Karen Thomas

Experience

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  Sony

  Apr 1984 - Apr 1986

  Advertising Co-ordinator & Public Relations

  SONY AUSTRALIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Japan which designs and manufactures a vast range of consumer electronics products. As Advertising Co-ordinator, my key responsibility was to prepare and implement all advertising plans for the Consumer Products Division and liaise with Sony Japan in obtaining advertising subsidies, product information in order to increase sales and improve the overall profitability of the Division.

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  Toshiba

  Apr 1986 - Apr 1990

  Marketing & Admin Manager & Assistant to GM

  TOSHIBA AUSTRALIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba Japan which designs and manufactures a vast range of consumer electronics products. In April 1990, Toshiba Australia decided to appoint Mobex Pty Ltd as their Distributor for its Consumer Electronics Division due to accumulated losses during the years 1983-85 and the ongoing difficulty of the Australian electrical goods market.

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  Casio Australia - Mobex and Shiriro Group

  Apr 1990 - Jul 1993

  Marketing, Administration & Product Manager

  MOBEX, the Australian Distributors for CASIO, AIWA, TOSHIBA & MOULINEX consumer electronic products. Later became part of the Shriro Group.Appointed in March 1990 as Marketing & Administration Manager of Toshiba Consumer Products Division, with additional responsibilities in relation to the assimilation of the Toshiba brand into Mobex’s Distributor portfolio (previously employed by Toshiba)

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  NetComm Limited

  Jul 1993 - Jul 1994

  Product Manager

  NETCOMM was Australia’s leading designer and manufacturer of Modem’s. The NetComm and Avtek brands held more than 50% of the Australian market and were perceived by consumers and the IT market as the authoritative figure in the superior design and technology of modems. NetComm also distributed a range of Third Party Products, which covered areas such as Video Conferencing, Networking devices, Audio/voice activated software, ISDN cards and other related products. Turnover: $35M+.

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  Citizen Watch Company

  Jul 1994 - May 1997

  Sales & Marketing Manager

  CITIZEN is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citizen Trading Co Ltd, Japan. Citizen Watches (Australia) Pty Ltd is responsible for the marketing, sales and distribution of Citizen Watches, Clocks, Jewellery, Adec Watches and any licensed brand products throughout Australia, NZ and the Pacific Islands. Citizen Australia’s Turnover: $30M+ Australian Staff: 60+

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  Toukay's Pty Limited

  May 1997 - Sept 1998

  Founder/Director

  Established with partner, an 80 seat up-market fully licensed restaurant with courtyard and balcony dining. Modern International Cuisine. Located in up-market Dural district.

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  GBC Pelikan Quartet Pty Ltd

  Nov 1998 - May 2000

  Product Marketing Manager

  Pelikan Quartet Pty Ltd is a subsidiary of GBC (General Binding Corporation) a US$900Million (Sales) Office Products company. Pelikan Quartet market a prestigious portfolio of international brands including Ibico, GBC, Quartet, Pelikan, Penrite, Mimio and Columbia Pelikan. The complete product range consisted of more than 2500 products.

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  Redfern Photonics Group & Australian Photonics Institute

  Jun 2000 - Aug 2003

  Group Marketing Manager

  Redfern Photonics was established to commercialise the Intellectual Property developed by the Australian Photonics Co-operative Research Centre (APCRC). The APCRC culminated the research and development of photonics (fibre optic based telecommunications products) from six universitities from around Australia. Redfern Photonics was a greenfield company, where I was one of the first few employees, appointed to head up the global marketing initiatives and attract international investors for Redfern Photonics and all it's subsidiary companies (Redfern Fibres/Nufern, Redfern Optical Components, Redfern Broadband Networks, Redfern Integrated Optics etc). Raised A$220M from international venture capitalist and Australian investors. Show less

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  Alesco Corporation Limited (Parbury Building Products Pty Ltd)

  Sept 2003 - Jun 2006

  National Marketing Manager

  Parbury (part of the Alesco Group) are one of Australia's largest and oldest (Est 1834) Building Products supplier of decorative laminates, stone and architectural hardware items with a turnover of >$122M. Responsible for developing the Parbury Brand strategy as well as international brands we represented including Wilsonart, Silestone, Blum, Robinhood and Trezzini. Direction and leadership of national marketing team of 5 Product Managers and Marketing Assistant as well as 2020 Software Sales Manager, Admin Staff and Customer support team. Show less

