Victor P Errante

compiled:

October 2, 2009

Background and Professional Work Examples

You Can’t Eat an Elephant in One Bite.My boss and mentor, Paul DeMargel, told me that back in the day, when I was very young and sat at the conference table of my new automotive client in Gardena, California. It must have been that “deer in the headlights” look on my face. He knew what was going on in my head. And whatever it was, those words have been with me my whole career (nearly half my life). And every time I have come face-to-face with a particularly challenging opportunity (another elephant, if you will), I reflect on that conversation and everything seems to fall into place.

I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with some of that largest corporations in the world in developing performance improvement programs, marketing and advertising campaigns, and promotional activities to help support their b2b and b2c efforts. Working in this high-visibility environment has helped me develop a diverse skill set that has evolved with the changing needs of my clients.

I feel that my experience is unique in that I can offer an “Old School” work ethic combined with a broad understanding of emerging technologies and how they apply in today’s business environment. It’s a powerful combination when “Old School” and “New School” are working together toward a common goal. That being said, I would like to continue my career in a management/mentorship role with an organization that values the power of these synergies and how they can be used to accomplish stellar results.

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EducationUniversity of Missouri – Columbia

I Graduated in May of 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. I spent much of my Junior and Senior years as a Research and Editorial Assistant to Dr. Walter C. Daniel, Department Head of English and Vice Chancellor of the University. I was responsible for assisting Dr. Daniel in editing and preparing his original manuscripts for print/publication, including the college text: Images of the Preacher in Afro-American Literature.









Mentor and friend, Dr. Walter C. Daniel

Professional AccomplishmentsStix, Baer & Fuller/Dillard’s Department Stores

Senior Copywriter (’82 – ’84)

In my first “real” job out of school, I was involved in scheduling and conducting weekly advertising meetings with General Merchandising Managers (and Division Merchandising Managers and collecting merchandise for photo shoots and reference materials to create print ad copy for the Home, Housewares, and Men’s store divisions.

I wrote all copy for these divisions, secured all buyer/merchant approvals and arranged placement in local ROP for approximately 200 monthly advertisements.





Professional AccomplishmentsMaritz Motivation Company

Creative Supervisor/Program Director (’84 – ’86)

Back in the 80s, landing a job at Maritz was like finding the holy grail. Maritz was a highly sought-after employer and I, like most Maritz employees, felt I had one of the best jobs in the industry. Maritz offered me the chance to branch out into new and exciting areas of marketing with national and international clients.

My job entailed identifying new sales opportunities with existing clients and the day-to-day management and supervision of Maritz resources to service these clients. I was also responsible for managing the profitability of my programs to maintain a consistent gross profit margin. My main account responsibility was managing Maritz’ most profitable book of business – the Nissan Dealer programs which contributed over $20 million in annual gross billings to Maritz.






Creative Marketing Director (’87 – ’90)

In 1987, I was promoted to Creative Marketing Director of the Maritz West Coast Area’s Pacific and Universal City Regions. With my new title came the new responsibility of managing six Program Directors/Creative Supervisors. As the leader of the team, we developed incentive solutions for Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, Infiniti, Lexus, Isuzu, Southern California Gas, Southern California Edison, Transamerica Insurance Group and Von’s grocery accounts, among others. Managing people, rather than processes certainly put things in a new perspective.















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Creative Marketing Director (’87 – ’90)

For over 50 years, Maritz had focused on the b2b side of the business, exclusively. But clients were asking for b2c solutions to ensure there were qualified customers to purchase goods and services from their highly motivated sales teams. As the business needs of our clients evolved, the Pacific/Universal City Regions began staffing for “non-traditional” business applications (i.e., direct marketing, point-of-sale, consumer promotion, etc.). We effectively started a new “company within a corporation” to service Nissan, Isuzu, Toyota, Southern California Gas and other West Coast clients. Paradigm shift.

With this change in our approach, Maritz had to get “connected” to our satellite offices. I was assigned to lead a task force which resulted in the installation of over 150 Macintosh computers within the Creative and Planning Services Division. The task force also performed a needs assessment that led to Macintosh computer installation/networking between the St. Louis office and West Coast offices. It was a painful process, but we were now connected.

Professional AccomplishmentsThe Waylon Company

Senior Account Manager (’91 – ’95)

The Waylon Company was a full-service promotion agency (ranked within the top 20 in the U.S. (at the time). I was hired to work on Kellogg’s and other client businesses and to seek out vertical marketing opportunities.

My new assignments with The Waylon Companyopened many doors for me on a national and international basis where we expanded our business into Mexico, Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.

As Senior Account Manager, I was responsible for all phases of the Sales Promotion process, from sales development, concept/budget development, client presentation, execution and client billing.

