People to Watch 2016: Russell Ferrara, Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products

With an education in communications and corporate communications and a knack for e-commerce, Russ Ferrara is well-positioned to grow the omnichannel strategy for Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products. Currently the team lead for shopper marketing, Ferrara has been with the company since 2011 after four years of agency work with Matchpoint Marketing (now Mosaic). His career has given him experience with retail brands such as Walmart and Sam’s Club, CVS, Lowe’s, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Amazon.com, as well as with CPG brands including Heinz, Ocean Spray, Domino’s and McCormick.Ferrara sees himself leaning toward e-commerce in the future, having embraced it in Georgia-Pacific’s omnichannel efforts. “Leveraging content and data to communicate relevant and engaging stories with the right consumers at the right time with the right message is critical to our focus on building brands that matter,” he says. “Understanding how those stories come to life via mobile engagement and e-commerce allows us to connect and build our brands while also driving shopper conversion both online and in-store.”Ferrara says Georgia-Pacific defines omnichannel as “delivering a consistent, seamless experience no matter where, when or how an individual interacts or shops.”“While there are various buzzwords to describe the relevant tactics, our organization always begins with the shopper first: understanding the needs and barriers to identify actionable insights to develop a strategy to be relevant to the shopper and retailers, while being authentic to our brands,” he says. “If we recognize that individuals can shift from being a consumer to a shopper at any point and any time they choose, we must have a media strategy that fits this ‘anywhere commerce’ or ‘always on’ reality. We are thinking of the key moments that influence consumers to drive action.”Ferrara sees shopper marketing’s main challenge as having limited control of the in-store experience. That heightens the importance of relationships with retailers, he says, “to ensure that the digital experiences our brands generate tie back to shelf with minimal disruption.”He quotes Georgia-Pacific CMO Douwe Bergsma on the matter: “We don’t own the physical space or the branding of the surroundings. So, for us to communicate and reach the right consumers in-store, the barrier has always been – and probably always will be – that we’re co-branding in somebody else’s store.”Ferrara began at Georgia-Pacific as category shopper marketing manager for the tabletop category. Since then, he’s been a key contributor to the company’s success with white-space selling and expansion into new customers and channels. His work with Amazon was Georgia-Pacific’s first experience with retailers as publishers. Before his latest promotion, Ferrara led shopper marketing for Georgia-Pacific’s Walmart/Sam’s Club team, implementing an omnichannel marketing approach.Day to day, Ferrara, as the team leader for nearly a year, says he focuses on driving the overall vision to turn shoppers into buyers, accelerating shopper penetration and loyalty. Partnership with the shopper insights team is key. “We are working to transform our shopper marketing into an omnichannel capability leveraging strong insights, digital media, promotions and shopper marketing to influence purchase behavior of our shoppers during key moments,” he says. “I see myself in a position to help drive category thought leadership and profitably to meet the needs of the growing number of online consumers, advancing our partnerships with brick-and-click and pure-click retailers through an omnichannel strategy.”

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