Candace Brenner: VP, Marketing in San Marcos, CA
Work experience
USAopoly/The OP
VP, Marketing | 09/2018 - Current
Led and transformed the Marketing team with passion, enthusiasm and vision. Over a dozen direct reports in the areas of Brand Management/Product Development, Creative Marketing, Social Media, Digital Media, PR and Communications, CRM, Community and Events, Rebranded the corporate identity to reflect a more modern, international, fresh image. Built a new web presence from the ground up and set the foundation for ecommerce. Launched a livestreaming program. Nominated for Most Innovative PR and Marketing Team (TAGIE)
• Create a strategic plan that provides direction to overall company and brand growth
• Develop product launch plans, positioning, and compelling value propositions
• Keep abreast of industry trends and conduct ongoing competitive research
• Develop strategy and oversee all Marketing content.
• Develop strategy and oversee all advertising and public relations initiatives
• Evolve the company’s digital strategy
• Evaluate and recommend trade and consumer shows for best ROI
• Create and develop new business opportunities through category expansion, partnerships and promotions
• Track, measure, analyze and report performance of all digital marketing campaigns and assess against goals such as site engagement metrics, sources of traffic, campaign performance measurement
• Work with and manage outside partners, including licensors, advertisers, sponsors, trade and consumer public relations and other agencies
• Develop and deliver compelling presentations to leadership, stakeholders and the company outlining marketing strategy
HP, Inc.
Global Manager - HP.com - Personal Systems | 01/2018 - 09/2018
· Lead the HP.com - Personal Systems team that includes Wordwide Engagement Leads, Worldwide Deployment Managers as well as managing and liaising with an external agency through the development of the Digital Experience from concept to publish for Consumer and Commercial products.
· Leverage Games Industry experience to create innovative, custom, player-focused journeys that reflect and resonate with the Video Game Community.
· Rebuild group structure and staff team to bring in fresh, digital marketing expertise with deep marketing knowledge.
· Establish consistent processes, uniform procedures to create a more efficient organization.
J!NX
VP, Marketing | 09/2016 - 01/2017
Architect and lead the Marketing Department consisting of Brand, Creative, Advertising, Communications and Events. Build, shape and craft J!NX as the lifestyle brand for video game culture.
· Re-structure the Marketing Department to function more efficiently. Create redundancies to ensure functional coverage, re-staff to solidify that the right skill sets are available to the team, and drive the development of process and procedure to encourage trust and confidence in execution.
· Guide and drive the Marketing team to collaborate and innovate in the development of cohesive and comprehensive Marketing plans that resonate with the core demographic and drive larger scale brand awareness.
· Imagine and drive delivery of memorable creative assets that deepen customer/fan loyalty.
· Developed historically top-performing assets for the organization and created a surge in re-activations for the brand.
· Launched a new lifestyle apparel brand at specialty retailer Hot Topic.
· Manage in-store retail promotions and retail initiatives with Walmart, Target, Old Navy, Kohl's and more.
· Work with AAA video game companies and brands like Blizzard, Psyonix, Microsoft and more to develop and market licensed apparel.
Daybreak Game Company LLC
Senior Director, Global Marketing | 06/2015 - 09/2016
Promoted with expanded responsibilities to include managing the Brand Marketing, CRM, and in-house Creative Media studio based on performance, leadership and vision.
• Critical to the concept, creation and internal/external rollout of the new corporate identity from company name, logo development (including full style guide design) to mission statement, belief statements, corporate website and more.
• Drive the brand marketing team to set new industry performance benchmarks in digital marketing through innovative campaigns and programs including harnessing the power of social media (including Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, YouTube)
• Develop more sophisticated CRM strategy through focused targeting and more creative and compelling content consistently exceeding industry standards in engagement.
• Successfully construct, execute and guide multi-discipline teams through inspired and strategic 360° plans for all brands in the portfolio to actively manage the product lifecycle.
Sony Online Entertainment
Director of Global Marketing | 07/2008 - 02/2015
Brand Manager - 2008-2010
Senior Brand Manager - 2010-2012
Director of Global Marketing - 2012-2015
Promoted to lead the brand marketing team and drive the overall vision for the portfolio as a result of demonstrated accomplishments in strategic marketing, advertising and business planning as well as team building and mentorship..
• Develop industry leading 360 degree marketing and communication plan across multiple disciplines including Public Relations, Social Media and Community Relations.
• Manage multiple licensed consumer good launches for Free Realms including a comic book series with Wildstorm/DC Comics and line of books with Scholastic and multiple partner relationships including LucasArts, Lucasfilm, Hasbro, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Miniclip and more.
• Manage multi-million dollar advertising campaigns including managing media buy for over a dozen television commercials, optimizing online advertising initiatives and driving unique co-marketing opportunities with multiple brands and partners.
• Lead, energize and mentor the brand team in the development of the overall marketing plan and individual brand roadmaps for such key brands as: H1Z1, PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online, EverQuest Next, Landmark, and more.
• Adept at building support for initiatives, ideas and plans through all levels of the organization.
• Manage, develop and execute corporate-wide initiatives and projects as requested by Executive leadership.
NTN Buzztime
Marketing Manager, New Products | 07/2007 - 05/2008
Managed existing Consumer Products merchandise mix and identified innovative ways to license and distribute the brand.
• Led senior level cross-functional team on a high profile game development project for a major video game console.
• Tripled projected sales for the existing line of trivia card sets and collaborated with licensee to develop a new board game.
• Managed and developed strategic partnership proposals in areas including advertising sales, content aggregation, technology partnerships and distribution partnerships.
Procter and Gamble
Product Development | 02/2006 - 06/2007
Managed new product conception, development and maintained existing 164 sku product line for $40M brand Back to Basics.
• Led multi-national cross-functional team on a $4M new product launch with 14 sku’s for multi-language North American distribution.
• Selected for the four-person team to lead the effective transition from shutdown of the Carlsbad office to the startup and training of the Woodland Hills, CA and Geneva, Switzerland locations.
• Managed and coordinated internal teams to execute ongoing promotions including monthly custom programs and collateral for JCPenney
Upper Deck
Associate Product Manager | 05/2004 - 09/2005
Responsible for execution and product development of the following entertainment brands: Disney, Nickelodeon and Winx Club.
Suzy's Zoo Studios
Director of Licensing & Business Development | 05/2003 - 05/2004
• Manage and grow properties from archives of 37-year-old greeting card company. Brands include Little Suzy's Zoo, Adventures in Duckport and Wags and Whiskers.
• Named #61 on the list of Leading 101 Licensors by License! Magazine in 2004.
University of California, San Diego
Communications and Publications Coordinator | 02/1999 - 05/2002