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Thomas Kuczmarski
Thomas D. Kuczmarski, senior partner and president of Kuczmarski & Associates, is a nationally recognized expert in the innovation of new products and services. Over the course of his career he has helped hundreds of clients, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 corporations, learn to systematically unlock the value of innovation. The author of five books and many articles, Mr. Kuczmarski has also taught product and service innovation at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management for 27 years. His executive education courses at the Kellogg School attract students from around the world.
Mr. Kuczmarski is founder, with the Chicago Sun-Times, of the Chicago Innovation Awards, which recognize each year the most innovative new products and services developed in the upper Midwest. The awards, which are endorsed by every major business association in the Chicago region, showcase the creative spirit of America's heartland.
Mr. Kuczmarski is the author of five books. Apples are Square: Thinking Differently about Leadership (Kaplan), co-authored with Dr. Susan Smith Kuczmarski and published in 2007, explores the qualities of the ideal leader and how to build those qualities into one’s own career. Innovating the Corporation (NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group) reveals the seven steps for achieving growth through innovation. Managing New Products (Book Ends Publishing), now in its third edition, is endorsed by the American Marketing Association and widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive treatises on the development of new products. Values-Based Leadership: Rebuilding Employee Commitment, Productivity and Performance (Prentice-Hall) was also co-authored with Dr. Susan Smith Kuczmarski. His book Innovation was co-published by NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group and the American Marketing Association.
He is extensively published and cited in radio, television, and national periodicals including: The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Newsweek, Business Week, The Today Show, Planning Review, Investor's Business Daily, USA Today, Marketing News, Advertising Age, Crain's Chicago Business, Business Marketing, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and many more. He has a chapter published on new products and services in the Marketing Encyclopedia, a publication of the American Marketing Association. He serves on the editorial review boards for The Journal of Product Innovation Management and The Journal of Consumer Marketing. In addition, Mr. Kuczmarski is a highly regarded speaker on innovation management and leadership, and lectures nationally and internationally to a broad range of corporations and associations.
Before founding Kuczmarski & Associates, he was a Principal at Booz · Allen & Hamilton. While there, Mr. Kuczmarski assisted more than 100 U.S. consumer and industrial goods companies in the areas of marketing, new product development, strategic business analysis and organizational planning. In addition, he led the firm's in-depth research of the best practices employed by more than 700 U.S. firms in their new product management processes. His prior experience as a brand manager at Quaker Oats Company also provided a solid and broad-based foundation unique to his consulting specialty.
He earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, and holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University's Graduate School of International Affairs, where he was named an International Fellow of the University. He received a B.A. in French from the College of the Holy Cross.
Richard Strezo
Rick Strezo is a Senior Partner with Kuczmarski & Associates, specializing in new product development for manufacturing, technology, and consumer packaged goods companies. His professional achievements encompass a breadth of industries, including specialty and process chemicals, food, biopharmaceuticals, financial services, personal care, high-tech, and telecommunications. Beyond extensive work in the development of new products, Mr. Strezo's experience includes new product and market assessments/feasibility studies, overall marketing strategies, market segmentation, and stage gate and portfolio management processes.
Mr. Strezo led an engagement to assist a major consumer packaged foods company in the creation of a new product development process as well as in the actual development of new products. During this project, Mr. Strezo and his team generated a new products strategic vision for the organization; conducted extensive customer and competitive primary and secondary research; created a predictive model of consumer behavior; led the generation of several hundred new product ideas; identified and developed the highest potential product concepts; and authored new product business cases for each concept. The strength of these product concepts developed by Mr. Strezo's project team has led the company to move the most promising candidates into full product development and to recognize them as top corporate priorities.
Previously, Mr. Strezo headed an engagement with a private investor and NASA to identify commercial investment opportunities that could derive the greatest benefit from R&D access to microgravity (i.e., Earth-orbiting) environments. In this very unique project, Mr. Strezo and his team determined the benefits of microgravity research; identified broad-based scientific disciplines most closely aligned with these benefits; conducted extensive primary and secondary research to explore specific areas and applications within each discipline relative to needs and potential problem/solution fit; identified the most viable applications; and translated them into actionable business opportunities with recommendations for execution. As a direct result of this work, the client and NASA signed the latter's first major contract with the private sector to develop commercial and medical biotechnology products. In turn, this licensing agreement allowed the investor to joint venture with a biotech organization identified in the engagement's recommended business models in order to pursue research of certain infectious diseases and the development of a liver-assist device for transplant patients.
Prior to joining Kuczmarski & Associates, Mr. Strezo served as CFO for Arlington International Racecourse, Inc., a premier thoroughbred horse racing facility. Previous to that, he was a Manager in the Strategic Services practice of Andersen Consulting, where he focused on strategic planning, marketing strategy, supply chain analysis, and business process re-engineering. Additionally, Mr. Strezo worked as an organic research chemist at DeSoto, Inc. and The Stepan Company, specializing in new product development, applied research, and hazardous waste management.
