Slade Kobran has more than 25 years' experience in growing technology and serviced-based businesses. Kobran has enabled existing established businesses to enjoy new growth, integrated the messaging and offerings of acquisitions, and re-energized companies' go-to-market for more effective turnaround. He has enhanced some existing marketing organizations and built others from the ground up, while also helping sales departments exceed their goals and grow company revenue.
An effective facilitator, Kobran specializes in forming and managing diverse and virtual teams. He believes in the value of personal and professional development and in uncovering the hidden talent within the organization. By developing a thorough understanding of an organization's ability to accept chance and employ new initiatives to achieve success, he is able to apply solid strategic thinking to deliver both an innovative new vision for that organization and the pragmatic execution of that vision.
Kobran comes to Chief Outsiders from his most recent position as Chief Marketing Officer of Infogroup, where he transformed an internal advertising department into a strategic marketing organization supporting the company's growth initiatives across multiple divisions. He introduced a new corporate identity, launched a branding awareness campaign and rationalized the company's marketing spend to increase ROI. As a member of the company's leadership team, Kobran was instrumental in transforming the company's culture through his leadership of internal and external communications.
Prior to his CMO stint at Infogroup, Kobran was Senior Vice President and Director of Global Marketing at Opinion Research Corporation, where he was responsible for developing programs to market the company's research services in the U.S., Europe and Asia. He worked closely with ORC's country managers, researchers, and business development executives to deliver new services to expand the firm's presence among multinational clients. Within the U.S. market, his team introduced new thought leadership and marketing campaigns, leading to a significant increase in business development appointments with hard-to-reach research buyers.
From 1993 through 2006, Kobran held several executive roles at ADP, including that of Vice President, Marketing, Planning and Business Development for the company's Time & Labor Management group. In that role, he developed strategies and marketing programs that doubled the division’s revenue. He had previously led marketing for ADP's Major Accounts Division, including sales support, pricing, competitive strategy and strategic planning. The strategic partnerships, acquisitions and channel initiatives he led for the division brought in significant new revenue channels and expanded the division's product footprint. Prior to ADP, Kobran held roles in product management, field marketing and sales management at Dun & Bradstreet.
Kobran earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Rider University. He has also completed executive education courses at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (Pricing: Strategy & Tactics and Strategic Marketing Management) and Harvard Business School (Strategy in the Multi-Business Firm).
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