ABOUT ME
Twenty-five-year career in integrated marketing and communications, specializing in brand management, customer acquisition, base management, strategic planning, sponsorship marketing, sports business, and brand storytelling. Never satisfied with "good enough" and not afraid to challenge the status quo in pursuit of a better outcome.
Industry experience includes Sports & Entertainment, Telecommunications, Consumer Packaged Goods, Technology, Retail, and Media.
Strengths:
Brand Management • Brand Messaging • B2C & B2B Marketing • Product Marketing • Sponsorship Strategy • Marketing Activation • Base Management • Social Media Strategy • Content Strategy • Email Marketing • Lead Generation • Customer Experience • Team Leadership • Account Management • Partnership Management • Project Management • Market Research & Analysis • Data Analytics • Budgeting • Sales • Strategic Communications • Corporate Communications • Employee Communications • Public Relations • Media Relations • Writing • Editing • Public Speaking • eCommerce
Skills:
Team Leadership • Strategic Planning • Critical Thinking • Research & Analysis • Budget Optimization • Presentation • Writing • Public Speaking • Customer Experience • Event Operations & Logistics • Creativity • Empathy • Culture Building • Collaboration • Ideation • Listening
Chad Willis
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS LEADER
BRAND STRAGETY EXPERT
PROVEN ENGAGEMENT INNOVATOR
PASSIONATE ABOUT STORYTELLING
Phone:
(704) 309-9653
Email:
Location:
Charlotte, North Carolina
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2021 - 2025
Marketing Director
PIERSON WIRELESS
In this leadership role, I developed and executed marketing, brand, and communications strategies for Pierson Wireless, an industry-leading telecommunication systems integrator to customers in a variety of industries, notably commercial real estate, education, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and sports and entertainment.
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Recruited to build and lead the first formal marketing department for a 19-year-old telecommunications solutions firm.
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Led the strategic redesign of the corporate website, resulting in over $1M in new purchase orders from inbound traffic.
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Drove a 318% increase in total social media followers over four years.
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Launched and integrated the company’s first CRM (HubSpot), optimizing collaboration between sales and marketing teams.
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Served as lead writer and editor for all internal and external communications.
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Spearheaded a rebranding initiative, modernizing visual identity to align with the company’s high-tech positioning.
2017 - 2021
General Manager & VP, Marketing
RACING ELECTRONICS
In this role as Racing Electronics' General Manager & Vice President of Marketing, I led all sales, marketing, and product development initiatives for an industry-leading motorsports communications company owned by NASCAR. I led a team of 10 direct reports and an enterprise with 75 full-time employees.
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Led the redesign of legacy company website and eCommerce platform, resulting in a 57% growth and the company's first $1M+ year in website sales.
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Created a 51% growth in marketing database, leveraging digital and intercept-based lead generation methods.
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Coordinated market research to identify opportunities for increased penetration and growth, resulting in a 17% growth in share in a key consumer category.
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Redesigned field sales operations, resulting in $2 million of operational savings while increasing sales.
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Grew the company’s social media following across Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram by 19% in the first year.
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Led the creation and execution of a new mobile retail store, generating an incremental $750,000 in sales.
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Led the rebrand of the company’s 30-year-old logo and intellectual property to articulate the enterprise's sports technology leadership position.
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Established a new Marketing & eCommerce department from scratch, developing the marketing plan, KPI, budgeting, forecasts, and analytics for a 30-year-old company.
2004 - 2016
Senior Manager, Brand Marketing
SPRINT NEXTEL
During my time as Senior Manager, Marketing, I led sponsorship activation and branding platforms as part of Sprint NEXTEL’s $100M annual entitlement of NASCAR’s premier national series. Stewardship of a Fortune 100 brand, responsible for ensuring accuracy, tone, and positioning across all promotional assets, packaging, coupons, vouchers, and point-of-sale signage. Collaborated with national and regional teams to activate sponsorships that supported localized business goals.
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Managed $18M in annual brand marketing programs.
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Partnership marketing responsibility, including ROI measurement, market research, and new opportunity analysis for contractual agreements totaling $150M.
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Designed acquisition campaigns yielding 409,000+ unique email sign-ups.
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Co-created an event-based retail initiative that exceeded two-year sales targets by 45%.
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Shaped brand visibility programs, creating $70 million of broadcast advertising exposure value annually.
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Launched and directed brand ambassador program that resulted in 1.49M followers on social media and 5,200 online visits per year to Sprint e-commerce sites.
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Led and directed strategic development and operations of experiential marketing attraction that engaged with an average of 538,000 visitors annually.
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Designed base marketing sponsorship experiences to enhance customer retention and elevate brand affinity.
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Led one direct report and managed a 10-person external agency team.
2003 - 2004
Account Director, Marketing Strategy
OCTAGON
Octagon is a global sports, entertainment, lifestyle marketing, and talent representation agency of Interpublic Group, with 60+ offices across six continents. Recruited to lead team responsible for crafting the brand activation strategy for client’s inaugural season as entitlement sponsor of NASCAR’s largest national division, the NEXTEL Cup Series.
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Recruited to build and lead the first formal marketing department for a 19-year-old telecommunications solutions firm.
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Led the strategic redesign of the corporate website, resulting in over $1M in new purchase orders from inbound traffic.
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Drove a 318% increase in total social media followers over four years.
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Launched and integrated the company’s first CRM (HubSpot), optimizing collaboration between sales and marketing teams.
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Served as lead writer and editor for all internal and external communications.
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Spearheaded a rebranding initiative, modernizing visual identity to align with the company’s high-tech positioning.
1998 - 2023
Assistant Manager
Sponsorship Marketing & Communications
RJ REYNOLDS
1997-1998
Sports Journalist
THE LYNCHBURG NEWS & ADVANCE
1995 - 1997
Sports Journalist
THE ROANOKE TIMES
Sports Marketing Enterprises is the in-house sports and lifestyle marketing agency of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
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Stewardship of a Fortune 100 brand, responsible for ensuring accuracy, tone, and positioning across all promotional assets, signage, and communications.
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Tournament Media Director for company-sponsored PGA Champion's Tour events in 2001 and 2002, creating and executing communications strategy and collaborating with the Tour’s communications executives.
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Media relations director for four professional athletes, including two world champions, competing in the NASCAR Cup Series and NHRA Drag Racing. Developed and implemented media planning, pitch strategy, athlete scheduling, and press releases to generate awareness.
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Led development of brand-specific creative content for in-stadium screens.
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Developed strategy for NASCAR Winston Cup Series Awards Ceremony and Championship celebration.
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Wrote and edited NASCAR Winston Cup Series media guide.
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Department’s lead writer and copy editor for all press releases, scripts, and marketing collateral.
Beat writer for publication’s NASCAR and Liberty University coverage at a daily newspaper with a circulation of 43K serving Lynchburg, VA and the surrounding communities.
Served as beat writer and columnist for publication’s coverage of New River Valley Speedway and high school sports at a daily newspaper with a circulation of 114K serving Roanoke, VA and the surrounding communities.
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SKILLS
Team Leadership
Strategic Planning
Data Analysis & Interpretation
Creativity
Collaboration
Culture Building
EXPERTISE
Brand Storytelling
I specialize in crafting narratives that resonate with target audiences, leveraging storytelling techniques to create memorable brand experiences.
Marketing Analytics
My analytical mindset enables me to derive actionable insights from marketing data, guiding strategic decision-making and optimizing campaign performance.
Campaign Optimization
I have a proven track record of refining marketing initiatives through continuous testing and optimization, ensuring maximum impact and ROI.