Mr. Strezo earned his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. His areas of concentration were Marketing, Finance, and Policy Studies. Mr. Strezo obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago and there received the American Institute of Chemists Award as the outstanding undergraduate student majoring in chemistry.
Lynn Crandall
Lynn Crandall, Vice President Finance & Operations, is a finance professional with more than 30 years of experience and demonstrated success in a variety of analytical, operational and planning positions. Since joining Kuczmarski & Associates in 1985, Ms. Crandall has held various positions of increasing authority before being named Vice President in 2003.
Ms. Crandall is responsible for the administration of the day to day operations of the firm as well as financial management and reporting. To ensure client satisfaction she coordinates primary research, travel, IT, scheduling, and communications. She also serves as the liaison with the client's finance and legal departments.
Prior to joining Kuczmarski & Associates, Ms. Crandall was Treasurer of Munroe Egg Farm, one of the largest retail poultry operations in the Midwest. During her tenure at Munroe, she programmed and installed a computerized accounting system to create new financial reporting instruments which added significantly to the profitability of the firm.
Ms. Crandall earned a Master of Arts in 19th Century German Cultural History from Northern Illinois University. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Modern European History and Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, where she participated in the High Honors Program.
Amy Larson
Amy Larson is a Principal with Kuczmarski & Associates. She is a veteran of the consumer packaged goods industry specializing in the exploration, development and commercialization of new products, brand management, and the development of marketing strategies.
In her most recent engagement, Ms. Larson worked with a large, international pet foods manufacturer to develop a new portfolio of products expected to generate over $200MM in sales within the next 3 years. Ms. Larson led a cross-functional, client-integrated team in a customized, consumer-centric process including management of primary research among over 300 consumers, retail employees and customers, leadership of solution generation and development and refinement of new product concepts. The success of this project has led the organization to adopt this project's process as a model for future innovation efforts and to help create a culture of innovation throughout the company.
On another project, Ms. Larson worked with a large, international food manufacturer to implement a new product innovation process, generating a portfolio of concepts that met the strategic goals of the client and expanded the target audience and usage occasions of the company's brands. Ms. Larson conducted ethnographic research among a wide range of consumers and analyzed the data to develop consumer frameworks that deepened the client's consumer understanding. She was instrumental in translating this consumer learning into tangible consumer problems and unmet needs and then generating a portfolio of concepts that is expected to generate $300MM in revenues.
Prior to joining Kuczmarski & Associates, Ms. Larson worked for Alberto-Culver Company in Marketing and R&D. As a Brand Manager, she led cross-functional development and commercialization of numerous new products including St. Ives Whipped Silk and Aroma Steam Body Washes, driving 15 percent growth on the brand. She also led cross category efforts on the brand strategy, including a complete redesign of the brand to improve consumer perceptions as well as the development and commercialization of the brand's 2006 cross-category new product platform for Body Wash and Hand & Body Lotion. Ms. Larson also developed and delivered a professional development program in consumer driven product development for the entire R&D department. This effort was a critical part of changing the organizational culture and process of innovation.
Earlier, Ms. Larson worked at Procter & Gamble where she led development of many new product ideas and prototypes in Healthcare division, including Denture Care, Dentifrice and Neutraceuticals segments. Her work encompassed a broad range of the product development cycle from evaluating consumer relevance of proprietary technology to commercialization of new products, such as Crest Extra Whitening. She participated in a strategic program to develop the global new product strategy for the Denture Care business. This project, conducted on 3 continents, resulted in a consumer model that was used to generate new product ideas and product performance requirements. This work was visionary for the category and was used as a model for other Health Care businesses. Ms. Larson was responsible for deploying the learning from this project across the organization through a training program she led with a colleague.
Ms. Larson completed her Masters of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in March 2007, with concentrations in Marketing, Management and Strategy, and Analytical Consulting. Ms. Larson graduated with Honors from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Biomedical Engineering.
Timothy Wilson
Tim Wilson is a Senior Associate with Kuczmarski & Associates. He specializes in conducting and analyzing primary research to assist clients in new product development and the design of branding extendabilities and strategic concept portfolios. He has extensive experience in CPG industries and with business-to-business service companies. His most recent projects have been in CPG food retail and he has worked in other diverse fields such as software development, foodservice, and architectural manufacturing.
On his most recent project, Mr. Wilson worked with the food service division of a large, international food manufacturer to develop a portfolio of new products and services. On the engagement, he managed the entire market research design and execution as well as the analysis of primary data, comprised of over 300 data points from both consumers and executives. He also helped develop and refine new product and service concepts and conduct volumetric and financial analysis on high-potential concepts. The company is expected to come to market with 3-5 new products and services in the next two years projected to grow the company in excess of $100 million. Mr. Wilson also led the skills transfer of the K&A methodology to the client, who has since fully adopted the process as their own.
