Michael Smith Email & Phone Number

Louisville, KY, US

Louisville, Kentucky, United States

• Drove annual P&L management, optimizing strategy, investment, pricing, and promotions across sales channels.
• Oversaw A&P budget allocation, driving brand impact and spearheading Green River Whiskey portfolio growth (Single Barrel, Rye, Full Proof, 1885 Bourbon) through product development, packaging, and pricing strategy.
• Created and executed annual Brand Plan, aligning initiatives with strategic objectives and leading paid media efforts across multiple channels.
• Managed agency partnerships and conceptualized creative media campaigns, ensuring alignment with budget, brand standards, and KPI performance.
• Maintained consistent brand messaging across all media; collaborated with Creative Directors to capture high-quality content and develop brand POS materials.
• Directed social media calendar and influencer relationships, coordinating product drops, creating unique content, and driving audience engagement.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

• Party Can - Everyone is invited!
• Formulated and launched impactful brand strategies for Party Can across diverse sales channels (Wholesaler Team, On and Off Premise, and Direct-to-Consumer via online store), crafting essential trade marketing.
• Led and empowered a team of internal sales representatives and a national wholesaler network, delivering comprehensive training and support to optimize sales performance.
• Fostered and sustained strategic relationships with key accounts and distributors, actively representing the brand at industry events and trade shows to expand reach and strengthen brand credibility.
• Developed a transformative marketing plan, defining brand voice, positioning, promises, target audience, and establishing Ecommerce, social media, communication, and experiential strategies to elevate brand awareness.
• Strategize a social media plan in collaboration with the media team and external contractors, delivering authentic, engaging content that resonated with consumers and strengthened brand connection.

Chicago, Illinois

• Directed the barrel-aged beer portfolio, including the iconic Bourbon County Stout family, optimizing brand presence and portfolio strategy.
• Forged high-profile partnerships with leading distilleries, securing licensure for collaborations and developing a comprehensive marketing plan to enhance visibility across multiple alcohol channels.
• Partnered with external agencies to design premium secondary packaging for Bourbon County Stout beers, achieving recognition with the 2020 Folding Carton of the Year award for Birthday Bourbon County Brand Stout.
• Pioneered the creation of Goose Island Barrel House’s Ready-to-Drink bourbon spirits line—the brand’s first-ever spirits offering—by leading agency RFPs, defining a new consumer target, developing a Visual Brand.
• Collaborated with media, content, and connections teams to produce engaging mainstream and social media campaigns, creating emotionally resonant content that strengthened brand loyalty.
• Supported the launch of new innovations and market entries by developing and executing strategic marketing rollouts, while establishing new brands and expanding brand families.

Chicago, Illinois

• Developed and led engaging consumer and sales training sessions, educating audiences on Goose Island's history and beer portfolio to deepen brand knowledge and loyalty.
• Co-authored and published the Grit and Grain book, a pivotal resource that strengthened partnerships with wholesalers, retailers, and consumers, driving volume and excitement around the Bourbon County brand.
• Transformed the outdated Goose U educational program into a globally recognized, immersive experience, enhancing brand knowledge and engagement worldwide.
• Contributed as a writer to Ingrain Magazine, the first lifestyle magazine by a craft beer company, distributed to over 60,000 consumers through Condé Nast to reach key market demographics.
• Created, produced, and starred in the successful YouTube series, Brewed for Food: Goose Island Education Series, amassing over 3 million views and enhancing consumer engagement.
• Developed ”Edu-tainment” content and innovative media to boost understanding of global brand strategy for wholesalers and retailers, supporting ABI's largest craft partner with $150M in net revenue.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

• Revamped the seasonal beer release strategy with a comprehensive through-the-line marketing approach, ensuring unified messaging across all consumer touchpoints, including campaigns, trade, digital, and social channels.
• Collaborated with the sales team to boost market share and drive sales in a competitive environment through creative marketing initiatives and strategic programs that increased distribution and sales velocity.
• Led brand strategy for Goose Island’s Chicago-exclusive beers—Fulton & Wood, Green Line, and Four Star Pilsner—including trade materials, connection strategies, activations, and strategic planning for future releases.
• Conducted in-depth analysis of the competitive landscape, consumer trends, portfolio performance, and brand positioning, providing actionable recommendations to advance Goose Island’s business objectives.
• Developed innovative brand merchandise and in-store point-of-sale materials to support impactful in-market programs and product displays.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

