Kantar Retail Year-End Forum Speakers
Bryan Gildenberg, Chief Knowledge Officer
Bryan Gildenberg is a world-renowned expert in retail insight. As Kantar Retail's Chief Knowledge Officer, he is responsible for Analysis and Insight, driving the direction of content with in-depth knowledge and intuitive skills few can match. Additionally, Bryan provides a clear, ever changing and always topical focus on a variety of channels and retailers around the world. He started at Kantar Retail (formerly MVI) in 1997 as an Analyst.
An award-winning and prolific writer, Bryan has authored numerous professional articles online at MVI-Insights.com, as well as for various Kantar Retail publications and third party periodicals such as The Hub, and GMA Forum. He is a two time winner of WPP’s Atticus Award for excellence in written communication and is frequently cited in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and The Boston Globe in the USA, and globally in the China Economic Times, BBC Radio and ETRetailBiz India. An engaging speaker, he has addressed numerous Kantar Retail Forums along with conferences sponsored by WPP’s The Store, GMA, FMI, CIES, NACDS and NARMS. He is a member of MVI’s leadership team.
Bryan Gildenberg received his MBA degree, summa cum laude, from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, Wellesley, MA; and his undergraduate degree from Churchill College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.
David Marcotte, Senior Vice President
David Marcotte is Kantar Retail’s SVP of Retail Insights Americas with expertise in International Retail, Merchandising, Retail Operations, Supply Chain, and Business Intelligence. He is a professional speaker on a wide-range of topics and also a trainer for in-depth seminars having worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies across the Globe. David also contributes featured content and review of industry, processes, and regions to Kantar Retail’s client website, www.MVI-Insights.com. Recently he was the lead researcher and writer of the 2010 Retailing Emergent Markets study for the Coca-Cola Retailer Research Council which summarized findings in China, Peru, Turkey, Poland, South Africa, and Brazil. The council is made up of the CEO’s and GM’s of the leading retailers in Latin America such as Walmart, Carrefour, Soriana, and OXXO.
David began his career with store and district management positions at A&P and Supervalu. As a retail executive he was responsible for pricing at A&P, merchandising at Jean Coutu, and category management and merchandising at Big Y Foods. At the latter, David was an early adaptor and innovator of space management, use of scan data, category performance and customer loyalty programs integrating them into a single process and information framework for his organization. He was also in the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) group during the defining and expanding of category management.
Prior to joining Kantar Retail, for a decade he was the Business Intelligence Lead in Retail for IBM-Americas where he worked with the industry's leading global companies. In that capacity, David was part of development teams for a range of solutions in retail including loss prevention, pricing, category management processes, merchandising planning, supply chain, merchandising, and sales forces optimization. He was also the business and project lead for IBM’s Retail Data Warehouse Solution. A sampling of the companies he has worked with on these solutions includes Sobeys, Radio Shack, Sony Electronics, D&S, Falabella, Boots UK, Kroger, Tesco, Couche-Tard, Expedia, Staples, SAP, Target, Kana Software, and Disney.
Leon Nicholas, Senior Vice President
Leon Nicholas, Senior Vice President at Kantar Retail, has amassed nearly seventeen years of experience working for and advising numerous consumer goods manufacturers and retailers on marketing and sales initiatives. Leon leads Kantar Retail’s team of US analysts, maintaining a focus on mass merchandisers.
Leon has appeared as a retail expert on CNBC, Bloomberg, New England Cable News (NECN), Public Radio, and Public Television. In print, his retail insight has appeared in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, BrandWeek, The Guardian (UK), Nikkei (Japan), Russian Business Daily, Euro2Day, Philadelphia Enquirer, Advertising Age, Supermarket News, Business Week, Kiplinger’s, Financial Week, and Smart Money.
Prior to Kantar Retail, Leon was a retail manager for two years in the Hannaford Bros. flagship store in Portland, ME. He logged in eight years with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) in client services, sales force development, consulting, and client relations – providing information and technology solutions to manufacturers’ sales and marketing endeavors.
Leon has also served as a senior marketing analyst for Veridiem, delivering marketing data integration and analytics software services to leading global CPG customers. Also, he directed the consumer goods and retail practice at Global Insight, an economic analysis and consulting firm, where he advised clients on forecasting, market entry, and market development.
