Luann Schafer Email & Phone Number

Savannah, Ga, Us

Savannah, Ga

Led marketing initiatives for the largest category within a large publicly traded medical device and dental instrumentation company in GA, focusing on restorative and preventative care strategies to enhance brand visibility and drive sales growth. Managed funnel of new product and service opportunities to expand the portfolio from concept to launch. Executed new product evaluation process including conducting market analysis, obtaining voice of customer, developing commercialization and launch plans, and forecasting sales. Ensured product packaging design and labeling was accurate and conformed FDA regulations. Created and executed marketing strategies and tactics, including website and digital marketing, influencer and clinical support, print and digital sales aids and collateral, and live and digital (via SharePoint and Showpad) sales trainings. Launched restorative materials line, focused on helping clinicians streamline workflows and improve patient outcomes, driving $1M+ in incremental revenue and secured the company’s competitive edge in a huge and growing new segment. Managed and optimized website content and user experience to drive traffic and direct sales conversions resulting in a 17% increase in website sales over previous year. Increased customer count of flagship consumable products online by 14% over previous year by executing series of digital campaigns, which provided sales team time with customers to discuss innovative products with higher margins. Cultivated strategic relationships with key industry influencers, securing how-to videos and endorsements that drove significant sales growth and strengthened product credibility.

Savannah, Ga

Spearheaded marketing strategy for a food and beverage company with manufacturing facilities in GA, CA, and IA. Led Salesforce.com implementation, optimizing sales processes by enabling faster opportunity closures, improving coordination with Supply Chain for accurate demand forecasting, and building a robust CRM database to target high-potential customers based on buying propensity. Improved plant efficiencies and delivered superior customer product offerings by benchmarking popular selling SKUs against market leaders and effectively condensed number of formulas produced within the facility. Championed product commercialization and new product launches while collaborating with cross-functional teams including Sales, R&D, Finance and Supply Chain to establish achievable sales targets. Increased sales of dry blended products through Sales promotions which produced halo sales affect for subsequent months due to stock status with distributors. Enabled lower volume customer purchasing through D2C buy now button on website that led to incremental sales. Propelled traffic to website through providing appropriate content and SEM while managing corporate reputation with press releases, social media, and whitepapers to promote success stories on higher margin lines. Secured strategic distributor partnerships and expanded indirect sales channels by effectively project-managing lines of proprietary branded condiments yielding significant sales.

St Louis, Mo

Steered marketing operations of a food manufacturer with plants in IA, IL, MS, MN, and WI. Identified new product concepts based on emerging trends, consumer research, distributor support, and competitive insights while aligning with broader 5-year company growth initiatives in collaboration with R&D and Sales. Established cross-functional R&D and Sales advisory group to address product quality, new product ideation, and optimal rollout timing within key categories, which provided Sales with focus and restored product assurance. Promoted to drive development and implementation of marketing plans for Foothill Farms and Thick-It, the 2 largest brands for KPFG, resulting a cohesive messaging, focused efforts to accelerate sales growth and alignment of strategic long-term direction to keep brands relevant and innovative. Spearheaded development and launch of cleaner-labeled mixes for Foothill Farms and revolutionary food technology line for Thick-It, the leading retail dysphagia nutrition product. Headed revamp of Thick-It branding, including fresh packaging, collateral, website redesign, social media, how to use videos and coordinated speaking engagements with trusted influencers.

St. Louis, Mo

Led marketing for Foothill Farms, the fastest growing and profitable brand for KPFG. Rebranded Foothill Farms to establish new logo and brand attributes with a consistent message. Repositioned TUF and Milani Gourmet under one Foothill Farms master brand that enabled single brand representation of 200 SKUs, better industry recognition, maximized marketing budget, and increased sales. Formulated business case and defined investment requirements to launch innovative Foothill Farms Flavor Lab Flavor Station (branded concept and line of seasoning to allow patrons to customize eating experience). Maximized sales by launching new and/or improved Foothill Farms Flavorwise products containing less sodium, fat, and calories, improved taste, simplified ingredients and with gross margin of at least 60%. Accelerated engagement, generated lead and reduced marketing spend through establishing digital strategies, while increasing Google ranking, organic search traffic, and qualified visits.

St. Louis, Mo

Key goals that were achieved were to 1) further penetrate Mrs. Dash brand into healthcare market and 2) establish presence of Foothill Farms brand in K-12 school market. Key orchestrator in CMCs and GPOs meetings to establish Mrs. Dash as the spec’d seasoning. Opened distribution with 85% of sales driven through these channels. Developed strategies to grow share of Mrs. Dash in the healthcare market and increase consumption. Established Mrs. Dash as the brand healthcare foodservice professionals trust through menu branding programs, recipes and patient training programs for home use. Led market research efforts to uncover viability of existing KPFG products into K-12 school market. Grew total sales from 5% to 25% within 8 years.

St. Louis, Mo

Advertising agency merged with Leo Burnett in 2002. Persuaded Burger King franchisees to spend dollars on locally layered plan to support national campaigns. Managed $7MM in media billing in 15 Southeast US markets. Sustained strong revenue gains despite a fiercely competitive and declining market. Executed targeted marketing tactics that support business objectives. Directed media development and scheduling of regional TV, radio, outdoor and print based on consumer feedback, local market situations and regional taste trends. Presented marketing plans, competitive overviews and ROI business performances to franchisees quarterly. Won over franchisees dissatisfied with company situations by identifying problems, providing solutions and restoring confidence.

Springfield, Mo

Foodservice advertising and marketing. Instrumental in launching innovative products, for clients like Tyson Foods and Smucker into the k-12 school segment. Developed online sales tools for French's Foodservice (Reckitt Benckiser) to increase productivity and provide customers with on-demand resources.

Springfield, Mo

Foodservice advertising and marketing. Started career in food as an intern for this agency and was sequentially hired as a Creative Assistant to support the graphics team. Was surrounded by an incredible group of talented professionals that I still call my friends today.