NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Acosta Appoints Two New Key Marketing Executives

The addition of the two new senior-level executives to its marketing arm will increase the Jacksonville-based agency's capabilities in connecting shoppers to brands and driving sales for retailers. Already a leader in headquarter sales and retail execution, Acosta's strategic focus on integrated marketing solutions brings together its sales, insights and retail execution capabilities to provide CPG companies with clear and timely marketing messages that build brand advocacy with shoppers.

"Adding Al and Shannon to Acosta's team enhances our marketing capabilities and provides a superior and differentiating value proposition to our clients," said Ramin Eivaz, Acosta's Chief Marketing Officer. "Al is a distinguished, industry veteran who can accelerate our ability to set industry standards and deliver results at an even higher level. Shannon's exceptional experience in onboarding and grounding CPG companies in shopper marketing will deliver a superior experience to our clients."

In his role as Executive Vice President of Integrated Marketing, Wittemen will oversee marketing strategy, business development, account management, and creative for Acosta's marketing agencies. Acosta's agency MatchPoint Marketing oversees shopper marketing programs for more than 150 brands at most of the top grocery chains in the U.S. Wittemen will report to Ramin Eivaz. As Senior Vice President of Shopper Marketing, Hodock also will be working with Acosta's agencies, focusing on strategic program development for both new and existing clients. Hodock will report to MatchPoint Marketing and Promo Depot President Mike Sims.

Wittemen has 40 years experience in shopper marketing, sales, branding, and product growth for CPG companies and marketing service agencies. He most recently was Chief Retail Strategist at Omnicon-owned TracyLocke, where he updated, expanded and increased customer marketing and shopper marketing programs with clients including Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Kimberly-Clark, Hershey, and T-Mobile. Prior to that Wittemen was founder and partner of Retail Performance Group, LLC, where he developed successful shopper marketing plans for Unilever, Foster Grant, Master Foods, Michelin, and Nokia. Wittemen is known for showing companies how to maximize growth and improve customer relationships by integrating the manufacturing, retailing and marketing processes. He has spoken at industry conferences on shopper marketing and has been quoted in Advertising Age, The Hub and USA Today.

Hodock has spent the last nine years with TracyLocke, most recently as a Group Account Director, where she created shopper marketing and integrated marketing programs, promotions and sponsorships for a variety of blue chip brands including Hewlett-Packard, Kimberly-Clark, Quaker Foods, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, and Walmart. Prior to that, she served as a Program Manager with Digitas' General Motors account overseeing Pontiac's involvement with ESPN's X Games, golf, tennis, motorsports, and other special events. She also worked with Momentum Worldwide and Young & Rubicam's New York offices on those agencies' American Express, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Colgate-Palmolive accounts.

About Acosta Sales & Marketing

Acosta Sales & Marketing is a leading full-service sales and marketing agency providing outsourced headquarter sales, retail merchandising, marketing, and customer support services to consumer packaged goods companies. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., Acosta has more than 15,000 associates and operates throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6245837&lang=en

Acosta Sales & Marketing
Vilma Consuegra, 904-296-6056