Contributors

MARIA DUBUC

Maria possesses nearly three decades expertise in creative management developing brand strategies, managing highly complex programs and driving business growth. As Marketing By Design, President, and Big Red Rooster, Vice President, Maria works diligently to ensure our people, projects, and processes drive clients’ successes. In the Retail Brands space she has coordinated the design

CHRISTOPHER DURHAM

Christopher Durham is the president of the Retail Brands Institute. Prior to this he founded the groundbreaking site My Private Brand. He is the co-founder of The Vertex Awards. He began his retail career building brands at Food Lion and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Durham has worked with retailers around the world, including Albertsons, Family Dollar, Petco, Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, Metro Canada. Durham has published seven definitive books on private brands, including Fifty2: The My Private Brand Project and Vanguard: Vintage Originals.

HANS KRAAK

Hans Kraak is educated in biology and journalism and wrote three books about nutrition and health. He worked for the Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality and the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. As editor in chief he publishes in the Dutch Magazine for Nutrition and Dietetics, as a food and wine writer he published in Meininger’s Wine Business International and reports for PLMA Live EU and PLMA USA.

KARA MIENCIER

Kara Miencier, Private Brand Sales Executive for Paramount Roasters, has a passion for store brands and the coffee industry. As a Board of Directors Member for Women Impacting Storebrand Excellence, Kara finds great value in the diversity and inclusion mission of WISE and bridging the experience gap between generations.

GEORGE PURO

President of the Puro Research Group, a market intelligence firm specializing in consumer insights, competitive/market intelligence and analysis. Puro’s services are designed to keep you abreast of the latest trends, make you look smart in presentations and help guide decision-making. The company has provided organizations and companies, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to startups, with aha! insights about competitors, customers and industries in a variety of topics and industries, including consumer products; retail; transportation, travel and hospitality; healthcare and health insurance;

PERRY SEELERT

A retail branding and marketing expert, with a passion for challenging conventional strategy and truths. Perry is the Strategic Partner and Co-founder of Emerge, a strategic marketing consultancy dedicated to helping Retailers, Manufacturers and Services grow exponentially and differentiate with purpose.

ELENA SULLIVAN

Elena Sullivan holds a BA in Creative Writing and a Masters Degree in Social Work. She is a writer, editor, social worker and advocate. With more than 15 years writing and researching the private label industry, Elena was previously the Managing Editor at Private Label Magazine and most recently created content for Private Label Manufacturers Association’s PLMALive! PL Category Trends series. Through her writing, Elena seeks to provide holistic information on Private Labels for all players in the industry.

MARCEL VERHAAF

Marcel is the Executive Creative Director of SGK Amsterdam and is responsible for the creative vision and design effectiveness of SGK’s work across brand and packaging design and is the driving force behind SGK’s sustainability innovations and designs executions. With a career spanning 30 years, he has been recognised by the industry with numerous accolades including international awards from The Dieline, Pentawards, Red Dot and ADCN in the Netherlands. Marcel has experience working with both global and local brands including Unilever, Nestlé, Heineken, Danone, Pladis, Ahold, AkzoNobel, Douwe Egberts, Pepsico, Pernod Ricard and Friesland Campina.