Marketing

CHET ZALESKY

Position: President
Education: MS, Marketing Research, University of South Carolina; BS, Business Administration, Villanova University (Pennsylvania)
Background and Interests: Involved in marketing and research since 1982, Chet Zalesky, founder of CMI, has an in-depth understanding of issues that are critical to an organization achieving sustainable growth. His mission in establishing CMI was to create an organization that would facilitate effective decision-making for companies who use research to advance their competitive advantage. His focus is on helping companies align customer needs with business initiatives that drive profitability. Chet is a frequent speaker to business and academic groups, and an active American Marketing Association (AMA) member. He currently serves as the 2008 Chair of the Board of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO). Chet also serves on CMI's Steering Committee.
Click here for Chet's approach to research and marketing.

ELLEN MOWBRAY

Position: Senior Vice President, Business Strategy
Education: MS, Planning and Evaluation, American University (Washington, D.C.); AB, Double major – English and Sociology, Douglass College, Rutgers University (New Jersey)
Background and Interests: Involved in designing and executing research since 1982, Ellen's experience spans a wide variety of service industries such as telecommunications, hospitality, food service, financial services, and utilities. She has experience in both consumer and B2B research. Much of her work has involved both qualitative and quantitative methods. Ellen's special interest is in the presentation and packaging of information, with particular emphasis on ensuring the relevance of research within the client organization. Prior to joining CMI, Ellen worked at several research companies, including Mathtech, Westat and Elrick & Lavidge. Ellen serves on CMI's Steering Committee and oversees the business development group.

ANGELA WELLS

Position: Senior Marketing Consultant
Education: MBA, University of Michigan; BA, Economics, Northwestern University
Background and Interests: Angela has more than 11 years of experience in a variety of relevant marketing disciplines, including strategic planning and analysis, new product launches, customer segmentation and targeting, competitive analysis, and research. Angela has a proven track record of turning research findings into improved marketing strategies and actionable tactics to grow top-line revenue, drive product improvements, and maximize the return from marketing investments. She has managed marketing programs across multiple industries, including telecommunications, financial services, insurance, consumer packaged goods, and professional services. Prior to joining CMI, Angela led EarthLink's Insights and Innovation team, including responsibility for the marketing strategy for all new core products. Additionally, Angela has held marketing positions with Frito-Lay, Citigroup, and Zyman Group, an Atlanta-based strategic marketing consulting firm.

MIKE GRAY

Position: Senior Vice President, Business Development
Education: Masters studies, Marketing and Organizational Psychology, University of Iowa; BS, Organizational Psychology and BA, Business Administration, Mount Mercy College (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Background and Interests: Mike Gray has over 24 years of marketing and marketing research experience. His well-rounded background includes a unique combination of client side, ad agency, database marketing and market research client development experience. His focus has been in the areas of consumer and B2B concept testing and trackers as well as customer/employee satisfaction and customer value analysis, new product and service development, and branding research. Prior to CMI, Mike held senior positions in client development with MarketTools Inc., ComScore and Research Now Plc. London, UK. Mike is an active member in the MRA and AMA and is PRC certified at the expert level.

BILL SALOKAR

Position: Vice President, Business Development
Education: MS, Statistics and BA, Mathematics, Florida State University
Background and Interests: Bill Salokar joins CMI with 20 years of marketing research and management experience in a broad range of businesses including technology, consumer packaged goods, travel and leisure, retail, restaurant, non-profit, and financial services. Bill most recently served as a senior consultant with Harris Interactive's Customer Loyalty Division. He has also been an account director at NFO and Elrick & Lavidge, both now TNS, where he managed large client relationships with a focus on the development of new business in the company's southeast regional office. Bill's background also includes client-side experience at the American Cancer Society where he served as a marketing research manager and with the Georgia and Florida Lotteries. He has been a speaker at global and national conferences on the topic of customer loyalty.

Operations and Project Management

LAURA CARAWAY

Position: Senior Vice President, Operations
Education: MBA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; BS, Business Administration, Boston College
Background and Interests: Laura has had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients since beginning her career in marketing research in 1986. Extremely experienced in project management, Laura's areas of special expertise are research methods and process analysis (e.g., identifying bottlenecks, anticipating problems, and streamlining work flow). She spearheads CMI's quality control efforts and oversees the operations group, ensuring that all aspects of a project are adequately designed and executed according to plan. Prior to joining CMI, Laura worked at several research companies, including SDR Consulting and Research Communications Ltd. Laura also serves on CMI's Steering Committee.

