JIM KARRH
Senior Consultant
Phone: 501-952-0530
Click here to contact The VMP Group via e-mail
Background Summary:
STRATEGIC MARKETING AND RESEARCH LEADERSHIP
An accomplished executive with award-winning experience as a marketing leader, research expert, business builder, writer, speaker and educator. Skilled at crafting marketing plans as well as coordinating the strategies and tactics to achieve those plans. Successful in new-business development. Combine training and experience in marketing, communications, and finance to make marketing a value-added business function. Have used communication skills to establish track record as a marketing thought and practice leader on a national basis. Significant experience includes:
Brand Building Business Development
Marketing Research Integrated Marketing Communications
Media Relations Copywriting and Speechwriting
Finance and Budgeting Product and Service Introductions
Staff Development Project Management
WORK EXPERIENCE:
The VMP Group, LLC – Business Consultants 2009-Present
Senior Consultant - Consulting business (13 professionals plus contract associates)
Responsible for all corporate marketing and public relations activities as well as marketing the company’s Mountain Valley, Clear Mountain, and Diamond bottled-water brands and its Veriplas manufacturing operation. Led award-winning consumer and trade advertising, package design, distributor communications, event management, website design and media outreach. Initiated innovative “Red Oval Society” online customer community and leveraged it for high-ROI sales support.
- Named best integrated marketing and public relations program in the global bottled water industry by the International Bottled Water Association, 2006
- Received category awards from the International Bottled Water Association during 2005-06 for Best Website, Best Print Advertising and Best Packaging & Label Design
- Led design and development of new glass packaging; had packages on the shelf within twelve months of initial assignment, approximately half the average time to market. Received the Glass Packaging Institute’s 2007 Clear Choice Award for best new design among non-carbonated beverages nationwide
- Led successful new-product introduction (Mountain Valley Sparkling Water) nationwide
- Led expansion into new U.S. sales territories as well as Japanese and Canadian markets
Write regular “Karrh On Marketing” column for this weekly statewide business publication.
Accomplishments include:
- Received the 2002 Bronze Medal for byline commentary from the Association of Area Business Publications
- Work has been extended and reprinted in the Business Marketing Association newsletter (national), the Memphis Business Journal, the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal and several blogs
CJRW Executive Strategies, Little Rock, AR, Senior Consultant 2002-2004
- Developed marketing plan for Clear Mountain Water, a seven-location beverage delivery operation
- Created new marketing strategy and tactics for Arkansas Specialty Care Centers
- Performed a new-product feasibility study for Jason International
- Performed multiple engagements for Edu, Inc., a consulting firm serving nonprofit organizations
Crane MetaMarketing Ltd., Alpharetta, GA, Research Associate 1998-2000
- Led research for re-branding effort at Loyola University Chicago, which the next year enjoyed a record enrollment increase and a higher freshman academic profile
- Led research effort and advised Cornell University’s MBA program leadership on tactics for building upon its reputation as a top-ten national program
Institute for Communication Research, University of Alabama 1998-2000
Faculty Associate
- Developed and used survey research to help The Birmingham News plan the content and layout of a new weekly entertainment section
- Helped Baptist Health System improve service and member retention for its women’s wellness program
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, Various Institutions 1996-2004
University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business 2000- 2004
Associate Professor
- Responsibilities included teaching at the undergraduate, MBA and Executive MBA levels
- Granted tenure and promotion in 2003-04
- Awarded the College of Business Faculty Excellence Award for Research in 2004
- Awarded the College of Business Faculty Excellence Award for Public and Professional Service in 2003
- Arkansas Advertising Federation’s honoree for “Aid to Advertising Education,” 2002
University of Alabama 1998-2000
College of Communication & Information Sciences, Assistant Professor
- Responsibilities included advertising campaigns, public relations, and marketing strategy courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels
Ithaca College Roy H. Park School of Communication 1996-1998
Assistant Professor
- Responsibilities included advertising, research and media management courses
ALEXANDER MITCHELL COMMUNICATIONS 1989-1992
Majority Owner and General Manager
- Acquired, operated, improved and sold WSKS-FM and WKGQ-AM radio stations (Milledgeville and Sparta, GA)
BANKERS TRUST COMPANY Corporate Finance Associate 1987-1989
- Merger/acquisition advisory services and credit for large corporate clients (Eastern Corporates Division)
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. in Mass Communication, 1998, University of Florida.
