Sharon Nicholson
Integrated Marketing Solutions

How I can assist you

As a strategic and conceptual thinker I can help grow your business by identifying new business opportunities and driving the development and project management of strategic marketing and branding initiatives. Bringing both client and agency experience, I am available on a project basis to support your organization with its new product launches, marketing and account management activities.

Key areas of expertise

	Marketing planning and strategy
	Strategic business development, new product development and market assessment
	•	Strategic research: market analysis, competitive intelligence—SWOT, benchmarking
	•	Emerging trends and opportunities, key success factors, consumer insights, best practices
	•	Business plans, financials, scenario analysis, business cases
	Strategic relationship marketing
	•	Direct response and database marketing
	•	Loyalty, relationship and co-branding marketing
	•	Leveraging customer profiling, behavioural and customer segmentation and predictive modelling
	Brand management and positioning
	Partnership and Alliance negotiation
	Strategic and tactical project management (broadcast, print, radio, direct, online, DRTV, telemarketing, promotion, in-store and public relations
	Product management and new product launches
	Large scale project implementation, including organizational alignment, integration, and cross-functional team management
	Tactical project management (direct, digital, telemarketing, DRTV, promo, mass)

Biography

Sharon is known for her bias for action. She is a big-picture thinker who excels in identifying client needs and opportunities, and delivering integrated customer focused business strategies that drive growth, build loyalty and produce tangible results. Sharon describes herself as an “analytical artsy” and has a track record of delivering breakthrough, innovative and highly successful new business development opportunities and marketing strategies.

With sixteen years of experience, she has extensive expertise in all aspects of business marketing strategy including new product development & launches, strategic planning, direct marketing, customer relationship & loyalty marketing, advertising, brand repositioning, online and research.

She has worked with top-tier marketing driven companies and advertising agencies ranging from Fortune 500 to privately held entrepreneurial organizations and has expertise in both B2B and B2C marketing.

During her years at American Express, she developed a solid understanding of branding, relationship marketing and new product development. She successfully identified and negotiated new initiatives and alliances for the company’s credit card, corporate and merchant sales businesses.

At CIBC VISA, Sharon (in senior strategy and marketing roles) was an integral player in driving its rapid growth and market leadership position over a five-year period. She spearheaded new product launches and championed the use of sophisticated leading-edge loyalty, co-branding and direct marketing segmentation and modelling initiatives to drive profitability and market share.

As Director, Marketing Communication & Strategic Planning, Sharon led the development planning and delivery of all of CIBC’s Small Business, SOHO, Mortgages, Commercial, Insurance, Lending and VISA marketing campaigns.

In 2002, Sharon launched Ribbed Consulting, her own private strategy consulting practice. Over the past few years she has worked with a variety of clients to lead the planning, development and implementation of strategic business and marketing initiatives from both a client and agency perspective. Clients and accounts include OgilvyOne Worldwide, Manchu WOK, IVEY Business Consulting Group, Hellin Marketing Group, ICOM Information & Communications, American Express, NVision Consulting Ltd, MasterCard and Second Harvest.

Through her work in negotiating and launching new initiatives and strategic marketing campaigns, Sharon has acquired a broad range of experience in the Retail, B2B (mid-market and SOHO), Tourism, Telecommunications, Pharmaceutical, CPG, Automotive, Not-for-Profit and Technology sectors in both Canada and the US.

Sharon’s experience is complemented by an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Wilfrid Laurier University.