Darla Slade

Experience

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  Choice Hotels International

  Feb 2004 - Sept 2005

  Marketing Analyst

  * Performed industry and competitive intelligence and fulfilled ad hoc research requests from the business development, emerging businesses, and marketing departments.*Measured the effectiveness of all endorsed partner marketing, including direct mail, e-mails, fax blasts, web banners, and department published magazine. *Developed reporting on the frequency and purchase volume of the top 25 e-commerce web site customers. Extrapolated a profile of likely customers from results to be used as a target customer base for future sales and marketing initiatives.*Presented results and recommendations to senior management team to support sales penetration into endorsed partner system and to determine future marketing direction.*Managed third party research projects including approving statement of work, gathering project requirements, monitoring budget against project and timeline, and reporting progress to senior management team. Show less

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  Fitness Evolution

  Oct 2004 - now

  Group Fitness Instructor

  Teach kickboxing and HIIT classes at Fitness Evolution at White Oak location on an as-needed basis.

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  Merkle

  Oct 2005 - now

  * Responsible for successful delivery of 1.6 billion mail pieces a year for one of the nation’s largest non-profit organizations. * Provide strategic recommendations on how to improve response rate. * Consistently achieve high Net Promotor Scores (measure of customer experience). Most recent score was a perfect 10 and feedback that I am “invaluable as a planner and executioner.”* Lead a campaign team (4 people) within the insurance vertical. Train college interns and new college hires.* Work with client and internal teams to develop, design, and execute marketing tests. * Participate in formal mentoring and Women in Leadership programs. Attend on-going continuing education programs to stay current on industry trends and share knowledge among peers. Show less * Responsible for development and flawless execution of high-volume direct mail campaigns for a non-profit organization.* Oversee entire campaign management process from requirements gathering to campaign production and file delivery. * Manage campaign staff (4 people) within a matrix environment. Provide training and coaching to help them progress in their careers.* Work with client and internal teams to initiate data tests. Design QC procedures to ensure tests are executed correctly. Share insight with internal and client teams to inform future testing decisions. Show less * In addition to duties listed in position below, also responsible for high-volume campaign execution across several brands for a consumer packaged goods client.* Manage small team of offshore campaign analysts, coordinating tasks associated with campaign development and execution. * Work with the client’s agencies on a daily basis to finalize selection strategy and requirements for campaigns. Conduct status calls to manage calendar and communicate project status.* Understand, customize, and optimize the entire campaign management process, to include new campaign requirements, development testing, Unica production execution, and quality control. Manage projects using JIRA work queue management software. * Work as a collaborative team with internal account and database resources to review initiatives and campaign results, resolve any outstanding issues, and innovate ways to make campaign process more efficient. * Document all campaign processes and changes as well as manage campaign process in compliance with contractual Service Level Agreements. * Document and train other team members to perform campaign execution role as well as provide mentoring and educational support to junior team members as needed. Show less * Responsible for the success of all email and direct mail campaigns for a major retail client. * Worked with client daily to finalize campaign strategy and turn marketing requests into the actual campaign output files that will touch the client’s customers. Independently executed entire campaign file process using Alterian campaign management software and SQL, which required a detailed knowledge of the entire campaign process, ability to address any technical or business related issues impacting the campaign process, and a strong understanding the structure and design of the client’s relational database model in order to translate client requests into database language to create campaigns.* Coordinated tasks with the database team and communicated status throughout campaign process. Identified and resolved potential data or campaign requirement issues before campaign execution by researching them in Alterian and/or SQL or working with our business analyst and developer to pinpoint the problem and resolve it. * Created and executed queries to verify completeness and accuracy of file output. Ensured all campaign files were delivered on time or early with zero defects on a continuing basis and that the client was always satisfied with the results. Show less * Accountable for profitability, growth, and retention of Disney and ESPN client relationships. Communicated with clients to determine business needs, manage expectations, and proactively solicit current and future work. * Performed analysis through Business Objects to assist clients with marketing efforts..* Initiated meetings with cross-functional teams to create implementation plans by leveraging analytics, business intelligence and enabling database marketing strategies.* Worked with internal teams to develop proposals and ensure that scope, budget, and timeline are appropriate fit for the client’s initiatives.* Managed highly detailed projects by collaborating with teams, keeping them on schedule and on budget. Provided direction for database, interactive, and analytical projects from inception to delivery. Performed QC on final deliverables. Communicated with client to ensure projects have fulfilled their needs. Show less * Primarily responsible for managing client relationships for seven complex and diverse lines of business within a Fortune 100 travel and entertainment company. Served as the primary conduit between the client and Merkle business and production teams. Responsible for daily communication with key client contacts. Managed internal and external client meetings. Built internal relationships and originated actions to improve existing conditions, processes, and communication.* Partnered with clients to understand their requirements, develop segmentation strategies, and draft specifications for their direct mail and e-mail campaigns. Provided clear direction to the production team on all projects. Worked closely with the production team to finalize deliverables. Performed quality checks on all completed work to ensure that it met with the client’s expectations. * Worked closely with internal database team and client campaign managers to prioritize and schedule marketing campaigns. Maintained consolidated annual marketing calendar for all projects. Identified, analyzed, resolved inquiries on all aspects of the client databases and oversaw the database update process.* Wrote functional specifications for updates and changes to the databases. Worked with the database team to ensure development projects remained on track. * Performed reporting with Business Objects for campaign selections as well as ad hoc client requests such as demographic profiles and selection history reporting. Acted as client’s Business Objects subject matter expert by providing training and support to clients as well as Merkle staff.* Coordinated analytics projects, developed presentation materials for client meetings, managed budget and revenue, drafted project estimates, and cross-sold products and services to help clients achieve their goals and increase Merkle’s profitability. Show less

  • Senior Campaign Manager

    Jun 2022 - now

  • Campaign Manager

    Oct 2014 - Jun 2022

  • Lead Campaign Analyst

    Oct 2012 - Oct 2014

  • Senior Campaign Analyst

    Jul 2011 - Oct 2012

  • Marketing Senior Account Manager

    Oct 2008 - Jul 2011

  • Marketing Account Manager

    Aug 2006 - Oct 2008

  • Business Manager

    Oct 2005 - Sept 2006
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  Fitbodies Inc

  Jan 2009 - now

  Guest Fitness Instructor

  Guest fitness instructor at resorts in the Caribbean. Teach aqua, spin, interval training, kickboxing, sculpt, and stretch classes.

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  FunFitnessFamily

  Dec 2016 - now

  Founder

  * Creator of FunFitnessFamily.com, a digital magazine and social media presence designed to inspire families to get active, explore local, and travel. * Design social media posts and videos, write articles, and collaborate with brands and travel organizations.* Grow and nurture an online community of like-minded influencers and brands within the family travel and local social space to encourage audience engagement and support.