Topco Associates LLCSenior Category Specialist
May. 2014 - Jan. 2016Elk Grove Village, ILAs the Category Specialist for HBC (Health, Beauty & Personal Care) I am responsible for assisting the Category manager with the P&L, assortment, product development, management, marketing and promotion of Topco’s brands within our Health, Beauty and Personal Care business. Brands under the HBC business include Top Care (OTC, Beauty & Personal Care brand), Tippy Toes by Top Care (baby brand), b-leve (Prestige Beauty brand), Full Circle (Natural & Organic brand), Valu Time (Opening Price Point/Value Brand) & Clear Value (Opening Price Point/Value Brand). Topco’s HBC largest brand, Top Care, is a multi-million dollar cross-category brand sold in regional grocery chains and wholesale distributors throughout the United States. Responsibilities include helping manage the development and execution of multiple marketing & promotional strategies for categories that fall under our HBC portfolio. Key categories include: Cough Cold, Allergy, Pain, Sleep, GI/Laxatives, Incontinence, Feminine Hygiene, Baby, Skin Care and Bath/Body & Soaps. I am charged with helping push cross-functional projects to drive execution of promotional & marketing plans that allow our member retailers to capture more than their fair share of own brand (private brand) penetration in their stores. • Assisted Category Manager to increase profits and minimize loss through effective management, marketing, and promotion of Topco’s brands within multiple lines of business which met and exceeded sales goals. • Developed and executed multiple marketing and promotional strategies for categories under the HBC portfolio that drove revenue increases year over year. • Researched and analyzed market trends to create pitch presentations on new products that resulted in high customer buy-ins. • Directed a team that designed a website that marketed product offerings which lead to increased member participation and sales by 25%.