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MICHAEL PERNA
201-220-8205  [email protected]  www.michaelperna.com
Marketing Communications Executive/Brand Strategist
SUMMARY
Entrepreneurial marketing executive with a proven track record of successfully marketing companies
and their products with a recent focus in business-to-business and higher-education. True left and right
brain thought leader with in-depth experience in a broad range of marketing strategies and tactics,
including advertising, print collateral, public relations, social media, websites, and tradeshow marketing,
leading to increased sales.
EDUCATION
Columbia University, New York, NY
Master of Science, Strategic Communications with a concentration in Branding
New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ
Graduate classes in accounting and quantitative methods
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Bachelor of Fine Arts
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ:
Assistant Vice President of Marketing, September 2010 – October 2016
Senior executive with management oversight of the University’s office of communications and
marketing that consists of 12 full-time staff members
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Developed marketing campaigns that increased NJCU’s undergraduate open house attendance
by 25 percent and graduate open house attendance by nearly 300 percent.
Launched a new website and developed a social media (Facebook) campaign to communicate to
the University community including over 8,000 students.
Created marketing strategies and tactics to support the University development efforts that
assisted in a 200 percent increase in donations.
Served on the University strategic planning and steering committee to develop a five-year
strategic plan.
National Financial Partners, Inc., Austin, TX:
Assistant Vice President of Marketing Communications, November 2007 – April 2009
Management of the corporate communications and marketing department with oversight of 7 full-time
employees, corporate communications standards, development of marketing materials, and strategic
planning for insurance and wealth management products and services.
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Hired and managed internal team of marketing managers, graphic designers and writers to create
corporate and business unit marketing materials and co-branded materials for individual firms.
Successfully implemented a business plan for distribution, consistency, and organization of all
corporate communications.
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Developed and implemented a business plan for in-house printing, resulting in an 80% reduction
of outsourced printing costs and more efficient delivery times.
ARC Systems, Austin, TX:
Vice President of Marketing, March 2002 – November 2007
Responsible for strategic planning, marketing, and management of the day-to-day operations of the
marketing department for a software-as-a-service company.
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Created strategies and executed tactics to increase corporate and product awareness, generating
higher quality and quantity of leads, ultimately enabling product pricing to increase 200 percent.
Developed and executed a marketing plan that established corporate and product brand
identities, identified competitive products, and defined tactics to reach potential clients in
targeted markets.
Served on business technology committees to cultivate relationships with clients and business
partners and to establish ARC Systems as a leader in the industry.
Established relationships with managing editors and writers of key trade publications leading to
drastically increased editorial coverage resulting in winning a product award.
WarrenCordes+, Austin, TX:
Creative Director, May 1999 – February 2002
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Created advertising campaigns, collateral materials, and websites. Managed department staff,
resources, and created marketing strategies for companies and their products. Clients included
Canon (Semiconductor Division), Cirrus Logic, Luminex, Esoterix, Inc., Applied Materials,
Liberty Bank, Mattson Technology, Inc., American Bank
Chadwick Communications, New York, NY:
Art Director, August 1998 – March 1999
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Created advertising campaigns, collateral materials, and websites for clients including Microsoft,
Minolta, Litchfield Mutual Insurance, Michael Page International, CSP Inc.
Doremus Advertising, New York, NY:
Art Director, February 1996 – August 1998
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Designed advertising campaigns, collateral materials, and websites. Managed production artists,
junior art directors, and freelance artists. Clients included Accutrade, Bankers Trust, Credit
Suisse First Boston, Financial Times, Goldman Sachs, ITT Industries, Nations Bank
DBD International LTD, Rutherford, NJ:
Graphic Designer, July 1994 – December 1995
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Created brochures, advertisements, logos, fonts, and package designs for clients including Estée
Lauder, Loehmans, Norelco, Pantone, Pepsi, Sony
SOFTWARE AND TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE
As a hands-on leader, I am very familiar with many software applications and web-management systems
that are used in marketing and advertising.
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CRM, CMS and Email Marketing Software: Salesforce, Hobson’s, Drupal, Word Press,
EKTRON, and Mail Chimp
Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Exchange
Adobe Creative Suite: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premier, Dream Weaver