A sought-after speaker, Leon has addressed the National Retail Federation, Outdoor Industry Conference, and the World Economic Conference.
Leon Nicholas is a summa cum laude graduate of Bates College, Lewiston, ME.
John A. Rand, Senior Vice President
John Rand is a Senior Vice President at Kantar Retail with an established expertise in retailing, manufacturing, and the interface between suppliers and their customers. His highly successful career in retailing and consumer packaged goods has included several significant contributions to the industry.
John has designed, built, merchandised, and operated stores for top-level retailers, including Giant and Hannaford. As a regional sales manager, he has brought a wide array of new products to market in several channels including supermarket, department stores, drugstores, and convenience retailing. Additionally, John has developed space management and category management departments at both retailers and at CPG supplier operations in the U.S.
John also served as a national consultant for IBM in their Business Intelligence practice, working with both retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers on industry data systems, business processes, and strategic business planning.
Considered an industry authority, John has been interviewed and quoted often in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The Providence Journal, and Supermarket News. He has professional articles published in several industry publications, including GMA Forum, Promo, and Kantar Retail’s Breakthrough Insights. Popular on the speaker’s circuit, John has often been featured on FMI, GMA, NACDS, and CHPA programs.
John is a former member of the IRI Product Advisory Board, a former member of the GMA/ASMC Technology Steering Committee, and a contributing member of the FDI Food Distributors International Retail Coverage and Store Implementation Study.
John is a graduate of Bates College and resides with his family in Shrewsbury, MA.
Mary Brett Whitfield, Senior Vice President
Mary Brett leads Kantar Retail's Shopper Insights team. She has more than 17 years of consulting experience with retailers and consumer products companies. Additionally, she has four years' experience at retail companies in market research, strategic planning, and sales development roles. Her consulting specialties include industry and company analysis, competitive positioning, and primary consumer research.
Mary Brett's clients have included Limited Brands, Stein Mart, Belk Department Stores, Saks Fifth Avenue, Mothers Work, Stop & Shop (Royal Ahold), SpeedwaySuperAmerica, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, Pepsi, Great Brands of Europe, Inc. (Danone Group), Good Humor - Breyers Ice Cream, Borden Home Wallcoverings, Springs Industries, Kmart Corporation and LSG/Sky Chefs.
Mary Brett's thought leadership is available to members of the Retail Forward Intelligence System™ and MVI-Insights.com Web site licensees. She also has been a regular contributor to the program, writing in the areas of shopper behavior, softgoods retailing, and e-retailing. Additionally, her work has appeared in the trade press, including Supermarket News, Chain Store Age Executive and Women's Wear Daily.
Mary Brett joined the Management Horizons Division of Price Waterhouse in 1993 and was part of the management team that acquired the Retail Intelligence System™ from PricewaterhouseCoopers to form Retail Forward in 2001. Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mary Brett worked for Pearle Vision, Inc. and Pier 1 Imports, Inc. She holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Smith College and an MBA from The University of Oklahoma.
Brendan Langan, Director of Retail Insight
Brendan Langan is Kantar Retail's Director of Retail Insight. He currently manages the product research and training for the Drug Channel. Since joining Kantar Retail (formerly MVI) in May of 2006 as a Senior Analyst, he has been the lead analyst on the Drug and Club channels. Brendan is instrumental in driving the content and analysis for drug industry news, Kantar Retail’s exclusive interpretation, and supplier implications. He is a presenter and trainer for syndicated and private seminars, in addition to working with numerous Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies, retailers, and trade associations.
Before joining Kantar Retail, Brendan was a Senior Industry Analyst at Global Credit Services, Inc., a private business information and credit rating agency in New York. As a Senior Industry Analyst, he provided in depth analysis of retailers and wholesalers across a number of industries, with a particular focus on the food, drug, and healthcare sectors. Brendan’s expertise was also utilized to provide advisory services for Fortune 1000 companies, including the identification and management of credit risks. Prior to joining Global Credit Services, he worked in commercial lending with CitiCapital, a business unit of Citigroup.
Brendan holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Fordham University in New York, NY. His diverse experience in the financial services industry makes him a valuable addition to MVI’s team of analysts. Brendan has made significant contributions to Kantar Retail’s Drug and Club Channel training events and to analytic research. His work can be accessed on www.mvi-insights.com.