SHERRI KINDLMANN

Position: Research Manager
Education: MA, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Minnesota State University, Mankato; BS, Psychology and Management, Excelsior College
Background and Interests: As a research manager, Sherri is responsible for project operations for quantitative studies including project management, client service, questionnaire design, sample planning, results tabulation and analysis. Sherri brings over twelve years of marketing research experience in consumer package goods, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, retail, utilities, government, and healthcare to CMI. Prior to joining CMI, Sherri served as Director, Market Research at ClickIQ, Inc.; the Client Services Manager for the Minneapolis office at NFO, now TNS; and Project Manager at Kenexa (formerly Gantz Wiley Research). Prior to her career in marketing research Sherri served in the US Navy and was part of the team that rolled out the Navy's TQM initiative, training and working with process improvement teams.

NAN NORTON

Position: Research Manager
Education: MBA, Finance, Crummer School of Business at Rollins College (Winter Park, Florida); BS, Management, Clemson University (South Carolina)
Background and Interests: Nan provides crucial guidance for the project managers regarding project logistics. She has worked in marketing research for more than ten years with both supplier and client side experience. Nan joined CMI in January 2004 with a background in managing all phases of research studies including questionnaire design, field coordination, reporting and analysis. She has managed both quantitative and qualitative studies for a variety of industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals, transportation, telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare and non-profit. Her focus at CMI is on developing and writing questionnaires and reports. Prior to joining CMI, Nan worked as a Research Group Manager for both TNS Global and Elrick & Lavidge Marketing Research. She also served as Research Manager at Bellsouth in the Corporate and Brand Research group.

Marketing Science

Q. CHRISTINA LIAO

Position: Vice President, Marketing Science
Education: MS & Ph.D., Research, Measurement, and Statistics, Georgia State University
Background and Interests: Christina has 15 years of experience designing and implementing research studies. She has extensive expertise in survey design, data quality control, statistical modeling, and analytic techniques. Christina's strengths are consulting with clients on the appropriate use of statistical models and techniques, handling missing data in statistical analysis, and translating statistical results into actionable marketing insights. Specifically, Christina is well versed in a wide variety of advanced statistical techniques (Discrete Choice Modeling, Multilevel Modeling, and Structural Equation Modeling) that are used to address different business issues such as brand equity, loyalty, customer lifetime value, customer segmentation, modeling, and longitudinal analysis. As the group head of analytical services at CMI, Christina oversees the analytical service offerings, from sample to survey data to analytic strategies and output. Christina often speaks at marketing research meetings and conferences on the use of analytical techniques. Each year, Christina teaches a course on Structural Equation Modeling at the AMA Advanced School of Marketing Research hosted by the University of Georgia.
Click here for Christina's approach to statistical analysis and business solutions.

MORRIS WILBURN

Position: Director of Marketing Science
Education: Masters, Sociology, University of Chicago
Background and Interests: Morris is responsible for developing and overseeing the execution of the analytical plan for each study. He has more than 20 years of experience using advanced analytical techniques with specific applications in marketing research in a variety of industries, including extensive experience in the business to business category. His experience includes customer segmentation, new product development, and the customer experience. Morris has also written the book Managing the Customer Experience: A Measurement-Based Approach, published by the ASQ Quality Press. Morris recently joined CMI after eight years as Associate Research Director at Market Probe in Milwaukee, WI. Prior to that, he served as Senior Research Methodologist for seven years with the Gallup Organization in Princeton, NJ, and was a Senior Statistical Specialist for five years at SDR Consulting in Atlanta.

Account Management

JANET ZIFFER

Position: Vice President, Client Services
Education: MS, Marketing, Georgia State University; BBA, Marketing, University of Delaware
Background and Interests: Janet has worked in the marketing research field since 1989, specializing in financial services, food service, healthcare, key account research, and business-to-business environments. Janet's research expertise spans a broad range of marketing issues, including brand image, customer satisfaction, concept testing, new product development, purchase decisions, and general market assessments. Her background encompasses both qualitative and quantitative research. Before joining CMI, Janet held positions at Elrick & Lavidge and SDR.

