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Barbara Krafte Vice President, Global Marketing, Oxy Systems
Barbara Krafte is currently Vice President Global Marketing for Oxy Systems. Highly regarded for the ability to take companies to the next level in hypercompetitive industries facing disruptive change, she brings the five-year-old Boston area start-up a successful track record introducing, growing, and transforming global B2C and B2B corporate brands. An eye for spotting trends early and an obsession with the customer, Barbara has been helping shape today’s mobile trends for the past ten years. She brings those insights to Oxy, a leader in the development of mobile applications, where she has responsibility for industry and consumer marketing. Her priority has been to develop the phling!® brand, the company’s rock star application suite and the first mobile peer-to-peer music-based social networking service. With a comprehensive go-to-market strategy, Oxy’s been out in front, most recently announcing the phling! mobile MusicLounge™ which opened its virtual doors to Swiss mobile subscribers, independent artists, and media partners in 2008. Fast-time-to-market execution has paid off with selection of Oxy Systems as recipient of the 2007 Red Herring 100 Award, the successful European rollout of the phling! media suite, and winner of the Mobile Advertising & Marketing Awards (MAMA) 2008 Award for Most Effective Use of Music and or Image. Barbara was recruited to her previous corporate role, Vice President Global Brand Marketing, by Comverse Technology to transform the diversified global telecom holding company’s brand. Her game-changing strategy built the brand from the inside out and, making a fundamental marketing shift, expanded the company’s reach into the consumer-driven mobile space. Cross-functional teams, incentives, and assignment of brand goals for each business function helped reset the organizational compass. Metrics, tracking, analysis, and collaboration became the new norm with introduction of brand intelligence software, transforming the company’s once siloed organization. The pay off was significant with revenues doubling from $750M-$1.5B, successful entry into four new categories, accelerated penetration into the China market, and a ranking on Business Week’s Info Tech 100, three years running. Barbara was with Philips Electronics prior to Comverse. She was initially responsible for the Americas launch of its newly formed France-based consumer communications business unit. Philips Consumer Communications (PCC) was rolled out at CES with a PR strategy that translated into high-value coverage on TV, radio, and print, helping put Philips on the map. Leveraging the visibility, Barbara and her marketing communications team kick started brand awareness with a series of precedent-setting advertising and merchandising firsts that included the launch of the first prepaid mobile phone-in-a-box through big box retail and direct response TV. With significant traction in the U.S. and Latin America, revenues for PCC hit $50M in Year One. Barbara was subsequently tapped to lead the brand integration for the joint venture between the consumer phone divisions of Philips and Lucent Technologies, the largest consumer electronics/telecom JV of its kind at the time. Following a successful brand transition, she became Director Global Brand Marketing. Her team had ownership of the brand, advertising, market intelligence, merchandising, entertainment marketing, and the web with P&L responsibility for a $100M budget. Fundamental to the JV’s brand strategy was a shift from transactional to relationship marketing achieved through a comprehensive segmentation and the first lifestyle positioning for mobile phones. Translating the strategy into powerful execution was achieved by being out in front of competition with ground breaking ideas such as: A global advertising campaign fully integrating online and digital media into the traditional media mix; design and roll-out of eco-centric packaging tapping into a growing environmental awareness; taking advantage of the convergence of entertainment, promotion, and technology by partnering with high-visibility partners in entertainment and sports alliances Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney, PolyGram, and The World Cup to create a different kind of customer experience, and; helping champion the way to be the first consumer electronics NASCAR team sponsor. Success paid off helping advance Philips to #4 in global market share with a coveted place on BrandWeek’s Superbrands Top 100. Barbara’s customer obsession has led to a knack for creating sticky ones. She was early to exploit data-driven marketing as a growth engine for both Philips and Comverse. It was her roles with national marketing consulting companies however, where she honed the ability to transform a purchase into a relationship. With the opportunity to work on the development of incentive, affinity, and loyalty programs for companies in a range of industries, her clients have included Mercedes Benz, RC Cola, MCI, Pella Windows and Doors, Zales, Panasonic, Comp USA, Cordis, Pearl Vision, Liz Claiborne, and Donna Karan Cosmetics. Barbara has a B.F.A. in Fine Arts Business from the University of Colorado. She has completed Financial Marketing at Wharton Executive Education, the Columbia University Executive Marketing Program, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Executive Program. She sits on the boards of two mobile start-ups and has served as an advisor to two others. Barbara is a speaker and writer, hosting a column on www.liveperson.com. Her professional affiliations include the ANA, the CMO Council, and The Boston Club, an organization that matches corporate board opportunities with women CXO’s. Committed to giving back, Barbara efforts include work with Vogel Alcove, an organization providing early childhood education and free childcare services for homeless children, and Dress For Success, an organization mentoring disadvantaged women to achieve economic independence. Barbara currently lives outside Boston, MA.
About Oxy Systems, Inc.
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