MANAGEMENT TEAM

 

Philip R. von Stade, Jr. – Founder, Retired

Philip R. von Stade, Jr. founded VSI Targeting in 1989. Currently. Phil and his wife are sailing the world and enjoying retirement. Phil has over 25 years of managerial and hands-on experience in finance, systems, and marketing functions in both domestic and international business and consulted for many of the major consumer packaged goods companies as well as telecommunications, financial services and transportation firms. Before starting VSI International he was Senior Consultant for Metaphor Computer Systems, which developed large scale, integrated database solutions to marketing & sales information systems problems across all industries.(Metaphor was sold to IBM in 1989.) Prior to his position with Metaphor, Phil held senior consulting positions at Execucom Systems (NY, NY) and Cameron (Houston, TX). Prior to these consulting roles he was a manager of logistics and ship-brokerage in international shipping corporations located in Houston, New York and South Africa. Mr. von Stade holds a BA degree in Design from Stanford University.

 

Susan M. Jones - General Manager

Susan is responsible for strategy, general management, and sales support for VSI. She is a 13-year veteran of the coupon industry with extensive product development, operations, client service and marketing experience with other Inmar companies. She stepped in as General Manager after working closely with Phil von Stade on the VSI-Inmar integration in 2005. Previously, Susan held various positions within CMS, another Inmar company, including client operations and services. During that time, Susan was a key team leader in the development of reporting software, improved business processes and new promotions management service offerings. Susan holds a B.A. from Lenoir-Rhyne College in Business Administration and an MBA from Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management.

Joy Googe – Director

Joy joined VSI in 2008 to oversee the day-to-day operations of VSI including client management, project management, team development, and sales and new service development. Joy has extensive experience with leading consumer goods companies and their retail partners. Her experience includes business intelligence, sales and marketing processes and analytic s, collaborative planning forecasting and replenishment for retailers and manufacturers, business process development, category management, micro-marketing and promotions consulting. Joy had significant stints at Deloitte, VF Corporation, Sara Lee and Wake Forest University. Joy promises to blend in additional approaches, perspectives and techniques to enrich and expand VSI’s coupon optimization service offerings and models. Joy holds a BBA from Campbell University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Bryan School of Business and Economics. Joy is PMP certified by the Project Management Institute.

Sara B. Owens - VP Promotion Strategy

Sara Owens has brand marketing in her blood. The creative daughter of an advertising agency president, she grew up ‘in the business’ and was so fascinated by the advertising and marketing world that she followed in her father’s footsteps. She joined VSI in 2000 as one of the consumer packaged goods industry’s top promotion strategists. Early in her career she held positions at ad agencies PGM and Don Costello, supporting consumer goods companies and financial marketers before moving to the corporate side. Owens served with the nation’s two largest food companies. She was Director of Consumer Promotions for ConAgra after serving in marketing, packaging and consumer promotions functions with Kraft Foods. While at Kraft, she developed an FSI regional value strategy. Her expertise in this area contributed to the development of VSI’s Opti-Value service. Sara Owens earned a master’s degree in advertising (1983) and a bachelor’s degree in communications (1982) from Northwestern University. She is a frequent industry speaker and has contributed articles on couponing and promotions topics to such publications as Promo Magazine and Brand Marketing Magazine. She resides in Salisbury, Maryland where she runs VSI’s satellite office.

 

Paul S. Davis - Director Of Systems & Modeling

Paul S. Davis has been instrumental in building VSI Targeting's proprietary software systems and in constructing the platforms for the firm's Opti-Value and Opti-List services. When he joined VSI in 1996, he brought to the company more than 30 years of systems development experience, with an emphasis on sophisticated modeling for strategic business planning.A 25-year veteran of Union Carbide, he held positions as internal managing consultant and director, strategic planning, working extensively in Europe and Canada as well as the U.S. He also worked in the consumer packaged goods arena, creating advanced forecasting and modeling systems for Union Carbide and First Brands, among others. Davis holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and computer science from the University of Virginia, where he also completed a BS degree in Aerospace Engineering. He is a member of several industry associations including the Association of Computing Machinery, IEEE and the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics. He resides in Westport, Connecticut.