ROBERT J.

FENTON
1441 Buchan Dr.
231.223.8880
Traverse City, Michigan 49686
robertf@vertio.net or
rf677fc0@westpost.net

CAREER SUMMARY
Exemplary Sales and Marketing professional with extensive, notable and progressi
ve oversight in Sporting Goods, Sportswear, Consumer Products and E-Commerce. E
ntrepreneurial spirit with corporate skills extremely adept in the leadership of
business development broaching all internal and external business units, produc
t categories and distribution channels. Results driven strategist who is analyti
cal, decisive, high energy, a team builder and articulate communicator who excel
s at exceeding customer and company expectations.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Vertio.net-President 2009-
Vertio.net is the innovator and leader in "Voice Content Optimization/VCO". Ver
tio.net fuses the
"Power of Content with the Power of Voice" and leads in the evolution of SEO by
revolutionizing
how you build relevant and searchable content on your website. (www.vertio.net)
Nex-LvL Golf USA/HEAD Sportswear-President 2005-2008
Licensee and distributor of HEAD Tennis, Golf and Ski apparel for North America
focused against the pro/specialty channel. Responsible for the acquisition of t
he HEAD license for North America and directed all start up internal and externa
l operational processes and procedures including the hiring and oversight of 39
independent sales representatives. In addition, led all Sales/Marketing initiati
ves for our private label sportswear offerings featuring technical and proprieta
ry fabrication focused against upscale department stores and "lodge" distributio
n channels.
HEDSTROM CORPORATION
2002-2005 North American manufacturer of action sp
orts, leisure and children's play products with annual gross sales of $225M gene
rated from three divisions.
Vice President of Field Sales-Backyard and Fun Division
* Responsible for $90m of volume within the U.S.
* Led and a field sales team consisting of 17 agencies/41 sales representatives
* Directed all initiatives regarding customer management, sales force education,
sales programs, policies, forecasting and field marketing executions
* Conceived, developed and executed a successful B2B e-commerce and CRM initiati
ve helping increase aftermarket product sales by over 40% and in addition improv
ed communication efficiencies and perceived service levels within our dealer net
work
* P&L responsibility for all field sales
* Primary customer base included Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart(category manager), Meij
er, ShopKo, BJ's, Toys "R" US, Menards, Ace and True-Value hardware stores, Spor
ts Authority, Dicks, MC, Dunhams, Academy, Modells and independent distributors.

Robert Fenton
Page 2

BENETTON SPORTSYSTEM - Prince Sports Group, Bordentown, NJ 19

82-2001
A former sporting goods entity with annual sales of over $250 million operating
as a wholly owned subsidiary of Benetton SPA, a global $2.5 billion apparel manu
facturer / retailer. Primary brands within the Sportsystem portfolio were: Prin
ce-Ektelon-Nordica-Rollerblade
Vice President of Sales-Prince Sports Group 2000-2001
Directed all North American sales and served in a Co-General Management role.
* Conceived and implemented Marketing/POS initiatives for Specialty/National acc
ts
* Successfully launched a product development initiative that increased new appa
rel/footwear volume within the chain sporting good and upscale department store
channels by over 50%
* Conceived and developed sales floor training initiatives to support the above
* Initiated new forecasting and operational procedures/ teams increasing accurac
y and reducing lead times which helped improve turns by 11%+
* Led an executive team and was the architect for a field sales reorganization t
hat lowered the cost of sales by over 5%
* Corporate liaison to Diawa who functioned as our Asian distributor
* P&L responsibility-$75M+. Managed and led by KPI and MBO metrics

Vice President of Sales-Benetton Sportsystem 1999-2000

A member of the executive team which led all North American Sales/Marketing effo
rts during the launch of the Benetton SportSystem which included the following b
rands: Nordica, Prince, Killer Loop, Ektelon and Rollerblade.
* Specific oversight/responsibility for chain/mass channels
* Led the team which restructured the field sales organization from in-house/emp
loyee status to an independent sales force network consisting of 18 agencies acr
oss North America
* Conceived, coordinated and successfully launched new product Marketing/Sales i
nitiatives to support a 40% increase in apparel and footwear SKU offerings
* Spearheaded a team that facilitated a new forecasting system to support the ne
w product launch
* P&L responsibility-$100M+. Managed and led by KPI and MBO metrics

Director of Sales-Prince/Ektelon-Americas
1996-1999
Reported to the CEO and directed for the Western Hemisphere all business develop
ment, customer management, forecasting, budgeting, sales conferences, distributi
on/channel strategy and sales force education. Sales liaison to the Marketing te
am. Responsible for P&L on $75M of revenue.
* Led a field sales team of 39 that included a key account manager, four Regio
nal managers, 32 territory representatives, 6 apparel specialist, two technical
representatives plus an 11 member inside sales and customer service team
* During an industry downturn, increased market share by over 10%, sales volu
me by over 10% and attained the #1 market share position in the pro/specialty se
gment(1997-1998)
* Spearheaded a sales force automation project that improved communication, ef
ficiencies, profit
* Instrumental and had oversight for the successful launch of Prince Golf, a s
tart-up and stand alone business unit within the Prince Sports Group portfolio w
ith first years sales of over $3M

Robert Fenton
Page 3

Vice President of National Accounts-Prince/Ektelon 1993-1996

Responsible for all sales, marketing, promotions, forecasting and employee educa
tion efforts for the top 22 customers in North America accounting for over 40% o
f the company volume. In addition, served in a GM role to facilitate the acquisi
tion and transition of Ektelon into the Prince Business unit
VP Northeast Region-Prince Sports Group 1992-1993
Managed a team of 16 and directed all sales initiatives in the
Northeast region and Canada representing $16M+ in volume
Regional Manager for the Midwest Region-Prince Sports Group 1990-1
992
Managed a team of 9 territory reps and directed all sales initiatives
for 23 states in the Midwest region generating $12M+ in volume
Independent Sales Agency-owner/operator 1982-1990
Independent agent representing Prince, Tail, Reebok and K-Swiss
footwear, Bill Rodgers running apparel and Ancona ski wear in the Midwest

Education
C. S. Mott College Flint, Michigan-Associates of Arts/Sciences
University of Michigan-Flint, Michigan-Business/Economic studies
Awards and Associations
-SCORE Counselor-Counselors to America's Small Business-Northern Michigan Chapte
r-current
www.upnorthscore.com
-Regional Manager of the year 1991-Prince Sports Group
-Territory Manager of the year 1989-Prince Sports Group
-Former executive committee member for the United States Tennis Association
-Former board member for the Tennis Industry Association