Ashley Hicks

About

Senior Global Events Marketing leader with 15+ years of experience and a passion for driving ideas, concepts, creative strategy, and partnerships that deliver authentic and lasting relationships between people-brands and their customer. Experience spans E2E production, direction, project management and leadership across digital, e-Commerce, experiential, activations, product launches and community building for world-class global brands in Luxury, CPG, Automotive, Food, Outdoor, Sports and Lifestyle. Known for high standards in execution and commitment for delivering results with a deep desire to make the world a better place. EXPERTISE: E2E Event Design, Strategy, Production and Execution | Brand Direction across all touch points (digital + physical brand) | Integrated Marketing Strategy | Brand Activations + Experiential Product Launches | Digital + Community + IRL Experiences | Marketing Programs | Partnerships & Sponsorships | e-Commerce + Merchandising | Trends, Data & Analysis MARKETS + INTERESTS: Technology + Innovation | Tourism + Travel + Luxury | New Spaces + Marketplaces | Music + Food Arts + Entertainment | Media, Culture + Lifestyle | CPG | Retail | Health + Wellness | Green Spaces + Community | Sustainability

Experience

• Event Marketing Manager l Leads North American Event Marketing Strategy · Brooks Running09-01-2022

  Creates and leads the execution of the Event Strategy for North America and drives global event strategy to ensure Brooks retains world class brand identity and experiences. Manages multiple multi-million dollar events and projects simultaneously, overseeing everything from creative ideation through execution and post-event analysis. Key achievements include: Proven ability to lead multi-stakeholder groups through complex projects, regularly presenting progress and results to senior leadership to ensure alignment and achieve strategic objectives. Led negotiations for large-scale, multi-year sponsorships with national partners, ensuring Brooks' strong presence in key markets with target audiences. Manage relationships with several external agencies and production companies to deliver high impact events within budget. Led the development and execution of branded pop-ups experiences from start to finish. Worked with experiential agency to manage 6-month planning process. Worked cross-functionally with all marketing channels, legal, finance, and retail to drive brand alignment and marketing of pop-ups.

• Event Manager | National Retail Marketing Strategy & Activation · Rivian03-01-2021 – 08-01-2022

  Led end-to-end production of retail activations, delivering immersive brand experiences across Rivian Experience Spaces and driving measurable demand for the business. Collaborated with cross-functional teams and external agencies to execute live and virtual events supporting global product launches, enhancing brand visibility and consumer engagement. Managed complex project timelines, workstreams, and budgets, ensuring successful cross-functional alignment and achievement of event goals. Delivered high-impact activations for the launch of Rivians Venice Hub and R1S debut, creating compelling experiences that resonated with target audiences.

• Regional Manager, Local Brand Engagement and Impact I Brand Activation · REI07-01-2019 – 03-01-2021

  Launched Atlanta regional market and quickly built a local marketing team including market coordinator, earned media specialist, and five experience leads. Created regional marketing strategy with KPIs for new customer acquisition, member retention, store/digital traffic, and overall customer lifetime value, while connecting Co-op wide initiatives at market level. Managed annual grants budget of $100k and served as lead on strategic direction and planning in support of relationships with key non-profits and grant recipients. Trained experience leads to implement category specific marketing strategies at their store locations to drive demand and increase coupon conversion with a result of 100% growth of running category in market. Negotiated and managed sponsorships for local events resulting in 40% conversion rate of coupons and lead generation of over 15k new emails collected for sales funnel.

• Field Marketing Manager I Retail, Partnerships, Sponsorships, Influencer Marketing · KIND01-01-2016 – 01-01-2019

  Implemented and managed all aspects of Atlantas field marketing strategy through the creation of strategic local partnerships and sponsorships, influencer marketing, brand awareness, retail demos, and event activations with a goal of sampling 540,000 consumers annually. Hired, mentored, and trained team of 20+ high-performance brand ambassadors. Managed market budget of $250k and established and tracked KPIs across multiple consumer touchpoints (branding, digital, paid media, and retail). Created pilot Brand Ambassador mentor program to help increase retention, increasing average retention rate from 6-months to one year. Adopted in 10 additional markets, successfully increasing retention rates for the entire department. Worked directly with Sales team to increase markets sales by more than $1M and market share by 2 points; generated peaks in key product lines in conjunction with field sales and sampling efforts.

• Co-Founder & Event Manager · Black Girls RUN!01-01-2009 – 01-01-2018

  Co-founded this organization that has helped to diversify the running community and built a community of more than 200K African-American women; received Oprah Winfreys Standing O-Vation Award. Launched marketing plans that increased event sales by 140%, leading to a $100K profitability outcome; designed content and deployed across a variety of print, digital, social, and mobile channels. Cultivated co-branded activations with corporate partners including Coca-Cola, UnitedHealthcare, Verizon, Dark & Lovely, Publix and REI; sold more than $400K in sponsorships. Piloted the e-commerce business, generating more than $600K in annual sales; and grew the online community to more than 200K members.

Education

• Columbia UniversityM.S. Communications Practice, Brand Management
• Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)B.S. Mass Communication, Mass Communication

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