AVID IMPACT - Key Persons

Alan Hart is a serial entrepreneur and marketing thought leader with experience serving on eight companies' executive teams, unleashing growth potential and transforming organizations. He served industries as varied as consumer products/services, technology, telecommunications, life sciences, healthcare, packaging, chemicals, media, travel, education, and financial services. His expertise in brand strategy, innovation, marketing effectiveness, and future trends across consumer and B2B industries informs all his work. As Head of Brand Strategy at McKinney (2016-2019), a full service national creative agency, Alan was strategic advisor to new CEO, developed a new agency positioning on brand experience and led the consulting business. The new agency positioning and refined internal strategy processes, research and frameworks contributed to a 1,500% improvement in new business success. Additionally, Alan led strategy for the successful Financial Services client pitch as they launched the company's new intelligence platform campaign resulting in significant lifts in familiarity and consideration among banking and finance service professionals. Additionally, Alan led engagements for a subscription media company to achieve customer acquisition targets of 300%+. He helped a global education company attain greater traction on internal projects and growth targets and a national battery brand to improve marketing ROI. Earlier, Alan founded Keen Strategy and served as its Managing Partner (2010-2015). Leading the 7th fastest growing company in NC, he directed operations in marketing, business development, back-office, built client delivery teams, and led customer assignments that had transformational results. To give a few examples: He enabled a five-fold category growth for a major consumer brand; improved the value propositions and customer insights for a global $8B diversified manufacturer, resulting in two new business models (each $100MM+ in size), and the identification of $138MM in additional customer value; helped a global consumer-goods company with an 11-brand portfolio grow and attain savings by leading a marketing investment optimization, and subsequently save $30MM and attain a 5% incremental growth in revenue; and created and implemented sales strategies/processes that led to a $9MM sales pipeline of Fortune 1000 prospects. A published author in CMO.com, Economist.com, and Effie.org., Alan further evolved thought leadership by producing a video/podcast series with some of the world's top marketing professionals and business leaders that reached (in partnership with Effie Worldwide) the industry's most influential agency and marketing executives. From 2010 to 2011, Alan served as Chief Strategy Officer, Head of Marketing and Trustee of UK Charity for WomanCare Global (Chapel Hill, San Diego and London). In this role, he successfully drove the company's reorganization, turned around its marketing department, expanded the product portfolio, and increased growth funding, investment sources, and the company's revenue stream. Alan started his professional career at Bell & Howell in 1999, progressing in roles of greater responsibilities, culminating with that of GM, and overseeing lines of up to $172MM in revenue. As a product Planning Intern at Dell Technologies in 2005, he contributed to margin by $26MM/year through innovative strategies, and by $265MM through the delivery of graphics/visualization industry analyses and recommendations. He joined CMG Partners in 2006 as a Senior Consultant & Manager, quickly became a Client Manager leader, developing and leading the market strategy practice area, and managing 30% of the firm's resources in client engagement. In this role, he significantly impacted the firm's revenue and thought leadership, and brought great value to his clients by creating marketing, brand, growth and customer engagement strategies, and national/local marketing alignment. Alan is active in numerous non-profit boards, is a prolific author/creator of blogs, articles and podcasts, and a sought-after presenter/workshop leader on a variety of marketing topics. He earned a B.A. in Psychology from North Carolina State University, and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School, The University of North Carolina.