Gerald KURKJIAN

General Manager

General Manager, based in Dubai, UAE.
ReAm represents a German International company specializing in FMCG’s in the hygiene, household, shoe care, food storage and body care categories. Responsibilities involve establishing and developing businesses in the Middle Eastern Markets through market surveys, commercial objectives and strategies within the relevant territories, pricing tariffs/positioning, forecasts and budgets. The responsibility extending to full trade marketing and brand management functional tasks, the follow up work. Job is culminated in general management and reporting to the partners.
Key achievements:
Appointed distributors in UAE and Qatar, and sold directly to a retail chain in Eastern Saudi Arabia. Budgeted 2005/06 sales around USD 300K, with emerging parties, maintaining competitive company margins.
• Devised full pricing positionongs and mechanics with built in promo contributions.
• Reinforced product categories/portfolios.
• Met with several potential groups to present, negociate and close agreements

Sector: Cosmetic - Perfume - Hygene products

Regional Manager, Gulf Countries

Regional Manager, based in Dubai, UAE.
Expertise lies in dealing with 7 distributors across the GCC (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain) on a tactical and strategic level. Handling 25 product ranges, 180 sku’s, with three employees. Develop and maintain excellent mutual relations, and permanent surveillance of market/competition evolution.
Key achievements:
Analyzed current working processes, identified market/distributor limitations and major liabilities to transform, deliver and underpin successful growth. Doubled net purchases to Euros 12 mio’s, mainly through;

• Consolidate full coverage programs, across trade channels, both modern and traditional.
• Designed vital tools for the salesforce and management to enable potential/performance evaluation.
• Devise consumer /trade promotions and instore displays efficiently and effectively.
• Upgrade and standardize cross reporting and working formats from sell-in to purchases ex Germany.
• Analyze and interpret periodic market audit reports and prepare summaries.

Sector: Cosmetic - Perfume - Hygene products

Marketing Director

Marketing Director, based in France.
Own company, dealing in business development consulting/commercial agent in parapharmaceuticals for Middle Eastern markets. Also, import into France of natural products, and sales to hyper chains, drugstores and department stores.
Key achievements:
Full product management inclusive of labeling/packaging to barcodes and display stands, with 8 sku’s. Total annual turnover around Euros 45k.
• Negotiated with contract manufacturers/conditioners or toll producers in Europe and Mexico.
• Opened markets for private labels (GB Belgium) non food categories in Middle Eastern markets.
• Conducted market surveys on behalf of Henkel KgaA during the year ‘97- ‘98 in the GCC and Lebanon.

Sector: Import - Export

Marketing Coordinator Africa Middle East

Business Development Manager, based in Jeddah, KSA. (1991-1992)
Responsible for developing new business and forging new relationships in peripheric GCC markets; Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt and Libya, mainly for Mazola corn oil business, from an export platform ex Saudi Arabia.
Key achievements:
• Formulated commercial feasibility studies with eligible future distributors in Iran and Yemen to start sales/distribution set ups for the reintroduction of Mazola corn oil and mayonnaise into these markets.

Marketing Coordinator Africa/ Middle East, based in Brussels. (1989-1991)
Worked with all the JV operations and marketing in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Main objective was to learn European marketing know-how and apply to the different market specifities, both in retail and catering. Turnover of USD’s 45 mio’s, with 45 sku’s.
Key achievements:
• Learnt and experienced, the brand strategies and positionings, for the brands Knorr, Alsa, Maizena, and Dextro.
• Participated, coordinated and followed up on projects like packaging upgrading, label arabization, NPD, size/variety segmentation and new product launches.
• Attended a training program, ‘Finance for non-Financial Managers’, at the University of Louvain, Belgium.

Marketing Manager, based in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (1988-1989)
Streghten the GCC network of distributors/markets to better apply marketing objectives and strategies. Turnover of around USD 28 mio’s and 24 sku’s.
Key achievements:
• Set in place channel objectives and strategies, especially the traditional channels of wholesale and down-market.
• Conducted heavy and bulk instore activities and trade/consumer promotions, with high awareness and visibility.
• Achieved growth targets via new product pack size launches.

Sector: Agribusiness and agriculture

Sales & Distribution Manager

Sales and distribution Manager, Western Zone, based in Jeddah, KSA.
Distributors for RJR Tobacco Int’l. fully reporting to RJR as part of a management contract. In charge of managing a sales force of 16 people in 7 distribution centers, developing the sales/distribution set up infrastructure. Annual sales of around USD 27 mio’s. Increased the business 5 to 6 fold with new brand launches and reinforced coverage.
Key achievements:
• Recruited and trained the sales force to attain full potential and flexibility. Revamped incentive schemes.
• Received in the field training on several occasions from fmcg professionals. Attended PSS III (professional selling skills), selling and coaching training program in 1987 and 1988.

Sector: Tobacco