Edible Arrangements is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its first franchise location, which opened in Waltham, Massachusetts, in August 2001. Positioning itself for growth for the next 10 years and beyond, the company announced the promotion of several key leaders to its executive management team. Kristy Ferguson was named chief strategy officer, Steve Thomas was promoted to chief marketing officer, Matt Bailey was appointed to vice president of operations, and Kaitlin Power was promoted to vice president of ecommerce.
“The experience and industry expertise that our leaders bring to the executive team is exactly what we need to continue Edible Arrangements’ strong national and international growth,” says Tariq Farid, CEO of Edible Arrangements, International, Inc. “We are confident that they will excel in their new roles and help further enhance the company for success now and in the future.”
As chief strategy officer, Ferguson is now responsible for defining companywide strategy and goals and ensuring they are met, including the company’s customer-focused mission, “To WOW You!” In 2004, she assumed the position of vice president of marketing after briefly serving as director of marketing. Ferguson was then named executive vice president, responsible for building the Edible Arrangements franchise system globally. Prior to joining the company, Ferguson worked for several advertising agencies on food brands such as McDonald’s, Einstein Bros Bagels, Noah’s Bagels, and Captain D’s Seafood.
In Thomas’ new role as CMO, he is responsible for overseeing consumer research, strategic alliances, storefront image, field marketing, advertising development, franchise business development and consumer public relations, and media planning and execution. Additionally, he is also charged with supporting the company’s e-commerce marketing initiatives. Thomas joined Edible Arrangements in 2007 as vice president of strategic alliances and moved into the role of vice president of marketing in July of 2007. He brings more than 27 years of consumer marketing and large franchise system experience to the management team, including past positions at Burger King and Subway.
Bailey was promoted to vice president of operations and will now direct all aspects of store operations, training, and management. He joined Edible Arrangements in 2005, managing the in-house training program and delivering on-site support to new store locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Previously, Bailey served as a franchise field business consultant with the International Dairy Queen Corporation where he was the point of contact for franchisees in the northeast U.S. market.
As vice president of ecommerce, Power will now direct every aspect of the Edible Arrangements online experience, including Web development, implementation, and support across multiple e-tail sites and call center channels, as well as e-marketing including online advertising, email marketing, search engine optimization, online promotions, online partnerships, and Web trend analysis.
She joined Edible Arrangements in 2005 as a marketing coordinator and has since assumed the roles of director of Web communications and senior director of EAConnect. Power’s marketing experience with Vitamin Water, Sports Illustrated, and Micrologic introduced her to emerging Ecommerce trends, including social media and other e-marketing tactics.
