mark e. appel109 Locust St

Attleboro, MA 02703appel.mea@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/profile/preview?vpa=pub&locale=en_US

Profile Dynamic marketing communications leader with a strong multi-disciplinary skill set, including

organization management, strategic planning, direct marketing, P.R., creative direction, cause marketing, advocacy.

Documented record of successful design and execution of innovative marketing communications initiatives in technology, higher education, business-to-business, and consumer environments.

Adept and accomplished at building strong, highly functional, and effective relationships with strategic partners at major enterprises: Hewlett-Packard, Leo Burnett, U.S. Army, University of California, J Walter Thompson, Bank of America, and others.

Skilled in: fostering employee and organizational efficiency; building resonant, relevant messaging and branding; implementing responsible fiscal management; championing legislative and public advocacy; leveraging traditional and new media; building strong constituent and board relations; implementing successful business development and strategic negotiations.

Highly skilled and experienced: Public Speaking, Radio, TV, Video—on-air talent and copy writing.

Professional HistoryDirector of Marketing and CommunicationsContra Costa Association of REALTORS®, 2010-2016Responsible for all marketing communications including member communications, public relations, media relations, branding, social media, event marketing for major trade association.

Includes brand building, member and public communication strategies. Work to build functional alliances with counterparts at partner organizations nationally, including

California Association of REALTORS® and National Association of REALTORS®. Manage graphic design and public relations personnel, contractors, vendors. Speech writing, prepare leadership for media relations and appearances.

Independent Consulting Contractor and Consultant (Ongoing)Provide contracted planning, ideation, writing and management services to a wide range of enterprises, including start-up technology business (medical device and software.)

Provide pro bono, communications planning services to underserved and under resourced enterprises. Clients range from sole-proprietorships to non-profit advocacy and or public benefit organizations.

Director of Marketing Leveredge Wireless-B2B/C Wireless Company, South Bay Area, 2008-2010Responsible for all strategic and tactical marketing including branding, direct marketing and other communications for web-based, B2B/C wireless provider.

Tenure included development, planning and execution of company re-branding, subsidiary product branding, website management and redesign, strategic organizational planning and tactical program design and supervision.

Company clients include Honda, Boeing, Con-way trucking, Google, Weyerhauser, Farmers Insurance. Web presence includes both fulfillment/commerce and organizational sites. Supervise marketing and account management team of 8. Also serve as senior marketing consultant to strategic partner organizations on branding and messaging.

Mark Appel | appel.mea@gmail.comPage 2

Associate Executive Director, Chief Marketing OfficerCalifornia Alumni Association, University of California, Berkeley, 2003–2007

Managed 25 staff plus vendors, consultants and contractors. Brought a management strategy that emphasized personal ownership, mutual support, cross-disciplinary solutions and professional growth. Inculcated a culture of big-picture goal sharing.

Managed $5M annual budget. Met or beat revenue and expense targets across all departments every year for 3 years. Reduced expenses, significantly increased revenues, efficiencies. Invested in strategic capabilities, especially technology and publishing. Led record-setting revenue initiatives in Membership and Affinity Business.

Reinvented all aspects of 70 year-old non-profit organization’s communications and business: marketing, branding, publishing, web, educational travel, affinity business and sponsorship development at the largest single campus alumni association in the world (approx. 100K members, 450K alumni worldwide).

Conceived and executed major rebrand of CAA to reflect new positioning as the primary organizational advocate for the preservation and advocacy of the University--and as the primary resource by which the highly diverse alumni community can engage their alma mater in productive ways throughout their lifetimes

Developed highly innovative, low-risk/high reward affinity marketing business with major corporations—providing over $2M dollars in net, incremental income in just 2 years. Renegotiated single largest revenue producing deal in CAA history with MBNA/Bank of America affinity credit card.

Built functional strategic alliances with multiple University partners, including Athletics, Student Stores, UC Office of the President, School of Business, Cal Recreation Sports and more.

Conceived and implemented UC Berkeley’s first web-based social networking platform. Negotiated and executed in partnership with the University.

Worked closely with CEO to author, present and implement plan to build cross-campus alumni relations collaboration.

Along with CEO, led staff development of operational plan—resulting in clear, executable roadmap to achieve board-mandated strategic goals.

Managed implementation of that plan for the bulk of CAA operations. Achieved documented, measurable and outstanding results per strategic objectives; significantly

increased membership (89K to 98K), significantly increased membership participation in strategic initiatives, created significantly greater institutional awareness on and off campus.

Devised and implemented Business Development strategy and position to identify and solicit revenue streams from corporate affinity partners. Achieved $2.2M incremental net revenue in two years.

Conceived the highly praised reinvention of CAA’s traditional alumni magazine to one that leverages the intellectual and cultural capital of UC Berkeley—extending the university’s brand in powerful ways on a national scale. Hired a new, world-class editorial team and chartered them to create a publication that would lead the public discussion on societal issues facing our state and nation. California Magazine has since won several prestigious, national magazine awards, including the coveted “Maggie.”

Introduced and implemented communications best practices, including appropriate industry research, testing and ongoing refinement of messaging and communication vehicles.

Mark Appel | appel.mea@gmail.comPage 3

Director 3rd Party Marketing Nimblefish Corporation, San Francisco CA, 1999–2003

Helped bring leading edge, cross-media digital direct marketing platform to market. Innovative, hosted software vehicle enables large scale design and production of highly individualized direct marketing across web, print and email.

Closed loop system provides measurable, trackable, response and behavior metrics. Web response mechanism includes personalized URL built on the fly and customized to responder characteristics.

Managed, coordinated interdisciplinary team of staff, contractors, vendors and strategic partners. Built effective strategic alliances with big 10 advertising agencies including Leo Burnett,

J Walter Thompson. Clients included the United States Army, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Lowes, and Cap Gemini Ernst and Young. Relationships resulted in agencies implementing proprietary Nimblefish marketing platform for major clients.

Conceived and sold pioneering, digitally based and personalized direct marketing program to Leo Burnett in support of US Army account. Successfully increased recruitment of prior service into the U.S. Army Reserve. Program was implemented across multiple years.

Planned, coordinated execution of strategic marketing activities with Hewlett-Packard and their Indigo digital print division, including international and domestic events.

Account Director for Hewlett-Packard Inkjet DivisionBlyvens, Adams, Randazzo and Carter Agency, San Francisco CA, 1998–1999

Managed account specific marketing relationships with national mass consumer channel for HP Inkjet consumables division.

Built relationships, designed and executed national programs with Office Depot, Staples, Office Max, Target and others.

Built and managed relationships with key HP personnel and HP vendors. Managed staff of 5 plus multiple communication and design vendors and contractors.

Communications Director and PartnerLaserTools Corporation, Emeryville CA, 1987–1998

Helped build garage-based start-up to $5M/year business and eventual liquidity. Conceived and implemented communications and marketing functions for this start-up software publisher. PR, package design, tradeshows, events, advertising, branding, messaging. OEM, consumer. Managed communications staff, vendors and contractors.

Received awards and accolades for innovative PR and design strategies. Received many “best in category” testimonials from national press, including PC Magazine, PC World, PC Computing, Government Computer News and many more.

Managed staff of 4 plus dotted line reports, public relations and design agencies, vendors and contractors.

Company sold to Adobe Systems.

EducationUC Davis, Environmental Planning and Communications 1974-76Cal State Fullerton, Communications 1976-78