Sharon Thomson has a proven track record for development of strategic plans, operational improvements, sales, communicat...
SHARON THOMSON North Bend, WA 98045 808-554-3388 cell
[email protected]
Senior Executive who is passionate about developing and leading high-performance teams to reach sustained levels of success. Proven track record for development of strategic plans, operational improvements, sales, communications & marketing campaigns that build brand awareness, enhance revenues, and reinforce operational excellence.
Team Priorities, Inc., Seattle, WA Principal and Senior Consultant Present Owner of consultant firm that helps companies create the ability and agility for work teams to thrive in today’s turbulent marketplace. The firm focuses on helping leaders hone their skills through team development workshops and consulting services using process improvement methods to improve key operational areas. Areas of consulting services include team development workshops, brand management and marketing, internal communications, marketing communications, strategy and planning, workflow analysis and improvement. www.teampriorities.com Kaiser Permanente, Honolulu, HI Vice-President, Brand Communications
2010 – Nov 2013
The senior executive responsible for the development, protection and promotion of Kaiser’s brand and reputation with internal and external stakeholders. Developed an award-winning team for public relations, multi-media communications, strategic communications, event marketing, community relations, advertising, customer communications and market research.
Vastly improved brand perceptions for both the health plan and medical group in 13 out of 14 measures. Perceptions of the physicians and quality of care are at an all time high for members (90% for excellent care with 96% intent to renew, 90% rate KP as a leader in online access). Quality scores are the highest in the state for hospital, outpatient care and as a health plan in Medicare, Medicaid and group business lines. Developed strategic plans and promotion which ensured successful realignment of the product portfolio resulting in improved membership mix with significantly improved margin results with 30% increase in business accounts in two years. Streamlined and revamped all communication tools in support of 6 business lines and 10 medical services. Led the market research agenda and influenced the entire Kaiser Permanente enterprise to adopt new metrics for competitive analysis and brand strength monitoring. Led the executive team to develop Lean principles for process improvements. Developed workflow/project management custom software system increasing productivity for the division by 30%. Partnered with the medical group as executive sponsor for clinical improvement initiatives in primary care, pharmacy, inpatient and ancillary services. Developed a collaborative team approach across the division, resulting in employee engagement and effectiveness moving from worst to first in the company in my first year, with continued improvement with the largest gain in the company in the second and third year. By year end 2013, the division was 19 points above the company average and among the top 10% of all health care organizations nationwide on 23 of 26 metrics in the Tower Watson employee survey.
Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA Executive Director, Advertising & Marketing Communications
2001 – 2010
Led strategic development and execution of marketing and multi-media advertising initiatives for the corporate brand image for one of the state’s largest health care systems. Developed an award-winning in-house creative team that produced multi-media advertising and promotions for broadcast, online, print, direct mail, transit, outdoor, and marketing collateral for B2B and B2C audiences. Directed the performance of external advertising agencies.
Revolutionized brand perceptions of the organization and the medical group elevating it from lowest to one of the highest quality ratings in the state, resulting in company receiving the J.D. Power award in 2008 and 2010 for health plans in the Northwest, and 2009 top HMO in the country by Consumer Reports. Tripled awareness of the company’s distinctive features to a market-leading 38 percentage points above all tracked competitors. This includes the move to electronic medical records, one of the first in the country to seize the early adopter advantage by marketing the benefits of online access to health care and medical records, resulting in a strong improvements in consumer and provider satisfaction. Developed the company’s first brand report card and ad tracking survey to measure brand improvement and advertising campaign results against established benchmarks. Revamped all recruiting materials for HR to be consistent with the company’s brand image. More than doubled the success rate of recruitment of renowned physicians to the medical group. Collaborated on establishment of brand facility standards and served as senior executive for the brand image in the design of new and existing medical centers and new headquarters to ensure brand consistency. Created integrated community relations program by refocusing activities to fewer but higher-impact events, garnering numerous commendations from civic leaders for social marketing that benefits the community. Responsible for development of custom work flow/project management system which doubled productivity. Member of executive oversight team for product development and management for all business lines, and sponsored numerous operational improvements in outpatient care dramatically raising customer satisfaction.
Project Director and Director of Sales, 1987-2001
Responsible for new sales to business accounts. Hired and trained all new sales and account management staff, creating job profiles, training programs, sales tools, sales and account metrics. As Project Director, led multi-million dollar business initiatives to advance organizational performance. Transformed sales team from lowest-performing team to the highest sales generators in one year. Achieved 120% of sales target and delivered highest volume of sales in one year by creating and utilizing the first set of customer-segmented collateral materials for team use. Integrated 3 separate corporate marketing and sales divisions into one organization with new structure and led training for 8 new sales directors and 135 account management team members.
Education Master of Science, High Honors, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Bachelor of Arts, High Honors, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Professional Affiliations, Past and Present Board Member of Hawaii YWCA ∙ Board Member of Hawaii Chapter of American Lung Association ∙ Marketing Communications Executives International ∙ Seattle Chamber of Commerce ∙ Downtown Seattle Marketing Association ∙ Puget Sound Marketing Association ∙ Bellevue Community College Foundation Marketing Committee ∙ Seattle YMCA Board Marketing Committee ∙ Group Health Community Foundation
Advertising Awards 2004 to 2010 National & Northwest Gold and Silver Addys ∙ 2005 D&AD In-book status ∙ 2005 Clio Award ∙ 2005 Cannes Lions Festival finalist ∙ 2005 Gold in The Seattle Show ∙ 2004 London International Advertising & Design Awards Finalist ∙ 2003 Telly Awards Silver and Bronze.
