Resumé

CHRISTOPHE GERBELOT
1745 Grove Street – San Francisco, Ca 94117
Phone: (714) 501-7277 - email: christophe.gerbelot@gmail.com


PROFILE

Driven. Dedicated. Passionate. Strong ethics. Trilingual Senior Marketing specialist with B2C and B2B global expertise in highly competitive and segmented Action Sports industry.
· 8 years of success in cross-functional Marketing Communications strategy with 6 top sports/fashion brands.
· Trade show and event specialist.
· Creative and operational design expertise.
· Multi-tiered distribution marketing strategy expert.
· Keen understanding of the tech savvy Internet generation consumer.
· European multicultural background.
· Highly analytical and out-of-the-box thinker.


EXPERIENCE

Senior Marketing Manager Lake Forest, CA
SOLE TECHNOLOGY (2000 to Dec 2007)
Sole Technology is a top five worldwide Action Sports footwear & apparel manufacturer known for brands including Etnies, Etnies girl, Es, Emerica, Thirty-Two, and Altamont.

Project /Event Management
· Drive seasonal communications and creative strategy (creative plan for brand presentation, budgeting, post show analysis) and manage all operational processes (production and logistics) of all Corporate/Industry special events:
o Trade-shows strategies, creating environment supporting key brand messages and line presentation needs.
§ Activities cover all company brand names and products
§ 12 shows yearly in domestic and international markets
§ Team of 6 and annual budget of $1.5M.
o Brand campaigns and collection launches; tailored daily visual productions for each of six brand.
§ 2 shows annually (1 domestic and 1 international).
o Develop and design creative visual concepts for press and industry events, supporting cross-functional marketing initiatives and celebrating successful new product launches
§ Recent events included launch of Altamont Apparel brand and Etnies 20-year brand anniversary party (NYC- Paris, France - Orange County, Ca).

· Co-design and direct implementation of complete concepts for corporate and retail environments:
o 10 image driven outlet stores.
§ Each opening in record 6-week time.
o 3 corporate retail showrooms in support of corporate brand building with regional retail partners.
§ Facilities now operational in Lake Forest, CA, New York and Amsterdam.
· Establish and manage production partnerships and logistic strategies in Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Turkey) and Mainland China.
o Deliver >60% savings relative to domestic costs

Brand Marketing:
· Lead development and implementation of worldwide Cross-functional brand and product launch strategies and plans.
o Successfully launched up to 12 products per season across all 6 brands (Technology, art, lifestyle or athlete driven).
o Wrote fully integrated launch plans across all marketing channel (Print, PR, B2C and B2B Events, Web and Retail) specifically tailored to the segments of each of six snowboard and skate brands.
o Lead Partner-Marketing plans with key retailers (online, print, and in-store promotional initiatives).
o Pre-plan and ROI support through sales analysis and partnering with consumer insights group to execute all consumer research including quantitative and qualitative studies, consumer trend and independent market research analysis.
o Relevance across multiple tiers of distribution (ie: Tilly’s, Journeys, Pac Sun, Sport Chalet).
o International reach 70+ countries.
o <$9M budget with P&L responsibility, managing 6 brands and a direct team of 6.

· Lead corporate responsibility initiatives for marketing team, ensuring utilization of only eco-friendly materials in exhibits / displays / press kits / etc.

Retail Marketing:
· Create custom promotional portfolios tailored to regional and distribution channel needs:
o Range: from 100% store-specific POP to long-term displays and seasonal kits complimented by regular consultative visits from team of Visual Merchandising Representatives.
o Over 3500 customers worldwide.

· Lead international POS product-line performance Analysis and Forecast for all of 6 brands.
o Seasonal forecasting, product mapping, cost analysis and best practice development.
o Competitive analysis and merchandizing recommendations.
o Domestic and International Market research (retail tours, surveys and trade-show analysis)
o Qualitative & Quantitative ROI analysis.

· Direct development process of online and offline catalogues and advertising materials.
o In-Store line available as online catalogue as well as brand integrated printed copy.
o Direction of the entire process from Merchandizing, Pricing and traffic management to photo shoot, copy and layout art direction and pre-press checks.
o Management < 10 multi-branded visual large-scale projects per month (Budgeting, retro-planning, design, resource allocation, production, ROI).



US Marketing/Business Development Manager Orange, CA
DDP SA (1998 to Sept 2000)
DDP is a European streetwear and snowsports manufacturer based in France with annual revenue >€50M.
Business Development Leader
· Established >100 distribution contacts in California, generating >$50K revenue in first season.
· Built local grassroots marketing programs, increasing brand awareness.

Retail/Event Marketing Manager Bordeaux, France
· Enhanced Retail Marketing support by developing and implementing POP programs tailored to different levels of distribution, including multilingual advertising material.
· Increased European exposure by managing trade shows in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK with a 5-person staff.
· Led French and US market analysis, resulting in U.S. market entry strategy.


EDUCATION
REIMS MANAGEMENT SCHOOL (Top 5 French Business School) Reims, France
Masters Degree in International Business and Marketing: 1998.
Brand Marketing and International Strategies emphasis. Minor in Human Resources.

UNIVERSITY OF LYON/ VS. BERUFSAKADEMIE Lyon, France/Schwenningen, Germany
Diplôme Universitaire d'Enseignement Technologique International. (BA in Int'l. Affairs): 1996

OTHER SKILLS
· Trilingual French/English/German
· Proficient on PC/Mac environments: MS office tools, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.
· Passion for the “arts of the table”.

Projects by Christophe Gerbelot