Dissertation: “Brand Placement: Impression Management Predictions of Audience Impact”
Master of Arts in Marketing, cum laude, 1993, University of Florida.
Thesis: “Audience Effects of Brand Placements in Motion Pictures”
Master of Business Administration, 1987, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Top 10% of class; named a Fuqua Scholar by the School’s Curriculum Committee.
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance), magna cum laude, 1984, University of Florida.
HONORS AND RECOGNITION:
- Most innovative and marketable new product design among U.S. non-carbonated beverages, 2007 (Glass Packaging Institute “Clear Choice Award”)
- As President, took a volunteer organization from threatened decertification to 100% membership growth and recognition by the nation’s largest organization of marketers (Central Arkansas professional chapter named the American Marketing Association’s national “Turnaround Chapter of the Year” for 2002-03)
- Author or co-author of more than 30 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and presentations in the areas of consumer research, marketing strategy, public relations and advertising effectiveness
- Selected to write a chapter (“Re-energizing a Company and Brand”) in the book Succeeding as a Marketing Executive: Top CMOs Offer Strategies for Becoming a Leader in Marketing, published by Aspatore Books
- Selected to the Arkansas Business “Forty Under 40” list of state business leaders, 2002
PUBLIC AND MEDIA RELATIONS:
I leverage my communication skills and personal energy to be an effective advocate and spokesperson. The result has been valuable media exposure and lead generation for my brands and clients.
Earned media placements and profiles include: Beverage Industry (cover story); Brand Packaging; Packaging World; Hotel F&B Executive; Supermarket News; Bottled Water Reporter (feature article); Memphis Business Journal; Associated Press/International Herald Tribune; Beverage Business Insights; Glass Packaging Institute website; Business Marketing Association newsletter (June 2008); Kappa Alpha Journal; Nation’s Business; Dallas Morning News; Orlando Sentinel; Arkansas Business; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; KARN-AM/FM, UALR Magazine; “Talk Business” (weekly business show in Arkansas).
Invited speaking engagements include: The CMO Summit, Colorado Springs (Honorary Chair); Jim Beam Global Brands Economic Summit, Chicago; Euronet Worldwide managers’ conference; Sales and Marketing Executives Association; Commerce Arkansas; Arkansas Executive Summit; Packaging That Sells conference, Chicago; International Association of Business Communicators; Southeastern Bottled Water Association; Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Expo; Arkansas Bank Marketing Association; Arkansas Advertising Federation.
SELECT PUBLICATIONS:
I am the author or co-author of 30 refereed journal articles and presentations as well as a book chapter. Sample publications include:
Karrh, James A. (2005), “Re-energizing a Company and Brand,” in Succeeding as a Marketing Executive: Top CMOs Offer Strategies for Becoming a Leader in Marketing, Aspatore Books (ISBN 1596223022); also included in Aspatore’s The Marketing Executive’s Best Practices Collection (2006, ISBN 1596224444).
Parker, Richard D. and James A. Karrh (2007), “Placing Peterman: How a Brand Placement Effort Missed a Golden Opportunity for Success,’” Journal of Organizational Leadership & Business, 1 (Summer), 1-22.
Callison, Coy, James A. Karrh, and Dolf Zillmann (2002), “The Aura of Tobacco Smoke: Cigars and Cigarettes as Image Makers,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32 (7), 1329-1343.
Karrh, James A., Katherine T. Frith, and Coy Callison (2001), “Audience Attitudes Towards Brand (Product) Placement: Singapore and the United States,” International Journal of Advertising, 20 (1), 3-24.
Karrh, James A. (1998), “Brand Placement: A Review,” Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 20 (2), 31-49.