Melanie E. Bednar

General Manager for MARS Snacking Switzerland & Austria

For our diverse Europe & Central Eurasia region, I have developed and led the regional Channel and Customer Strategy – in close partnership with our local markets & global sales team. • Establishing and follow-through on regional channel and customer priorities; resulting in consecutive double digit annual growth. • Significant improvement of customer engagement and relationship building; measured through the Trade Attitude Survey (TAS). • Leading our international LAR (Limited Assortment Retailers) team, unlocking routes of accelerated growth and value creation for the fast growing LAR business.

As Strategic Demand Director for Central Eurasia, Belarus and Turkey (CEAB&T), I had the pleasure of being part of the CEAB&T leadership team, as well as leading our diverse x-functional Strategic Demand team of 40+ highly talented associates across four functions: • Category Leadership • Brand Marketing • Customer/Retail Marketing • Strategic Revenue Management; and being responsible for both our Confectionery and Pet Nutrition categories across 12 countries. During my time at CEAB&T - the land of diversity & opportunities - we more than doubled the business, while accelerating capability building and driving engagement and collaboration, both inside Mars, as well as with our strategic partners.

03/2020-present: Gum Category Strategy Lead 10/2018-02/2020: Head of Consumer & Market Insights Led the CMI team; Inspired and drove evidence-based decision making, by connecting people, foresights, and business insights; resulting in category growth.

As a member of the Global Consumer & Market Insights team, I created and led the Global Center of Expertise for Creative Excellence: supporting Senior Marketing Leaders with fact-based insights to develop best-in-class advertising that successfully drives the growth of our brands. Collaborating with top-tier creative agencies, global media partners, Neuroscience experts, and market research and academic institutions, I provided thought leadership, actionable insights, as well as guidelines and best practices for all Mars' product categories; enabling evidence-based marketing. Two key highlights: I introduced and embedded the use of Neuroscience at Mars, as well as spearhead a global enterprise project on optimizing our mobile advertisement.

As a member of the Global Consumer & Market Insights team, I was leading the Single Source marketing analytics team and we conducted global multi-FMCG-product category research on advertising and media. Utilizing Single Source household panel data, I supported senior marketing leaders by providing fact-based insights on the effectiveness of our advertising, creative excellence, media planning and efficiency.

As part of the Catalyst team - the multidisciplinary think tank of Mars - I conducted internal marketing research and consulting related to media. Working with a team of five data analysts, I led advertising effectiveness research projects across four FMCG product categories (Pet Care, Chocolate, Gum & Confections, and Rice & Sauces) in multiple countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

In charge of the social media strategy

Erwin Schrödinger Research Fellowship 2010-2012. Deep expertise in consumer behavior and branding; research published in three leading journals, including the Journal of Business Research, two book chapters, and presented at 10 international conferences and invited to six talks in North America and Europe. Led teams with collaborators in the U.S., Europe, and Australia Taught Marketing core class for 60 undergraduate students; served as judge in MBA case competition

Teaching Marketing core class for 60 undergraduate students. Served as judge in MBA case competition Research projects on consumer behavior and branding with collaborators in USA, Europe, and Australia

Work published in top international journals, and presented at international conferences. Received five research grants: Young Academics 2009-2011, ‘Swarovski’ 2010, ‘Hypo’ 2009 Taught six graduate and undergraduate Management classes; supervised eight Masters and Bachelors students. Member of the European Marketing Academy’s Executive Committee; founder of young scholar community

Publications include papers in international journals, book chapters, and a monograph. Taught 15 graduate and undergraduate Marketing classes and co-supervised Masters and Bachelors theses. Led a team of 4 to 6 lecturers and coordinated their classes on Principles of Marketing for two years. Member of the Committee for Internationalization of the School of Management and Economics. Volunteered for Austrian Business Academics, 2007-2009: Marketing spokesperson (Carinthia section).

Taught class on International Marketing for 30 undergraduate students

Project on Customer Relationship Management at Machinery and Plant Engineering Company (USA, Canada, Europe) Member of a team that developed an interdisciplinary Center for New Product Development in Austria

Dissertation: Consumer Behavior in Brand Communities. Graduated with highest honors Received eight research grants and scholarships. Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan in 2008

Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant 2004-2005 Two Internships in Marketing 2003, 2004