GMR Marketing strengthens strategy group

GMR Marketing has announced that it is strengthening its strategy group with the addition of two new hires: Barbara Carpenter, head of research, and Alla Dragoun, strategic planning director.

“At GMR, we are bridging the divide between insight, foresight and action and adeptly moving between fast culture and slow culture—megatrends, macro trends and micro trends,” said Elke Zysk, executive vice president of strategy at GMR Marketing.

The outcome is the ability to leverage primary and secondary data to unearth insights, which allows GMR to develop a unique point of view that causes a shift in how consumers think, feel and behave.

“To provide the best strategic insights to shift consumer behaviour, we knew we needed to bring on additional personnel that were experienced in data analysis and strategic branding—Barbara and Alla are the perfect fit to help us further develop our group,” Zysk said.

Barbara Carpenter has spent 17+ years in global research with experience in market research, research study design, data collection management, data visualisation and inspiring stakeholder action based on research implications.

Carpenter has held various research roles at The Dieringer Research Group, Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Takle Consulting Group. Her holistic and fresh approach to market research makes her a powerful addition to the strategy group.

Alla Dragoun joins from FCB/FCBX, where she was responsible for bringing brand-level strategic thinking, rooted in human insights and behavioral economics, to real-world brand activations. Dragoun’s clients included: Meow Mix, Natural Balance, ALDI and CenturyLink. Prior to FCB, she spent three years at Leo Burnett.

Dragoun also spent nine years as the executive director for the Executives Breakfast Club, an organisation that holds monthly events centred around transformational leadership.