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Professional AccomplishmentsThe Waylon Company

Group Account Director (’95 – ’98)

In my new role as Group Account Director, I was responsible for managing several groups in sales development, concept generation and presentation, execution of promotional marketing programs for Apple Computer Inc. and other clients. I also had direct management responsibility for a five-person account support staff, and all marketing management, reporting and analysis for my clients with resulting seven figure annual billings.

Professional AccomplishmentsKeller Crescent Advertising

Director of Sales Promotion (’05 – ’08)

In November of 2005, I moved from Saint Louis, Missouri to Evansville, Indiana to take a position as Director of Sales Promotion. My responsibilities included developing promotional marketing opportunities for new and existing clients by expanding Keller Crescent’s core competencies. Focus areas included traditional and web-based solutions, product education programs and employee performance incentives. I was also responsible for concept development, sourcing, execution and billing of all POS materials for new and existing clients.



Selected Projects

Selected Projects

Selected Projects

Selected Projects

Perry County Memorial Hospital

http://distributorone.com/blog/perry-county-memorial-hospital/

http://distributorone.com/blog/perry-county-memorial-hospital/

Selected Projects

Big Red Shoe Fundraiser

http://distributorone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/big-red-shoe1.pdf

http://distributorone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/big-red-shoe1.pdf

Red Man Rewards

Selected Projects

http://distributorone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/red-man-rewards-concept4.ppt

http://distributorone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/red-man-rewards-concept4.ppt

HPNOTIQ $100,000 INSTANT WIN GAME

Selected Projects

Professional AccomplishmentsDistributor One, LLC

President/Director, Account Services (’98 – Current)

Back in 1997, I left The Waylon Company to start my own company Now Resources, Inc., a full-service outsource marketing department for clients and agencies. Now Resources later evolved into Distributor One, Inc., and became an Authorized Distributor of American Express Incentive Services, to service web-based marketing and stored-value card programs.

Professional Accomplishments


Marketing Innovators, Inc., Solutions Architect

In January of 2004, Distributor One accepted a contract project at Marketing Innovators in Rosemont, Illinois (a Chicago suburb) to assist the company in developing incentive solutions for their new and existing card-based clients. An executive from Maritz started Marketing Innovators in the 70s, but in 2004 the company lacked the practical experience to design and execute full-blown Maritz-type programs.

As Solutions Architect, my responsibilities were to help the company bridge this gap to compete in this new digital environment. After several months in the Solutions Architect position, the company was involved in a leveraged buyout by Bravanta, a technology-heavy firm based on the West Coast. All hiring was frozen and I found myself in a state of limbo. After securing and executing several projects for Marketing Innovators, I elected to move back to Saint Louis to seek out other, more stable outsource projects.


thembcgroup, Director of Sales Promotion/New Business Development

In August of 2004, Distributor One was contracted by Craig Barnes, President and CEO of thembcgroup based in Saint Louis, Missouri. My responsibilities at the firm involved new business development and again, expanding the companies core competencies and helping Craig move thembcgroup from their comfort zone, into new areas of technology and service-focused business opportunities.


Walmart/Colortek, Copy Contact

In October of 2008, Distributor One accepted a contract with Walmart/Colortek to develop and manage all phases of the Holiday 2008/09 circulars and tabloids. I was responsible for copy strategy and for developing final copy/content for these holiday print advertisements.

Walmart Marketside Specialty Foods

Selected Projects

Selected Projects


Life Empowerment Retreats, Director of Sales Promotion

In March of 2009, I was approached by a long-time colleague, Joyce Dillon, to assist in the development and execution of an essay contest targeting Baby Boomers. The contest was to offer a group of winners a chance to earn a trip to Costa Rica to spend a week with a life coach who could help the winner chart a life course. As a pro bono project, Distributor One initiated the concept/copy development, contest rules structure, and secured legal approvals to ensure US compliance, judging system/structure/data capture solution for all contest entries, website design/implementation, analytics.

Healthy Living and Balance Boomer Essay Contest

Selected Projects


Otto Guevara Presidential eCampaign, Solutions Architect

In July 2009, Distributor One was contracted to assist with the development and implementation of a fully integrated eCampaign for Don Otto Guevara. The eCampaign was developed in similar fashion to the Barack Obama campaign utilizing all available social media tools. Screen grabs of these initiatives follow…



Social Networking Tasks – Friendfeed

In order to generate awareness and secure a digital foothold, we have established a campaign presence via the following:


Social Networking Tasks – LinkedIn


Social Networking Tasks – LinkedIn


Social Networking Tasks – Blogspot

http://ottoguevaraguth.blogspot.com/


Social Networking Tasks – Twitter

http://twitter.com/ottoguevaraguth


Social Networking Tasks – Twitvid

Professional AccomplishmentsSocial Networking Tasks – YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/ottoguevaraguth


Social Networking Tasks – Facebook


Social Networking Tasks – Movimiento Libertario Website

Client Recap