Deborah Medrano

Led the strategy development and financial planning of The Walt Disney Company’s Global Licensing organization with $15 billion of retail sales comprising of toys; apparel; home furnishings; food, health and beauty; and stationery products across six regions (North America, Europe, Latin America, Emerging Markets, Greater China, and Japan). Reported to the EVP, Global Licensing and the divisional CFO.

• Analyzed the strategic priorities, opportunities and vulnerabilities of the overall business leading to goal alignment, shifting of resources and recalibration of business performance goals.
• Directed the redesign of the planning process to support a new matrixed organization leading to better accountability delineation for product groups and regional sales teams.

Led the finance, business planning and development of Disney’s home furnishings business with $2 billion of retail sales worldwide. Reported to the EVP of Global Home and the divisional CFO.

• Initiated pricing optimization across the portfolio leading to a 15% increase in value capture in key product categories and franchises.
• Oversaw licensee contract negotiations and renewals resulting in 100% on time renewals.
• Dissected the business to refocus the business on higher margin categories to curb profit erosion.
• Led the 5-year strategic plan, annual operating budget, forecasts and close processes.
• Articulated a long term vision and business evolution plan and crystallized the consumer segment, product, brand, and channel strategy.

Led the long term strategy, business development, and portfolio management of the $20 billion+ in retail sales Consumer Products division of The Walt Disney Company encompassing a Licensing business across multiple product categories; a Publishing business; a Video Game development and publishing business; and the Disney Stores. Reported to the divisional CFO.

• Drove strategic plan development for white space growth opportunities leading to an opportunity with a NPV of over $100 million being green-lit by top management and launched.
• Managed a divisional business model exploration project and identified three business areas to adopt alternate business models with an incremental NPV of $180 million.
• Collaborated with executive team and designed an organization structure and an evolution plan to position the organization to double the business in 5 years.
• Spearheaded a divisional customer satisfaction and product quality study. Identified key satisfaction drivers and established ongoing performance tracking across multiple products and markets.
• Managed the valuation and assessment of acquisition and divestiture opportunities.
• Revamped the 5-year strategic plan process for Disney Consumer Products resulting in high praise by the CEO as the most strategic of all divisional plans.

Drove the ideation, market and business assessment of new business opportunities for Avery Dennison’s Office and Consumer Products division with sales of $1 billion. Led the strategic partnership and business development efforts of a newly formed business.

• Drove the ideation, market and business assessment of new business opportunities resulting in the launch of a new business with over $50 million of projected incremental revenue in the first three years. Team won a company-wide new product innovation award.
• Led the strategic partnership and business development efforts of the newly formed business. Scouted, developed, and negotiated with multiple strategic partners to gain distribution. Product was named the Business Experience winner by a key strategic partner.

Part of a 2-member Chief of Staff team of Visa USA, accountable to COO and senior execuitve team for the general adminsitration and coordination of product, operations, risk, processing technologies, and pricing.

• Advised senior executives on strategic and tactical issues including new business assessment. Executive team endorsed recommendation to form a new business focusing on merchants.
• Spearheaded a senior management steering committee to rollout a strategic planning process across all divisions. Identified key projects for investment and ended 20% of existing projects.

Led the development of a business turnaround and corporate strategy of PeopleLink – an online community solutions (live chat, instant messaging, message boards) provider and the first IdeaLab–funded company.

• Led the strategy development to turnaround the business by shifting the company's focus from B2C to B2B.
• Formulated an organization plan, modified the products and services portfolios and established new strategic alliances. Won contracts with two Fortune 100 companies in first quarter of new strategy execution.

Project Leader, Greater China                                                           1998 - 2000

Consultant, Los Angeles, CA                                                              1996 - 1998

Client work conducted across U.S.A., Canada, Greater China, and South East Asia. Project focus: developing innovative strategies; leading organization change; understanding value creation.

• Created a pan-China sales and distribution strategy for a global consumer products company. Performed market assessment and designed innovative wholesalers and retailers programs. Market presence was established in 23 provinces within the first year.
• Developed product and pricing strategies for an automated drug dispensing company. Built analytical model to evaluate the business economics of each product and service resulting in a simplified product portfolio and a streamlined pricing scheme.

• Managed the post-merger integration of a global industrial goods company. Established the baseline performance of each entity, formulated the global and country strategies, and defined the organizational design of the merged entity. Met 100% of the goals set for the first 60 days.
• Advised senior executives of a global financial services company on a set of corporate development matters: role of the corporate center, organizational design, and succession planning.

• Performed extensive analysis on China-listed companies to delineate the drivers of value creation and destruction enabling BCG to effectively benchmark Chinese companies.
• Led the design of a key value driver performance management system for a North American paper company. Identified operational improvements with a 20% cost savings potential.

Youngest scientist at the snack foods division of Mars Inc, a global, privately own business with over $20 billion of worldwide sales.  Popular brands include M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, and Skittles.

• Reformulated the Kudos product line with a significantly improved nutritional profile without compromising quality and consumer experience.
• Designed a line of performance enhancing snack.  Many of the technologies developed were later incorporated into other products.