MICHAEL MABEY

Position: Account Manager
Education: MBA, Goizueta Business School, Emory University (Georgia); B. Commerce, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada)
Background and Interests: Mike Mabey has more than 30 years of marketing and marketing research experience in a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, hotels, and more than eight years specifically focused on electric and gas utilities. His experience ranges from pricing and new product development to key opinion influencers to large, multi-dimensional segmentation studies. He has authored and co-authored more than a dozen articles, and has spoken at a number of national conferences.

JANET PATTERSON

Position: Account Manager
Education: Ph.D. studies (ABD) in Communication and MA in Communication, Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, Ohio); B.Ed. Speech/English, University of Toledo (Toledo, Ohio)
Background and Interests: Janet brings over 25 years of research experience, both supplier and client side, to CMI. The first phase of her career centered on media, particularly radio and television audience research, as a consultant and in-house researcher. She left the media world in 2001 to become a qualitative research manager at Millward Brown, where her clients represented a wide range of industries, including CPG, food and beverage, shipping, financial services, health and personal care, apparel, and greeting cards. Janet more recently headed all consumer and commercial research for Invista (formerly DuPont) fibers (Stainmaster® and Antron®). She joined CMI from BellSouth, where she conducted a wide range of consumer and B2B studies around marketing, new product development, and broadband satisfaction, acquisition, retention, churn and market share.

Qualitative

HANNAH BAKER HITZHUSEN
Position: Vice President, Qualitative Research
Education: BA, Rice University (Texas)
Background and Interests: Hannah brings CMI clients more than 20 years of market research and marketing experience on the supplier and client sides. A RIVA-trained qualitative researcher, Hannah has conducted hundreds of focus groups and in-depth interviews. While working with clients across a wide range of industries, her areas of specialization include pharmaceutical, healthcare (physicians, other decision-makers, and patients) and health policy. Hannah is adept at facilitating sessions among diverse audiences, from high-level business decision-makers to consumers of packaged goods. In addition to traditional qualitative methods, Hannah is a trained facilitator (Synectics). She now heads the Qualitative Group at CMI.
Click here for Hannah's theory on research and marketing.

LAURA JOHNSON

Position: Qualitative Manager
Education: BA, Cultural Anthropology, Duke University (North Carolina)
Background and Interests: Laura brings a multi-disciplinary approach to business questions and has a solid background in research across industries and business environments. Combining an anthropological perspective, RIVA training, and years of business-to-business experience (including international), she has addressed a broad range of business and research issues, including knowledge management, usability/information architecture, change management and business process improvement. She has worked in a number of industries including financial services, health care/pharmaceutical, high tech/new media, communications, education, and food service. Her experience includes not only traditional qualitative research, but also ethnographic fieldwork. Prior to joining CMI, Laura worked with companies such as Deloitte Consulting and iXL.
Click here to view Laura speak about her business experience and thoughts on qualitative research.

ELLEN CABACUNGAN

Position: Qualitative Manager
Education: BA, Advertising, University of Oklahoma
Background and Interests: Ellen brings a highly strategic and creative perspective to market research from her background in advertising and brand consulting. She has addressed a breadth of operations, product, service, and communications issues, all within the context of clients' business realities and goals. She has studied consumer, B-to-B, and internal audiences across diverse industries, including automotive, consumer electronics, packaged goods, financial services, entertainment, and fashion. A RIVA-certified moderator, she blends sound qualitative skills with elicitation and reporting techniques borrowed from other disciplines, such as archetyping, quasi-ethnography, storytelling, and ideation exercises. Prior to joining CMI, Ellen was a brand consultant at Fallon in Minneapolis and an account planner at McKinney in Durham, NC, where her team won an Effie Award for a financial services campaign.

BRONWEN CLARK

Position: Qualitative Manager
Education: MA, Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Georgia; BA, Political Science and International Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Background and Interests: Bronwen brings a wealth of experience, especially on the healthcare and health policy front, having conducted research for clients including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the American Association of Poison Control Centers, and the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare. Bronwen, a RIVA-trained moderator, has experience working with a variety of clients from Fortune 500 companies to local non-profits, engaging key stakeholders at all levels. Prior to joining CMI, she worked at the Washington, D.C. office of KRC Research, the research division of Weber Shandwick. Bronwen also worked at Lake Snell Perry & Associates, a national public opinion and political consulting firm.
Click here for a clip on Bronwen's background and approach to moderating.