Liz Thomas Email & Phone Number

Chicago, IL, US

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

• Brand Manager responsible for the $350MM P&L and 3 direct reports
• Proactively identified & developed a comprehensive 8-month LRP process for Helper/Salad/Potatoes including strategy, Strategic Revenue Management, Holistic Margin Management, Inno & Reno, Future of Meals &Plans
• Developed the business strategies for Helper, Suddenly Salad & Potato businesses
• Drove expansion of Helper, Salad and Potatoes in the Betty Crocker ecosystem
• Leveraged & influenced GMI network to kick off Betty Crocker Savory tribes work with Global Design Officer
• Led team through transition of sale to Eagle Foods

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

• Sr. ABM managing the P&L for the Lucky Charms Franchise ($320MM), including brand strategy, innovation, pipeline development, renovation & partnerships
• In 7 months, lead internal cross-functional team of 20, along with 3 multi-national external partners, in the strategy & commercialization of Just Magical Marshmallows (JMM), a never-been-done-before, $5MM incremental.
• Built a 4-year marshmallow News Model pipeline from scratch by working differently to leverage external partnerships, internal ideas, and consumer & customer insights. Launched: Galactic Charms (2021) & Magic Gems (2022)
• Diagnosed Lucky Charms double digit declines, which lead to the development of the new strategy that significantly changes the trajectory and LRP of the brand

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

• ABM responsible for the $400MM General Mills Dairy portfolio for the Walmart, Kroger & eCommerce channels, including merchandising & distribution strategy, portfolio negotiations, brand activations & innovation pipeline
• Lead the Kroger Innovation Review that grew distribution by +4 points (+11 SKUs). Achieved results by developing the story that showcased the power of our brands & their importance to Kroger
• Collaborated with Yogurt leadership team to create $5MM of value creation ideas to aid in our negotiation with Walmart

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

• ABM managing the P&L for Yoplait Innovation ($50MM), including strategy, innovation, renovation & partnerships
• Created Yoplait’s News Model strategy which included partnering with Dunkin’ & MARS (Starburst) to co-create and commercialize 8 new SKUs. Starburst Yoplait was the #1 yogurt launch in 2020.
• Recommended & gained alignment from leadership to discontinue Yoplait Mix-Ins via a thorough 4P analysis that also considered context from consumers & customers. Won BCN’s “Emerging Leader” award.

Boston, MA, US

New York, New York, US

- Oral Care Category Captain for CVS- Developed a system to quickly and efficiently analyze the 595 items in the Oral Care category utilizing internal sales and loyalty card data to ensure that CVS carried the correct Oral Care distribution, resulting in sales increasing by 5.8% in 2014- Collaborated with Shopper Marketing, 3rd Party Display Vendor and CVS.

New York, New York, US

- Oral Care, Dish Care and Liquid Hand Soap Category Captain for Sears Holdings Corporation (Kmart)- Conducted the first Oral Care Category Review in over 5 years which included analyzing sales trends and assortment resulting in 3.6% category growth, Colgate share growth in 6 of 10 categories and a Colgate Hall of Fame award for personal leadership and.

Irving, TX, US

- Prepared and delivered category reviews to Delhaize which included in-depth analysis of category trends, merchandising optimization, category insights and promotional strategies to increase category growth- Provided the Customer Business Partner, Finance Analyst, Shopper Marketer and Brand Teams with actionable insights gleaned from Delhaize specific.

Irving, TX, US

- Developed a “Best In Class” template for completing category overviews resulting in many of Kimberly-Clark’s North American sales teams presenting category results in a consistent and timely manner- Identified distribution opportunities for all Delhaize banners using Syndicated, POS, Loyalty and Panel data - Instrumental in selling in and helping launch.

Irving, TX, US

- Utilized syndicated data and category insights to sell in first ever in-store National Brand display- Identified distribution opportunities for Grocers Supply and Brookshire using Syndicated, POS and Panel data

Lewisville, Texas, US

-Short term assignment with Kimberly-Clark to better understand their marketing services partner, CROSSMARK-Collaborated with CEO and VP of Marketing on the monthly internal newsletter by writing and editing copy and sending the newsletter out to more than 15,000 CROSSMARK employees nationwide-Wrote and edited copy for internal announcements and external.

Champaign, IL, US

-Selected from over 2800 undergraduate business students as one of 20 to lead a group of 15 freshman students in discussions involving corporate and social responsibility-Collaborated with Deans and professors on class content and procedures-Advised students on resumes, interviewing, College of Business events and overall college life

Champaign, IL, US

-Selected from over 2800 College of Business Undergraduate students to serve as the undergraduate representative in the search-Interviewed nation wide candidates with Deans and Professors throughout the University-Provided input to committee members on selection of candidates whose goals and values matched the College of Business

Champaign, IL, US

-Initiated and planned a campus wide philanthropy event titled I.M.P.A.C.T. Day-Raised over $4,000 in two months which resulted in students being able to attend I.M.P.A.C.T. Day for free-Managed a $4000 budget for the event by allocating resources to transportation, catering, t-shirts and venues-Coordinated over 100 student and corporate volunteers.

Champaign, IL, US

Worked with Business Career Services (BCS) as a liaison between the Career Center and the Students. Responsibilities included marketing and assisting with Job Shadows, Mock Interviews and other BCS events.

Champaign, IL, US

-Planned and coordinated a fashion show with over 100 student participants-Negotiated contracts with clothing and space vendors-Successfully managed fashion show within $3,500 budget-Effectively led the 10 person executive board as well as the 30 general members

-Created and implemented a system to increase brand equity for independent buying group-Analyzed the market to determine the best and most profitable way to create brand equity-Met with the VP of Marketing and the CEO of the buying group to present recommendations using nation wide data from the company’s data base-Recommendations in process of being.

-Managed 50 retail accounts and advised retailers on volume growth in stores with a potential of $250,000 in increased sales throughout territory-Sold and executed sales programs and promotions in retail accounts-Analyzed sales territory and determined cause of four tenths share loss -Created three programs to impede loss and grow share by a forecasted 3.8.

Master Of Business Administration (Mba)

Bs, Marketing, Spanish