KAREN BOWLES

Holliston, MA 01746

508-397-6271

kbowlesey@gmail.com KarenBowles_LinkedIn_Profile

MARKETING STRATEGY and BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Member Acquisition & Retention | Loyalty Programs | Field Marketing | Campaign Design
MARKETING STRATEGY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE I am a passionate executive with 23 years ensuring corporate growth/revenue, reducing costs and increasing profitability. I facilitated organization-wide results driven strategies for a leading chain of membership clubs. I provide a high level of control, and deliver complex projects by collaborating and partnering with all stakeholders and vendors .I am a decisive and innovative leader directing growth oriented businesses. My proven ability to create value through productivity, revenue and profit enhancement while effectively engaging and inspiring staff at all levels has been realized in recent positions. I am judged a highly competent, focused, challenge-oriented solution maximizer who consistently exceeds expectations/ goals. My other goals are very simple, do my very best always, never compromise my principals and to earn the respect of leadership team and co-workers. I am driven by tomorrows challenges, not yesterdays accomplishments. If its broken, I can fix it. MY EXPERTISE THAT DRIVES BUSINESS GROWTH: Customer Acquisition & Retention, Direct Marketing, Field Marketing, Loyalty Programs/ Marketing, Customer Experience, Strategic Planning/ Execution, Overhauling ineffective methodologies to improve efficiencies and drive bottom line improvement, P&L Management. Growth Strategy Development, Superior record of project delivery, risk reduction, and profitability improvement, Inspirational leader to deliver results, Being cool, calm, collected and creative. Pioneered multiple initiatives that increased customer membership base, strengthened brand awareness,sparked community engagement, and assured positive member experience in online and instore environments. Highly innovative and analytical; influenced internal constituents and external partners to reach consensus. An inspirational leader with exceptional communication and presentation skills. Marketing Leadership = Strategic Business Planning, Decentralized Field Leadership, Member Acquisition and Engagement, Scalable Marketing Programs, CRM and Marketing Automation, Customer/Service Enhancements, Customer and Competitive Insight, Change Management, Data-driven Decision Making, Data Integration and Analytics, Process Redesign Professional Development, Inspirational Team Leader, Collaborator with all parts of the business.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE ________________________________________________

BJs Wholesale Club Westborough, MA VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP MARKETING (20072013) ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP MARKETING & SALES (20032007) ZONE MARKETING MANAGER (19972003) FIELD MARKETING AND MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT POSITIONS (19901997) 19902013

MEMBER ACQUISITION / CONVERSION / RETENTION Originated and executed programs to maximize membership fee income. While in this position, Membership Fee Income grew over $35 million dollars. Consistently increased membership base. Calendar year 2012 concluded with 47,000 incremental members from the previous year equating to $56.4 million dollars in sales and $5.6 million dollars in profit. Positive results came from implementation of training, execution tools and creative direct mail and social media initiatives. Significantly boosted memberships at each retail location by building collaborative relationship with Field Operations team and championing creation of a club-level management position strictly focused on new member acquisition and retention. Promoted brand awareness through mainstream and social media. Customized new store and competitive marketing strategies to meet location annual sales and membership goals, taking share of wallet from competitors. Introduced programs designed for first-year stores to welcome customers, develop customer loyalty, and boost traffic and basket size to meet budgeted sales and membership goals. Ensured membership support tools were in place at store level to facilitate customer retention. Provided ongoing store-level training in renewal strategies, e.g., techniques for interacting with customers. Partnered with IT for program solutions and implementations. Strengthened customer engagement and drove sustained activity through layered programs such as monthly membership option, special menu pricing, surprise-and-delight, refer-a-friend and time-sensitive bonus offers.

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BJs Wholesale Club, continued TEAM LEADERSHIP Led team of 200 Member Acquisition and Retention Managers, 21 Regional Acquisition and Retention Managers and 3 Zone Acquisition and Retention Managers. Developed policies, procedures and protocols that optimized productivity, efficiency and performance, enhanced focused and flawless execution, generated cost savings and introduced procedure to elevate strategic concerns to senior management in timely manner. Managed $9 million dollar payroll and expenditures for direct report/dotted-line reporting cross-functional teams. Challenged, guided and fostered professional growth and development of teams to build bench strength. Chaired cross-functional committee comprised of IT, legal, operations and membership marketing team members that developed branded loyalty membership program within aggressive 6-week timeframe. LOYALTY PROGRAM Pioneered Loyalty Membership Program ( Rewards Membership ) that grew incremental profit by increasing shopping frequency, increased basket and member retention. Boosted retention rates up to over 90% vs. a Basic Member which is 7% less. This was achieved through segmentation and targeted promotions via email, and direct mail campaigns. . Spearheaded design of guest analytics to evaluate campaigns and ROI. Success of program evidenced through base ROI reporting and achievement of key performance indicators (KPIs). Average new Rewards Members spends an incremental 18% growth in sales the first year of upgrade. This is an incremental $1000 from pre-upgrade spend. Plus the incremental Membership Fee Income which is pure profit. As of 2012, the Rewards Membership Base increased over 250,000 members in 2.5 years which equals approximately $250 million dollars in sales. Rewards Members represent 25.9% of sales and 12.9% of members. Respectively in 2009, it was 12.3 % of sales and 6.5% of members, CUSTOMER CARE Managed expense of $2.3 million dollars for services provided by 3rd party Call Center. Realized $100,000 savings in annual customer call center budget by reducing average handle time per call and labor. Introduced more comprehensive training of Engagement Specialists; optimized website and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Gained efficiencies and reduced costs $4 million dollars over 5 years without compromising member experience by transitioning customer call center to outsourced team in Jamaica. Recommended and implemented changes to membership policies based on data segmentation and cost/benefit analysis that enhanced the customer experience while reducing operating expenses. COMMUNITY RELATIONS Enhanced BJs brand and philanthropic efforts at local level by leveraging vendor and celebrity partnerships. Generated $250,000 in vendor contributions with proportionate savings in marketing budget. Generated favorable public response by fostering relationships with local community and business groups. Programs that consistently met or exceeded targeted goals included Adopt-a-School, Fuel Your Fundraiser, Open Gas Programs, home show exhibits, restaurant expos, radio remotes and others. Reviewed 400+ grant requests annually as member of 10-person advisory board for company charitable foundation. Since inception $15 million dollars in Grants to 1800 organizations. Partnership with Feeding America has generated over 5 million pounds of food donated through programs implemented at each Club location, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT / OPERATIONS Positively impacted profits and sales by identifying store-specific challenges (e.g., name awareness, traffic, conversion, renewal) and developing club-level programs for individual stores, fine-tuning program to address specific geographic and demographic needs. Collaborated with analytics team to identify niche customer markets and initiate direct mailings/emailings of offers specifically attractive to this niche, boosting basket size of these customers. Communicated reporting needs to IT team and confirmed compliance with reporting requirements. Identified system enhancements that streamlined store processing of special offers.

EDUCATION ________________________________________________________________ B.A., Business Administration, University of Massachusetts North Dartmouth, MA PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS ______________________________________________
Massachusetts Network of Executive Women Association for Professional Women Professional Womens Network Marketing Executives Group Big Box Retail ProfessionalsNational