Principal, Zurich Office

Education

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
Ph.D. in Applied Statistics, 1987

LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
B.A. in Psychology, 1981

Hometown

Baltimore, MD

ZS Career Path

Principal, 2001
- Moved to Zurich office, May 2008

On the work

“A client that I have worked with for several years approached us after substantial changes to their team to help 're-position' their flagship brand in the US market. We reviewed the medical literature from the bottom up, developed a set of testable altnernatives, then tried out the ideas in interviews with the relevant physician specialties. Our presentation became the guiding document used by the organization to gain internal alignment around the brand strategy and to direct the development of new communications with the ad agency. A few months later, the look, feel, and content of the new campaign is clearly driven directly off our recommended positioning strategy for the brand.

“A large pharmaceutical company approached us for help with the launch process for a new specialty product in a market new to the client across most of the world. The foundational work we completed to support them was a series of regional segmentations of the professionals to whom the product would be marketed. Our solutions helped them make the most of limited promotional resources by focusing on the right targets in the right sequence with messages that resonated. The approach we took to creating the segmentation solutions to drive the launch has been adopted as a best practice by the client."

On ZS values

Do the right thing: “When I first joined ZS, an opportunity to sell a global tracking study of a launch brand came my way. After exploring the client needs in depth with each of the partner companies and the ZS team, it was clear to us that ZS was not the best company to provide the service they wanted—just the data, no insight beyond the data. The ZS team agreed, and we came back to the client to explain why we would not bid on the work and even gave suggestions of who we thought was better suited to deliver what the client really wanted. Rather then being offended, the client was so appreciative of the insight and honesty, that a few months later they awarded us the kind of value-add project we wanted for the US market for the same brands. It felt great to do the right thing, then have it pay back with client trust and new work so quickly! ”

On life outside work

“Most of my time outside work is devoted to my family. When we are not traveling for vacations, my kids have lots of activities I support—scouts, soccer, piano.”