Mr. Wilson also served as project manager for the 2005 and 2006 Chicago Innovation Awards, founded by the Chicago Sun-Times and Kuczmarski & Associates, selecting the 10 most innovative products/services in the Chicago area. Mr. Wilson also acted as event coordinator and supervisor in the months leading up to the ceremony, which is attended by over 500 of Chicago's business and cultural leaders, and worked as a liaison between the Chicago Innovation Awards and its host of supporting organizations, such as the Wrigley Company, Microsoft, and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and the Chicago Board of Trade.
Prior to joining Kuczmarski & Associates, Mr. Wilson worked for the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City, where he performed media and project analysis, as well as individual platform branding and management. He helped in strategic planning and analysis on a wide variety of issues and events, including the Lower Manhattan Economic Development Conference and the Mayor's 2003 City-Wide Budget initiative. In addition, he was responsible for Mayor's daily news briefing. Mr. Wilson also worked with the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., performing issue analysis and project initiative recommendation.
Mr. Wilson graduated with honors from Northwestern University, where he earned a double Bachelor's of Arts in both Writing and Political Science.
Andrew Mintz
Andrew Mintz is a Senior Associate at Kuczmarski & Associates. In his position, he manages projects focused on creating innovation strategies and processes, and developing new products and services.
In his most recent engagement Mr. Mintz worked with an international food manufacturer. He managed a project aimed at developing a portfolio of new-to-the-country and new-to-the-world food products that would help the company expand beyond its current business. He led the effort to identify high-potential areas for product development, generate hundreds of new product ideas, shape new product concepts with consumers, and create a portfolio of 12 new products. The company is currently moving forward with the launch of 3-4 of these products, while the rest have filled the company’s new product pipeline.
On a previous project, Mr. Mintz worked with a US food manufacturer to develop a portfolio of new products concepts. He played an integral role in designing, organizing, conducting, and analyzing primary consumer research. This included moderating ethnographic and focus group research, analyzing consumer behaviors and needs, and understanding consumer trends. Additionally, he played a pivotal role in the development of new product ideas and concepts, which included solution generation, concept development, and concept testing. This work contributed to the creation of a portfolio of 8 unique new product concepts that were valued at over $400MM, and are currently in the company’s new product pipeline.
On an earlier project, Mr. Mintz worked with a natural stone manufacturer to develop a strategic growth and distribution plan. In this project he helped to conduct primary research with key decision-makers to develop a deeper understanding of how and why the purchase of natural stone and other masonry products are made. He also was instrumental in creating a detailed market analysis for new regions of distribution, as well as an analysis of existing product lines. This work has helped the company expand its distribution and grow into new high-potential markets.
Before joining Kuczmarski & Associates, Mr. Mintz worked for a graphic design magazine in New York City. In this position, he wrote for various sections and helped to increase the size and revenue of the magazine’s annual design competition. In his time at the magazine, the contest saw a marked increase in both the number of entrants as well as the total revenue of the competition.
Andrew Mintz graduated from the University of Chicago with a major in English. He was named to the Dean’s List in each of his four years and graduated with departmental honors.
Michelle Sanchez
Michelle Sanchez is a Senior Associate with Kuczmarski & Associates. She specializes in strategic brand management and the development and commercialization of new products. She has extensive experience working with some of the country's leading consumer packaged goods companies.
Ms. Sanchez's recent experience includes helping a multi-billion dollar food manufacturer develop a portfolio of new products expected to contribute over $200MM in a 3 year timeframe. She led the cross functional client team in a customized, consumer-centric new product development process that involved extensive primary research and ethnographies and the creation and testing of new product concepts.
In another engagement, Ms. Sanchez consulted with a multi-national consumer packaged goods client to help develop high-potential new products to meet aggressive category growth objectives. During the engagement, she conducted extensive primary and secondary research, facilitated ideation sessions, and conducted market opportunity assessments around high-potential concepts. Additionally, Ms. Sanchez led the research and analysis of the base brand's current positioning and equities, to identify potential areas for future brand extendibility. The result of this project was the launch of the company's most successful new product in years.
In a previous engagement, Ms. Sanchez worked with one of the nations top packaged foods manufacturers to develop a portfolio of innovative new products in a mature, declining category. After conducting extensive consumer research to uncover and understand consumer problems, behaviors, and rationalizations, she led the development of a model detailing these key consumer attitudes. She produced and refined new product concepts, which ultimately led to in-market product success.
Prior to joining Kuczmarski & Associates, Ms. Sanchez worked in brand management at S.C. Johnson on the Oust brand as well as in Air Care New Products. While there, she spearheaded several successful new product initiatives for the brand, which ultimately contributed to the brand incrementally growing the category and taking share leadership.. Ms. Sanchez has also worked for Johnson & Johnson in their Consumer Products Company division, in retail sales. She assisted customers at the retail level, helping them to design innovative display and features that benefited both the customer and J&J.
Ms. Sanchez earned her Masters of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, with concentrations in marketing, management & strategy, and management in organizations. She graduated with high honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receiving a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Industrial Distribution Management. She was named one of the top 100 graduates of her class.