Melinda Walker

About Melinda Walker

I am a global brand strategist with a passion for building powerful, well-loved brands. I bring over two decades of consumer and professional marketing experience with industry-leading companies across the CPG, Medical Device, and MedTech sectors, with a successful track record leading strategy development, branding, market research, product innovation, and omni-channel campaigns for $100M+ brands to $1B+ portfolios on a national and global scale. My career journey has led me to the formation of my own strategic marketing consultancy, Walker Branding, leveraging my expertise in brand, portfolio, and innovation strategy in partnering with companies to create winning business plans that build brands, delight consumers, and maximize long-term organizational growth.While my early career years were focused in the US market (as a CPG marketer at Pepsico), I’ve spent the last decade working and traveling in an international capacity as a global marketing leader, which has afforded me a rich understanding and appreciation of diverse cultural perspectives and work styles. I am recognized as an inspirational leader and strong collaborator with both high IQ and EQ, who motivates teams through positivity and infectious optimism to perform at their full potential to deliver business goals. I have also demonstrated resilience and success in championing large, complex change management initiatives to accelerate company growth and build corporate culture. I find great fulfillment in leveraging my talents to help aspiring organizations capitalize on new venture opportunities and business partners in meeting their business goals. AREAS OF EXPERTISE:Brand & Portfolio Management | Marketing Strategy & Insights | Innovation Strategy & Development | Brand Design & Positioning | Portfolio Architecture | Customer Segmentation | Agency Management | Marketing Communications | Creative Design | Cross-functional Collaboration | Change Management

Experience

1. President

   Walker Branding

   Apr 2024 — Present · Charlotte, NC, US

   Walker Branding is a strategic marketing consultancy, leveraging vast client-side marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies across the consumer products, medical device, and technology sectors, with particular expertise in brand, portfolio, and innovation strategy. We provide clients with a range of upstream marketing consulting services to help businesses accelerate growth and maximize their marketing effectiveness. CONSULTING SERVICE AREAS:STRATEGIC PLANNING: Strategic Vision, Opportunity Assessment, Market & Competitive Analysis, Gap Analysis, Long-range Strategy Development BRAND & PORTFOLIO DESIGN: Customer Understanding & Segmentation, Customer Journey Mapping, Brand Positioning / Persona Development, Branding Guardrails, Portfolio Architecture Assessment INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT: Product Design Briefs / Innovation Guardrails, Ideation Workshop Moderation, Product Concept Writing, Concept Testing, Value Proposition & GTM Strategy Development, Product & Packaging DesignMARKETING COMMUNICATIONS: Product Claims Development & Validation, Marketing Messaging Guardrails, Creative Brief Writing, Creative Design, Marketing Toolkit Creation, Agency Management

Education

• UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

  MBA

• Texas A&M University

  Bachelors Business Administration