Vanessa Otayza

1386 N Knollwood Drive, Palatine IL 60067

Contact
Tel : 203-803-3645
e-mail :

Profile
Innovative and passionate professional recognized for pioneering and driving new
product initiatives and infrastructure in the Consumer Goods industry.

Key Skills and Strengths

Proficient in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Daymon University Classes focused on food marketing, sales, and business managem
ent.
Syndicated data systems-ACNielsen's Nitro and Homescan, and Spectra.
Market research tools-
Euromonitor, Business Insights, Global New Products Database (GNPD), PlanetRetai
l, InStore Marketing Institute.Data warehousing systems, ES900, RDW, Oracle PM,
etc.
Experienced in collaborative team environments.
Excel at building processes and managing projects.
Passion for executing projects in a multicultural context.
Hands on project/task implementation

Languages
English (native)
Spanish (fluent)

Work Experience
Daymon Worldwide, Stamford, CT
International Private Brand Broker
Full Time
Assoc. Innovation Business Mngr (Brand and Product Dev.)
August 2008- Present
* Partnered with our international team members to help them understand the US
innovation strategy and structure, with the goal of creating a similar innovatio
n strategy for their markets that efficiently integrates their retailers, suppli
er partners and Daymon's business model outside of the US.
* Advised our Daymon teams at retailers' headquarters such as Meijer, Giant Eag
le, and Wegmans on potential merchandising, packaging, brand direction, and cons
umer trends associated with a new product or program launch.
* Accountable for facilitating communications with Daymon account teams based o
ut of retailers' headquarters that are involved in innovation projects/initiativ
es. This includes managing the content of monthly meetings as well as face-to-fa
ce meetings twice a year with the goal of team building, strategizing on innovat
ive collaborations and proposing key innovation processes.
* Created, managed and distributed sell sheets to Daymon account teams that con
veyed product benefits as part of a presentation about the innovative opportunit
y to category buyers interested in launching these items.
* Co-leaded the cross-functional team to advice our Vice President on the idea
management system best suited for our company. This included creating workflows
of internal idea management processes, vetting potential companies that could m
ost efficiently execute, managing timelines, monitoring costs, and expectations
in order to implement the new system successfully.
* Researched, evaluated key trends/data, and leveraged insights applicable to p
otential product innovations/programs to present to our retailer partners to pot
entially launch in order to add value to their Private Brands assortment.
*Led, coordinated the process in preparation of conferences, and trainings relat
ed to innovation.

Daymon Worldwide, Delray Beach, FL

Office Depot Headquarters
Full Time
Mgmt Development Associate (Marketing and Category Mgmt)
June 2007-August 2008
* Interfaced with our Asian supplier partners to effectively manage the item de
velopment process for Foray writing instruments and meet the designated launch d
ates, volumes and delivered costs.
* Maintained an on-going relationship with our international direct import and
domestic suppliers in order to drive sales through promotions, advertising and m
aximizing efficiencies.
* Strategically worked with the cross-functional team that were part of the Pri
vate Brand Team (OD buyers, label design house, the sourcing team, Bureau VERITA
S quality assurance testing, etc) on behalf of the supplier partners to develop
Office Depot brands.
* Worked in conjunction with the Senior Business Manager of the category to dri
ve marketing programs and initiatives in the B2B channel (Business Solutions Div
ision) and in retail stores.
* Participated in the category review process by providing analytical insight i
nto the category and competitive analysis on the Private Brand assortment in com
parison to National Brands and industry competitors.
* Actively participated in the Management Development Associate project which c
onsisted of researching e-marketing initiatives and their application to the Day
mon Business model.

Daymon Worldwide, Stamford, CT

International Private Brand Broker
Internship- Category Management & Insights Intern
May- August 2006
* Ran ACNielsen's Homescan and Nitro databases and helped in providing insights
for clients for successful Private Brand product launches.
* Summarized and analyzed information from secondary sources such as Euromonito
r into PowerPoint presentations accompanied with graphs from ACNielsen data that
gave recommendations for Private Brand category management.
* Responsible for a major part of creating category reviews of different food c
ategories including major trends within each category.
* Used Spectra and Simmons programs to calculate consumer loyalty and potential
 brand interaction for a variety of products for grocery retailers.
* Aided in the translation into Spanish of business letters explaining the Daym
on Worldwide business model to potential international retailer partners.

BASES, an ACNielsen Company, Westport, CT

Internship-Marketing Research Analyst Intern
May- August 2005
* Reviewed panel data collection materials used in the forecasting of a product
's possible success among consumers.
* Took part in selecting databases used for forecasting and ran the forecasting
models.
* Summarized data in charts, tables, and graphs through Excel that were used in
the PowerPoint reports presented to the client.

Education
2004 to 2007
Bachelors of Arts in Communications with a minor in International Relations and
Business Administration - University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
2006
International Business Program-Universitat D'Alacant, Alicante, Spain

Activities and Interests

Organizations: Board member of the Greenwich Young Professionals Group
Director of Marketing and New Member Recruitment, www.GreenwichYPG.com
Traveling: Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Czech Republic, Peru, Argentina, Cana
da
Volunteering: P.A.W.S