James Varga
Transcription
James Varga
James Varga [email protected] www.jmsvrg.com Transitioning a Thai OEM furniture manufacturer to a direct supplier, required a dedicated U.S. marketing and design team. My responsibilities included oversight of all marketing, sales support, store audits, packaging, collateral, and product photography. Launching with zero market penetration, we achieved placement at Walmart, Target, Kmart, Home Depot, Costco, Sears, Office Max, Office Depot. packaging product photography Furniture Imports James Varga [email protected] Managed the design operations, brand and concept development of the Nate Berkus Collection featured at Linens N’ Things. Result led to the program being expanded to a 600 SKU dedicated space in all stores – the largest brand launch in Linens N’ Things history. The program launch was featured on Oprah. product launched on Oprah featured in Oprah’s ‘O’ at Home magazine James Varga [email protected] concept baby brand - hang tags concept perfume The brand development division, which I helped create was hired to explore licensing opportunities for Halle Berry. The goal was to create the esthetic and conceptual framework that reflected her personality and to explore potential for later brand extensions. This is the foundation that vendors in all categories use for developing the individual SKU designs in the line. The inspired packaging and brand work for her fragrance line won “fragrance of the year” and sold more than $40M. She has since launched an additional five fragrances becoming one of the more successful licenses in the category. actual ad for licensed fragrance Halle Berry License James Varga [email protected] Having gone through a series of M&A, AT&T had a problem with too many overlapping and competing licensed products in their assortment. Partnering with the Beanstalk Group, I managed a team that led recommendations to streamline the assortment, redesigned packaging, store signage, POP displays and consulted on the merchandising plan for Walmart. store concept James Varga [email protected] No Boundaries bedding young adult bedding furniture photoshoot While Walmart was building their internal product development department, they outsourced the domestics direct import business to Thinc for a 2 year period. This was an immense volume of work, I managed design operations for 50+ designers. In addition I tracked sales via Retail Link, generated royalty reports, conducted research, store audits, coordinated presentation logistics, implemented marketing efforts and contributed to the launch of several adult, teen and kids brands, most notably: No Boundaries, Walmart’s first year-round teen home brand. No Boundaries bath Walmart Domestics James Varga [email protected] display concept product concepts Carbon 14, an environmentally-minded outdoor lifestyle brand, launched in the sport watches category. Led design direction for the program which included marketing collateral, identity with brand book, packaging, store fixtures, web UI design, conceptual brand extensions and voice. website concept Korath Wright, brand ambassador James Varga [email protected] stills from video presentation Habitat for Humanity partnered with the Beanstalk Group and Thinc to explore alternate ways to generate outreach and revenue, such as licensing. In addition to contributing marketing research, design management to the project, James also produced and edited a corporate video which served as the entire presentation. Efforts resulted in several high-level meetings at Walmart, progressing to meetings with the Chief Marketing Officer. Pleased with the progress, Habitat for Humanity has hired a dedicated executive for their licensing efforts. product concepts Habitat for Humanity James Varga [email protected] Walmart has great opportunity for positive impact with organic cotton and sustainable business practices. The problem: there was not enough global supply to fulfill the needs of Walmart! The messaging strategy was key, communicating Walmart’s commitment to the organic journey, progressing from “organically-grown” to “certified organic” with the goal being continuous improvement. We created an umbrella organic brand that would span multiple categories from home furnishings to consumer packaged goods. I contributed design operations, research, strategy and created the presentation resulting in several meetings with the Chief Marketing Officer and implementation of many of our ideas. Today Walmart buys more organic cotton than anyone else. store concept packaging James Varga [email protected] Media Nokia Textron ViaSat Walmart Licensed Personalities Halle Berry Nate Berkus Sheryl Crow Retail Placement Target Walmart Home Depot Sears Kmart Office Depot Office Max Costco Safeway Lowe’s Best Buy Bed Bath & Beyond Dillard’s Brand Partners AT&T Habitat for Humanity Underalls Bonwit Teller Susie Coelho FUBU Disney Ford Joe Boxer Client / Brand Overview James Varga [email protected] James Varga [email protected] www.jmsvrg.com