• Directed brand positioning for Goose Island’s High-End beer portfolio, creating strategies to penetrate the premium market and disrupt traditional high-end wine and dining spaces.
• Spearheaded the national rollout of Bourbon County Stout across 9 key markets in 2014 and grew to 20 key markets in 2015, generating extensive consumer demand and lines of thousands eager to purchase.
• Produced the nine-part documentary Grit and Grain:The Story of Bourbon County Stout, capturing the brand’s full history; partnered with our media agency for a highly successful Black Friday campaign that garnered over.
• Planned and collaborated with cross-functional teams to launch Goose Island's first-ever Beer Festival, "Rare Day," drawing over 50,000 lottery entries for attendance; later evolved into "Prop Day," now recognized as.

Chicago

• Founded in 2008, FRET12 is an online community for guitarists – connecting enthusiasts with industry influencers. The company partners with elite guitarists to develop and produce instructional and documentary video’s.
• Managed daily operations and supervises the production staff of six, including copywriters, audio and video editors.
• Spearheaded artist relations, consulting with talent directly to augment their social media footprints and build their personal brands by leveraging new channels and mediums.
• Created marketing plans, released new products through the Fret12 store and drove a 50% sales increase in 2013 with a 200% guitar sales growth through online sales and advertising campaigns in 2013.
• Supervised shipments of an average of 400 monthly online orders with partner distribution companies.
• Opened an international Fret12 store that grossed 130k in the first two months.

Greater Chicago Area

• Organized, directed, and regulated the busiest genius bar team in the Great Plains region with over 1900 appointments a week.
• Created a culture of development and engagement through consistent coaching and training with a team of 27 technicians, performance reviews and feedback to deliver an exceptional experience for both internal and.
• Delivered individualized career experiences by leveraging the strong relationships with other leaders throughout the Chicago land market. This was done with employee trades
• Shaped and developed a diverse talent bench resulting in 11 promotions to corporate and other Chicago-land markets.
• Analyzed financial reports to understand store sales and performance trends.
• Coordinated with other leaders to manage payroll, scheduling and inventory through a tough economy, where we saw budgets reduce by over 40%.

North Michigan Avenue / Oak Brook Mall

• Cultivated and shaped a customer-focused culture that started on the sales floor inspiring a “One Team” mentality throughout the store.
• Implemented and influenced a sales structure in the Oak Brook store to drive over 60 million in store revenue in 2011. A 9 million dollar increase from 2010.
• Instituted a strong awareness around business as a complete solution for our business-to-business customers resulting in the most successful business year in Michigan Avenues history.
• Refined and trained the store business team to grow sales from 75K to over 130K a week to exceed their quarterly and yearly goals.
• Standardized touch-bases with employees to maximize the development of multiple careers within the store.
• Led the hiring and training process by managing the on boarding of 50 new employees, resulting in a 30 percent increase in employees for the 2010 holiday season.

Davenport IA, Naperville IL, Chicago IL

• Store Sales Manager March 2007 – October 2008
• Managed and drove total store sales which grossed 35 million annually.
• Developed and implemented strategic business plans that led to 118% revenue comps, a 18% growth from the previous years revenue.
• Performed daily financial analysis to track sale trends and monitor employee progress.
• Built a diverse talent bench of five supervisors and 65 full and part time employees.
• Coached and trained multiple supervisors and managers to open three new stores in the district.

Bachelor, Double Major In Business Management And Sales Marketing

Activities and Societies: Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity

Certified Cider Professional

Certified Cicerone®

Executive Bourbon Steward, Bourbon/Whiskey

Improv A-E Class Graduate

Education record

Activities and Societies: Letterman in Football, Basketball and Baseball.