John L. Kennedy, Jr., MBA

Chief Marketing Officer

Dynamic marketing leader with extensive experience at Fortune 500 companies and iconic brands. Expertise building and leading high-performing teams to achieve aggressive growth goals. Global business acumen honed through extensive Asia-Pacific experience.

Champion of complex, transformational challenges, delivering big picture vision coupled with relentless execution.  End-to-end thinker providing strategic and tactical leadership across enterprise branding, business planning, communications, go-to-market initiatives, and corporate culture.

Classically trained packaged goods marketer with contemporary technology expertise.  Adept at propelling growth and ingenuity across businesses of every size, from global matrixed companies to burgeoning startups, for improved performance and profitability.

Imaginative marketing visionary with creative prowess. Highly skilled at positioning brands across restructurings, acquisitions, divestitures, and IPOs in complex market conditions, creating powerful connections with customers, investors, and employees.

Exemplary communication, customer service, and relationship-building skills with C-level executives, boards, investors, and internal and external stakeholders. Multicultural experience and global mindset. Additional Strengths:

Professional Experience 

THE SORIUM GROUP, Greenwich, CT, 2019 – Present
MANAGING PARTNER
Applying CMO toolkit and professional network to help start-ups commercialize technology and identify scale-up opportunities. Engaging as advisor, board member, and consultant.

CONDUENT, Florham Park, NJ, 2017 – 2019
CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, 2019
Executive member of team to build this $6B Fortune 500 start-up from the ground up when divested from Xerox, managing significant transition while addressing global change and challenges across portfolio conversions, employee retention, and shareholder activism.

• Grew incremental revenue by creating digital consulting unit to advance business process outsourcing (BPO) capabilities, recruiting and building team to generate >30 commercial and government clients.

CHIEF OF STAFF, 2018
Served as primary executive adviser to CEO in management of all aspects of operation while overseeing business functions across sales, marketing, communications, and executive administration, ensuring alignment of business unit strategy and execution to maximize profitability.

• Conceived and launched enterprise pivot, changing sales and marketing strategy from “back-office” to “front-office” approach while advancing corporate goals to become more customer and client facing.

• Enhanced technology across C-suite management system, dashboards, and reporting tools to improve communication and accelerate execution, working as an extension of CEO to direct and implement his priorities.

 CHIEF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, 2017

• Forged all aspects of branding for new Fortune 500 company leading up to IPO, overseeing naming, identity, positioning, organizational design, corporate culture, and stakeholder engagement, delivering strategic marketing vision to drive market leadership, leading staff of 60.

• Built company’s marketing and communications function, recruiting talent, developing strategy, and executing plans while establishing organizational processes and performance metrics.

• Pioneered expansion of digital demand creation strategies and tactics, generating >$1B within 2 years.

 XEROX CORPORATION, Norwalk, CT, 2014 – 2016

CHIEF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, 2014 - 2016
Championed expansive rebranding and delivered creative vision and strategic leadership to re-position Xerox from a “document and services company” to a company focused on improving workflows. Led initiatives across re-positioning, change management, corporate restructuring, corporate culture, digital demand generation, digital marketing, internal and external communications, and investor relations during major transition of global matrixed organization, leading >700 employees, while reducing staff >20%.

• Re-built marketing and communications function following extensive leadership absence. Centralized workforce and updated standards, systems, and processes to streamline workflow, improve collaboration, increase transparency, and enrich corporate culture, driving performance metrics to exceed company average by 10%.

• Propelled sales pipeline >30% by fortifying digital demand system, driving technology enhancements, and establishing process improvements, achieving results within 18 months. 

• Conceived and implemented award-winning “Work Can Work Better” strategic communications campaign to expand awareness of brand integration and positioning across digital, web, and mobile applications, increasing engagement 17%, search inquiries 30%, and social engagement >10% while being named IAC’s 2015 Best B2B Online campaign.

• Pioneered comprehensive redesign of Xerox.com to drive content-driven digital strategies across digital and mobile.

IBM CORPORATION, 1996 – 2014

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES, 2013 – 2014, New York, NY
Led global marketing and demand generation for $20B business services division across consulting, partnerships, and application management services.

• Championed repositioning of “IBM Interactive” as “IBMix” to refresh brand and increase engagement.

• Recognized for significant achievement with membership in “Integration and Values Team” of IBM’s top-300 executives.

VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE MARKETING, 2008 – 2013, Armonk, NY
Led all aspects of IBM’S marketing strategy, planning, and execution worldwide. Managed >$800M budget, 1,500 staff, and expansive agency network across global matrixed organization.  Advanced enterprise digital strategy in partnership with IBM CIO. 

• Architected “Smarter Planet” campaign, high-profile enterprise re-positioning platform, empowering IBM to drive  ~$14B in new market opportunity, ~$9B revenue in 2012, and $16.5B brand value (>28%) since 2008, per Interbrand.

• Spearheaded owned and earned media campaigns to drive aggressive audience and customer engagement:

  • Pioneered IBM/Jeopardy Challenge by introducing “Watson,” a computer to compete against 2 of Jeopardy’s greatest champions, yielding highest Jeopardy ratings in 5 years and earning 2011 Daytime Emmy Award.

  • “A Boy and His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie,” created by IBM Research for release on YouTube, and recognized for intertwining B2B to B2C engagement.

  • THINK Exhibit, an interactive exhibit renowned for innovative design, reaching 2 million people during presence at New York’s Lincoln Center and Disney’s Epcot.

• Elevated digital and social presence 30% to 60% in 3 years while attracting 1.1M LinkedIn followers to become one of the most followed B2B brands.

• Grew digital demand generation by executing marketing automation in 85 countries while driving personalization and predictive analytics to improve lead quality, generating >5% increase in sales acceptance.

CHIEF MARKETING & STRATEGY OFFICER, IBM AMERICAS, 2007 – 2008, New York, NY

• Led sales and distribution strategy planning and marketing programs, managing >$300M budget and >400 staff, exceeded goals by double digits during challenging market conditions and period of high internal change.

 VICE PRESIDENT, CHANNEL SALES AND MARKETING, IBM ASIA-PACIFIC, 2005 – 2006, Tokyo, Japan

• Championed transformation of IBM’s 2nd largest operations, leading sales for tele-web and business partner channels, increasing revenues while improving business controls.

 VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & STRATEGY, IBM ASIA-PACIFIC, 2003 – 2005, Tokyo, Japan

• Oversaw business strategy, marketing, customer satisfaction, and CSR for Asia-Pacific region, managing budget of ~$200M and >900 employees across 16 Asian countries.

 VICE PRESIDENT, SALES & MARKETING, PC DIVISION, IBM ASIA-PACIFIC, 2001 – 2003, Tokyo, Japan

• Led sales, marketing, business strategy, and brand management for regional PC business, achieving #1 commercial share position during 2H, 2004, and exceeding revenue and profit goals.

MARKETING DIRECTOR – THINKPAD & APTIVA, IBM AMERICAS, 2000 – 2001 , Raleigh, NC

CONSUMER PC SALES & MARKETING MANAGER, IBM ASIA-PACIFIC, 1998 – 2000, Tokyo, Japan

NEW & BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCTS MANAGER, IBM GLOBAL, 1996 – 1998, Raleigh, NC

THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY, Cincinnati, OH, 1992 – 1995

ASSISTANT BRAND MANAGER, LAUNDRY & CLEANING PRODUCTS: Downy Fabric Softener, Spic and Span Household Cleaner. Progressively expanded brand management responsibilities on two well-known and respected laundry/cleaning brands.

Additional experience at Bank of America, Charlotte, NC, as Credit Policy Officer, Securities & Trading: Corp. & Int’l Banking.

Education & Credentials

Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA
Concentration: General Management

Bachelor of Arts, Economics & Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Senior Class President, Order of the Golden Fleece

Certifications:
Certificate, MIT Sloan School of Management, Boston, MA
Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy

Memberships:
Board of Directors, Qless, Pasadena, CA
Vice-President, Riverside Community Association, Riverside, CT
UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors, Chapel Hill, NC, 2014-2017
Board of Directors, Association of National Advertisers, New York, NY, 2009 - 2017

Awards:
World’s Smallest Movie, “A Boy and His Atom,” Guinness Book of World Records, 2013
 Top Marketer of the Year, BtoB Magazine, 2010
Who’s Who, BtoB Magazine, 2009 – 2012
Top Marketers, The Internationalist, 2011, 2012
Corporate Reputation Silver Effie, 2011
Global Multi-Region Gold Effie, 2010