Helena Zakmane

Global sales and distribution (domestic and GTR), brand and trade marketing, PR and communications, legal and IP, as well as the company international operations (bottling, logistics) management for Cuban rums Black Tears and La Progresiva. International team management (UK, Cuba, Latvia, Indonesia).

There are 3 main directions of our work: 1. Helping food & beverage products to enter new markets & create new business, 2. Consulting on existing business development & providing marketing and commercial support, 3. Developing e-commerce, marketing & communication strategies for both existing and new products. The pillars of my work are exclusivity, confidentiality, clarity, proximity, availability, and positivity. My current business partners and contacts include various premium spirits, wine, soft drink, mineral water and exclusive food product brand owners, as well as importers and distributors in more than 60 countries around the globe.

Global distribution and sales development for Tobago Gold - chocolate rum cream liqueur with Caribbean spices. Europe, Asia, Canada, USA, Caribbean & Latam, Global Travel Retail. Commercial and Pricing strategy, Route-to-Market, Cooperation with 3rd party distributors, Commercial Agent management, Customer / Trade Marketing, B2B Communications. More than 20 distribution markets opened within 2.5 years, 60% revenue growth in 2023 vs PY. Two team members recruited: area sales manager and trade marketing manager (based in Turkey and Romania).

As part of ABG Strategic Marketing Department - global brand management of Moskovskaya Vodka, Moskovskaya Pink Vodka, Riga Black Vodka. Group vodka portfolio management & development, NPD, marketing communications, brand activation, global events, influencer marketing, social media activation, global e-commerce, P&L responsibility, budget management. Managing and mentoring the Global Vodka Brand Ambassador. Moskovskaya Vodka is the largest brand within ABG portfolio in terms of volume and is distributed in over 60 countries. Core markets: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Baltics, UK, US, Canada, Lebanon, Greece, China, Australia, Ukraine, Israel. Major achievements: - Moskovskaya Street Hard Seltzer development and launch, - Moskovskaya Vodka Amazon Storefront launch (+Brand Registry, +product page A+ content), - Moskovskaya Vodka social media creative turn-around & e-commerce implementation, - Mosko Embassy event concept development & pilot Embassy in London (UK).

Brand owner marketing initiative implementation in the core export markets (Italy, Spain, Portugal).

ILKO Coffee International. The company was a global joint venture between The Coca-Cola Company and Illy caffè and was managing globally the premium RTD Coffee brand – illy issimo. I had a project-based assignment focusing on several major points: preparation of Business Plan 2014 (long-term strategic vision, product innovation pipeline, geographic expansion, marketing activities, etc.), new market business development (specifically Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Austria, Poland, Russia, Baltics, Georgia, Finland, Sweden, Kosovo, Qatar, Lebanon, and Hong Kong), new packaging graphics implementation (work with the design agency, technical approvals with production, change management with 27 existing illy issimo markets), and several Communication & PR project development.

Responsible for trade marketing planning & execution for mineral water category (Lilia, Sveva, Toka, Solaria), Nestea, Burn, Powerade, and illy Issimo RTD coffee in Italy. Managing the whole marketing cycle (including consumer marketing, product innovation, trade marketing, customer marketing) for Amita, a Coca-Cola HBC juice brand.

Area of responsibility: strategic development and planning of all marketing activities for all the company brands (the biggest being: Absolut, Jameson, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, Ararat, Martell, Beefeater, Havana Club, Olmeca, Malibu, Kahlua spirits, Jacob’s Creek, Montana, Campo Viejo, Tamada wines); implementation of the planned activities through cooperation with media, BTL, and PR agencies; direct cooperation and reporting to the regional Nordic Cluster head Office in Stockholm (Sweden); managing a marketing team (trade marketing manager, marketing coordinator); direct and deep involvement in all company operations, sales, logistics, communication with clients; member of the management committee; dotted line reporting and direct communication with Pernod Ricard Nordics Marketing Director and other people at the Nordic cluster (region) level. Special regional project (August-November 2010): introduction of an internal marketing procedure for planning, communication, and evaluation of marketing activities in all the Pernod Ricard Nordic region (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia) – 4-month long project as a special task (20% of working time during this period).

Area of responsibility: primary fields for me were corporate brand marketing, sponsorship activities and corporate PR; secondary – market intelligence, channel marketing, online marketing, CRM programs, PVI (Product Value Information) as well as ATL activities for all product categories offered by the company (telecom, audio/video, IT, home appliances); marketing and PR agency management, direct projects with suppliers; strategic budgeting and budget implementation; reporting and result presentation to the top management on CIS & Baltics Headquarters level (Kiev, then Moscow); management of marketing department (3 direct subordinates: marketing assistant, in-store activation manager, web-master); responsibility for 3 countries (Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania) Professional achievements: as best practice I would like to mention sports sponsorship project „Samsung Premier League”, which is the title sponsorship of Latvia Open Ice Hockey Championships – with minimum resources and low coordination from Latvia Ice Hockey Federation side I managed to conduct a very successful sponsorship project in terms of public & media interest, wide publicity, social contribution, branding and improved information flow; this project was awarded 1st place as best sponsorship project in 2006 by The Association for PR Professionals of Latvia (international jury) and also gained an award in Berlin

Area of responsibility: working out and implementing trade marketing programmes for Bonaqua, Powerade, Burn, Cappy, Cappy Ice Fruit and Nestea beverages on the Baltic level; implementing trade marketing programmes for all Coca-Cola HBC Latvia distributed brands on Latvia level; presenting new marketing programmes to Latvia sales team; organizing the production of POP and other merchandising materials (work with agencies & suppliers); reporting and evaluation of marketing programmes; tracking marketing budgets for water and new brands, using SAP; preparing reports on brand performance using statistical programmes; organizing special events for Coca-Cola HBC customers; developing new ideas for marketing support for Powerade and Burn on Baltic level (from research to implementation mechanics); managing marketing assistant, giving tasks, evaluating and reporting on the employee performance Professional achievements: in 6 months after I started working for Coca-Cola HBC I was given the challenging opportunity to fully work out and manage marketing activities for two Coca-Cola products – energy drink „Burn” and sports drink „Powerade” – in all three Baltic countries; I have implemented several special distribution channel projects (petrol stations, night clubs, sports clubs, open air sports tracks), and these activations were especially successful for „Burn”: sales increased by more than 120% and the market share No.1 was gained in Latvia.

* BTL, POS and visual merchandising projects for the agency customers; * PR, communication, and media relations projects; * Marketing project development within the retail and commercial real estate sectors; * Contribution to the B2B magazine for retailers & distributors "SupermarketS" (published by the agency).

Specialization in Marketing Communications, Consumer Behavior, and Culture Studies.