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  Flight Centre Business Travel- Australia

  Jun 2009 - Nov 2009

  International Travel Consultant & Corporate Sales Manager

  After moving from Sydney for a sea-change, I took on this role as an interim position whilst looking for a suitable Management position. Having travelled extensively during my career across many areas of the globe and with passion for customer service, excellent communication skills and an in-depth understanding of corporate travel requirements, I was quickly promoted to manage the Nelson Bay team and head up their corporate sales in the area.

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  Wipro Technologies

  Dec 2009 - May 2017

  Wipro Promax Analytics Solutions Pty Ltd - Formerly Promax Applications Group (PAG) is a Wipro LImited Group Company. PAG was acquired on 1st June 2012. Responsible for developing Global Marketing strategies to attract and engage with prospective clients at Tier 1, 2 and 3 level organizations across FMCG, Food & Beverage, Household Goods, OTC Pharmaceutical, Beauty and Lifestyle and High Tech Manufacturing industries. Responsible for all aspects of marketing and business development including maintaining global CRM system, working closely with Business Development Directors and Sales team to support their activities, develop collateral, marketing campaigns and organize global trade show events and User Groups.With a passion to ensure the business exceeds in all areas, have also taken on the responsibility of the WPAS Finance and Administration team to ensure end to end processes of generating leads, sales/invoicing and debtors collections are finalised to achieve business targets and objectives.Continue to support staff due to my strong HR background with them in WPAS, build morale and teamwork. Show less Promax Applications Group (PAG) is a world–leading specialist in trade promotion planning, management, and optimization solutions. Promax was acquired by global IT company Wipro in 2012. I joined Promax when the company was still quite small in 2009 with only 20 or so employees. Key responsibilities were to build marketing collateral, develop a new website, build brand strategies and market awareness, support sales & business development teams and manage global trade show and lead generation activities. After only a few months, I was also asked to take on the role of Human Resources Manager to help build a rapidly expanding team, develop HR systems, policies and procedures and market job opportunities globally. By 2012, Promax had grown to 60+ and we had successfully attracted excellent talent to help achieve our global growth plans and continue to build exceptional solutions & services selected by world leading brands. Show less

  • Senior Manager - Global Marketing, Sales Pipeline, Finance/Admin and HR experience

    Dec 2009 - May 2017

  • Marketing & Human Resources Manager

    Dec 2009 - Jun 2012
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  Get Smart Promotional Products

  Jun 2017 - now

  Operations Manager

  Established in 2000, the Get Smart Group of Companies provides unique & creative promotional products & merchandise to clients nationally and internationally. The company is 100% Australian owned & operated. Get Smart Promotional Products focuses on the Corporate, Not for Profit & Government sectors. Our Award-winning team have been recognised for both their creativity & our excellence in business systems. Winning Industry Gold Awards nationally for our creative approach & taking out the Excellence in Business at the Hunter Business Chamber awards as well as being State Finalist in the NSW Business Chamber awards.Driven by our passion to be at the forefront of innovative marketing ideas, we act as an extension of your marketing team, helping you find the right solution to compliment your corporate branding & marketing strategy. We help our customers connect to their target market by aligning branding with the right merchandise. We want to get to know you, your organisation and your marketing needs, whether you are an SME, a government organisation, a not for profit, or a large corporate we will help you choose the best products that represent your brand.Our customers include some of the Australia’s top 200 companies, almost every major Australian University & Educational Institution, Government Departments, Health and Aged Care as well as thousands of SME. We pride ourselves on great quality products, great service & we love nothing more than a challenge. We have a range of additional services & solutions that make sure you are getting maximum return on your merchandise spend. These services range from warehousing & distribution of your merchandise, to online solutions which can keep track of your merchandise, allowing you to report on who used it, when they used it, & for what purpose. Our customer service professionals take time to keep you updated on the latest products and they’re as passionate as you are about delivering results on time and on budget. Show less