program deemed a top strategic initiative. Program earned an 85% store satisfaction rating, the highest score of any marketing program surveyed at True Value. Won “Gold” in the 2006 Direct Marketing Association’s International ECHO Awards competition.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Developed/managed the company’s $12+ million sponsorship and cause marketing programs.Make-A-Wish Foundation: Granted motorsports wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. Managed all wish granting activities. Created an activation kit for retailers. Generated over $1.5 million in media exposure. NASCAR/IROC: Orchestrated a title sponsorship arrangement with the International Race of Champions (IROC).Executed race day activities during IROC events, including logo and in-car camera placement, Grand Marshal, Honorary Starter, Winner’s Circle, hospitality and trackside promotions.Arranged a partnership with Mark Martin and co-produced national and local television and radio commercials.Developed and sold tie-in opportunities to manufacturers.Implemented a driving school event.Planned and executed the Man of the Year award program.Managed the NASCAR Rocks America Tour in 29 markets. Oversaw media placements generating ~200 million media impressions. Developed the “Toolbox That Rocks” promotion to drive traffic to retailers.Executed a track signage program that generated ~$4 million in media exposure. Managed the NWRS True Value Mechanic of the Year program.Planned and executed ~50 local True Value Night events with hundreds of retailers.Managed the placement of national media buys. Designed and created the award-winning True Value Motorsports Experience…an eighteen-wheel racing transporter. Staffed a national tour to over 50 markets and 35 states. Generated over 30 million impressions annually.Developed and executed a national show car program. Before American Idol®, there was the True Value Country Showdown, the world’s biggest country music talent competition. Helped retailers host local talent contests. Co-managed day-to-day activities, including the national finals, which were aired on 400+ radio stations and broadcasted on national television.Managed three agencies, a staff of four and multiple outside vendors.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Developed, funded, executed, managed and evaluated broad-based, diversified advertising plans for 10 west coast regional advertising groups consisting of over 250 True Value retailers. Plan elements included circular inserts, print media, electronic media, outdoor advertising and local community initiatives. Served as corporate liaison to west coast NFL, Major League Baseball and NASCAR teams during True Value events. Responsibilities included participation in various press conferences, presentations and dedications.

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.)

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Community And Regional Planning