The Connell Group Hires Phillip Barone from Pinnacle Foods, Opens Montvale, NJ Office

MONTVALE, N.J., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Connell Group, a growth-stage market research consultancy dedicated to bridging the gap between insights and brand strategy, announced that Phillip Barone has joined the organization as Vice President for Strategic Insights and Consulting in an effort to meet increasing client demand.

Mr. Barone comes to The Connell Group most recently from Pinnacle Foods, where he was Vice President of Marketing Research and Strategy.  There, he played a key role in leading Pinnacle's transition from a small, private organization to a leading edge, consumer-driven public company.

"We're thrilled to have Phillip join our growing team," said Patty Klingbiel, President of The Connell Group.  "With Phillip, we bring another proven leader to the firm who can relate to our clients' challenges and deliver insights that drive real business impact for their brands.  In addition, he will play a pivotal role in managing our growth, intellectual capital, and team development as we continue to scale the company."

Mr. Barone began his career at SymphonyIRI and later went to Nielsen, where he worked on healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and food brands.  Subsequently, he worked at Fulcrum Analytics where he leveraged targeted insights to help clients better envision and deliver 360° marketing and digital activation.

The Connell Group is also pleased to announce the hiring of two new Directors of Strategic Insights for its Montvale, NJ, office:  Ali Sheffield and Connie Torres.

Ali Sheffield joins The Connell Group from Procter & Gamble, where she spent 11 years in Consumer & Market Knowledge, working on the Global Beauty, Grooming New Business Creation, and Digital/eCommerce businesses. Ms. Sheffield brings particular strengths in segmentation, digital research, innovation approaches, and insights training.  "Ali shares our passion for building insights programs that inspire smarter activation," said Ms. Klingbiel. "She is a forward-thinking insights leader who can help our clients more holistically understand their consumers and customers in an increasingly digital world."

Connie Torres joins The Connell Group after 15 years working at Alcatel-Lucent, most recently as Market & Consumer Insight Marketing Director.  At Alcatel-Lucent, Ms. Torres led the primary research staff to identify relevant insights and to translate them into effective marketing activation programs.  According to Sean Connell, Founder of The Connell Group, "Connie's track record clearly proves that she can leverage insights to drive growth on existing and new businesses."  She brings significant experience in global insights discovery, storytelling, social media research, market opportunity assessments, segmentation and innovation/new product development.

About The Connell Group

The Connell Group is a market research consultancy focused on closely connecting research design to the business agenda of our clients.  We do this by combining the expertise of brand marketers with the data-driven perspective of market researchers.  Founded in 2000, The Connell Group consults with a host of companies ranging from Fortune 100 to start-ups.  We have offices in Montvale, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois, and provide services globally throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.  To learn more about creating working insights to drive your business growth, visit us at www.connell-group.com.

SOURCE The Connell Group