Acosta Sales & Marketing Continues Expansion of Marketing Services Division; Announces Appointment of Seasoned Industry Leaders Soche Picard, Lauren de Simone and Mark Scott

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Acosta Sales & Marketing (Acosta), a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, today announced the appointment of three marketing industry leaders: Soche Picard as Senior Vice President of Shopper Marketing & Client Services, Lauren de Simone as Senior Vice President, Consumer Lab & Business Growth, and Mark Scott as Executive Vice President of Marketing Operations.

Picard will be tasked with developing innovative marketing strategies to reach shoppers, as well as identifying strategic marketing opportunities with clients and leading them to implement programs that achieve breakthrough results.

Picard joins Acosta with more than 15 years of extensive marketing experience in key areas, including strategic planning, brand launch and development, advertising, promotions, consumer marketing, idea generation, sports marketing, and client services. She last worked with COLANGELO as Managing Director and Head of Shopper Marketing. In her career she has developed marketing programs for leading brands such as Pepsi, MasterCard, Hershey's, and SONY PlayStation. Other accomplishments include launching the iconic, award-winning "Priceless" campaign for MasterCard International and leading the first-ever fully-integrated marketing campaign for Coca-Cola while also activating its sponsorship of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

de Simone will lead Acosta's consumer lab to develop consumer-in shopper mode marketing concepts, branded solutions and strategic service products for new business development and growth.

de Simone brings to Acosta 20-plus years of marketing and management experience with companies including Levi's, Coca-Cola, Philip Morris, Revlon, and Nabisco. She has a proven track record in the beverage, CPG and apparel industries and has led integrated marketing campaigns from the wholesale, retail and agency sides of business. Most recently, she was the Managing Partner at The Rockford Group, a marketing agency specializing in cross-platform marketing innovation for brands/companies such as Levi's, NBC, Macy's, and Medco, in partnership with leading specialty agencies such as Sourcebits Technologies and Giant Step Music Marketing.

Scott's primary task will be to bring all marketing functions into one integrated, world-class marketing service offering. Additionally, he will lead the growth and enhancement of Acosta's brand management service, whereby CPG companies can outsource their brand management function to Acosta for greater capability and cost savings.

Scott joins Acosta with more than 25 years of diverse experience in general management, marketing, sales, and finance including over 20 years at Kimberly-Clark Corporation (K-C) where he worked on some of the most well-known family care and personal care brands in North America including HUGGIES®, KLEENEX®, SCOTT®, PULL-UPS®, and DEPEND®. Most recently, Scott articulated a vision that K-C must build a best-in-class shopper marketing capability and led a team that advanced K-C to the #4 rank in The Hub magazine's 2010 Top 12 for Shopper Marketing Excellence. Scott was named to the "Who's Who in Shopper Marketing" list by Shopper Marketing magazine in 2009 and 2010.

"We are pleased to welcome Soche Picard, Lauren de Simone and Mark Scott to our marketing division," said Acosta Chief Marketing Officer Ramin Eivaz. "The addition of these three industry leaders demonstrates Acosta's commitment to providing clients with the level of hands-on strategy, insights and customer service that has helped us become the most trusted source of sales and marketing services for leading CPG brands today."

About Acosta Sales & Marketing

Acosta is the sales and marketing powerhouse behind thousands of the biggest brands you see every day, with a client roster that includes 66 percent of #1 and #2 brands sold in most grocery stores. With more than 80 years of experience, Acosta provides a range of outsourced sales, marketing and retail merchandising services to effectively move products off shelves and into shoppers' baskets, ensuring clients are achieving their true sales potential. Acosta is based in Jacksonville, Fla., with 17,000 associates in 65 offices throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.acosta.com.

Media Contact: Matt Rizzetta, North 6th Agency

917-398-0818, [email protected]

SOURCE Acosta Sales & Marketing