Speaker Bios

Rudi Becker
Director of Packaging
Method Products, Inc.

Rudi Becker joined Method in April 2007 as a Packaging Development Manager for the Home Cleaning business, bringing over five years experience working for consumer products companies. Rudi has focused the efforts of Method’s packaging development team on incorporating sustainable materials, while continuing to push the limits of design. Prior to joining Method, Rudi's work included positions at Frito-Lay, where he focused on the Doritos and Tostitos brands, and Clorox, where he worked on the packaging for food, insecticides, litter, water filtration and auto care products.

Rudi has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University Chico. He is an avid mountain biker and currently lives in Oakland, Calif., with his wife and daughter.

Jay Billings
Manager, Marketing & Business Development
Ball Corporation

As a Manager of Marketing and Business Development for Ball, Jay uses his extensive knowledge of market and consumer trends and customer needs to help drive Ball’s packaging innovation efforts. Prior to joining Ball in 2006, he was a Strategist at EGG Strategy, where he facilitated creation and implementation of brand and innovation strategy for many Fortune 100 companies including Coca-Cola Co., Toyota , Diageo, and Coors. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Colorado

Aga Bojko
Associate Director
User Centric

Aga Bojko's expertise lies in the empirical evaluation of large- and small-screen interfaces and pharmaceutical labels. She has a special interest in the integration of behavioral and self-report measures with eye movement analysis.

Since joining User Centric in 2003, Aga has been responsible for developing the eye tracking practice at the company, led numerous multinational user research projects, and conducted studies involving medical devices and packaging, mobile phones, software applications, websites, and physical work spaces.

Aga has been published in books and professional journals and presented at national and international conferences. She serves on the editorial board of User Experience Magazine and is a member of APA , CHI, HFES, and UPA. Aga is also an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University.

Will Burke
Founder, CEO , Chief Change Officer
Brand Engine

Will Burke is the founder, CEO and Chief Change Officer of Brand Engine. He draws on more than 20 years of experience in branding - uniquely bridging strategy and design - to solve complex issues with great insight and straightforward solutions. With a focus on consumer brands, his expertise is introducing new brands and repositioning existing brands to engage today’s consumer.

Formerly with Landor Associates, Lister-Butler, and Axion Design, Will’s background includes major branding and packaging programs for Citicorp, MasterCard, Shell Oil, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Logitech, Palm, Foster’s, Frontier Natural Products, Nestlé, and Tropicana. Under Will’s direction, Brand Engine’s work has been recognized in globally renowned competitions and books.

In addition, Will is a member of the Shelf Impact! Advisory Board, AIGA’s 2009 Principal Display Panel, and the 2009 Creativity Annual Awards panel of judges. As a featured speaker and author, Will’s unique perspective has been spotlighted by Package Design Magazine (both print and podcast), Brand Packaging Magazine, Entrepreneur’s Organization, popon.net, Shelf Impact! and thedieline.com.

Peter Clarke
CEO
Product Ventures

Peter Clarke is a visionary entrepreneur who founded Product Ventures 15 years ago to create the ultimate strategic creative agency for the research, design, and development of manufactured goods. Product Ventures’ innovative design process pioneered best practices currently used in the structural packaging industry today. This consumer-driven and business-aligned approach enables the generation and transformation of ideas into marketable solutions. Product Ventures’ award-winning packaging designs have garnered success for many of the world’s best known companies and their most prestigious brands.

Peter’s passion for excellence and dedication in helping shape products and packaging to enhance consumers’ lives has earned him enormous praise from the media. As a sought-after industry expert, Peter Clarke has written numerous articles on packaging and frequently keynotes at leading conferences. He has also appeared on Fox Business News and CBS’ “The Early Show,” as well as many other news broadcasts discussing industry trends.

Ronald de Vlam
Founding Partner
Webb Scarlett De Vlam

Ronald De Vlam is one of the three founding partners of WSdV, a brand strategy and packaging design firm with offices in Chicago (which Ronald runs), London, and Sydney, Australia.

Ronald graduated from the Royal College of Art in London 20+ years ago and soon developed a passion for building brands. Since 80 percent of the world’s most successful brands operate in the United States Ronald thought it would be a good idea to practice his passion in the heartland of America: Chicago, where he has lived the last 10 years. Working on brands like Mobil1, Tide, Olay and Samuel Adams has not quenched his thirst for more.

Ronald has three passions in life that make waking up and going to work really easy for him: people, brands, and design. Anyone who has visited his Chicago studio will attest to being part of a very personable and creative ambience that produces some of the world’s most successful brand and packaging redesigns.

Jon Dinapoli
Creative Director
Coty Prestige

Jon Dinapoli has been the global creative director of Coty Prestige for over five years. He has worked on various brands over the years and has worked with fashion designers Marc Jacobs, Kenneth Cole and Vera Wang and with celebrities Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez. He is in charge of all new brand development, package design, in-store merchandising and photography.

Before working at Coty, Jon spent three years at MAC Cosmetics, where he worked on cosmetic packaging, in-store environments and advertising/graphics.

Prior to MAC , Jon was a designer for Donna Karan Cosmetics, where he was in charge of cosmetic and fragrance package design.

Jon graduated from Northeastern University with a major in graphic design and a minor in photography.

Jack Gordon
President/C.E.O.
AcuPOLL Research, Inc.

Jack Gordon began his marketing career with Procter & Gamble in 1981. His first ten years in consumer products focused on successfully managing established brands and shaping new ones across the globe.

In 1991, Jack left his post as Vice President of Marketing for My Own Meals, Inc. to become the President of AcuPOLL Research, Inc. in its founding year. He remains in this role today, leading the company's US business and serving as the global coordinator for multi-region initiatives....

In 1994, Jack launched AcuPOLL's global business. Initially securing licensing agreements with credentialed partners in key regions, then creating subsidiaries to handle this growing business segment..

Before demonstrating his talents as a leader in marketing, Mr. Gordon spent eight years in the US Army, attaining the rank of Captain in Military Intelligence.

Asad Hamid
Vice President, Global Packaging
Campbell Soup Company

Asad Hamid was named Vice President of Global Packaging for Campbell ’s in January 2008. In this capacity, Asad is responsible for all aspects of packaging development, including strategy and programs related to growth innovation, cost savings, and technology development for all Campbell’s global brands and businesses in soup, sauces, simple meals, healthy beverages, and baked snacks. Asad is also a member of Campbell ’s Environmental Sustainability Leadership Team and manages Campbell ’s external partnership with a leading venture capital firm investing in early-stage health and wellness companies.

Asad joined Campbell ’s in 2001 as Business Development Director Europe, responsible for strategic planning and management of the pan-European new product pipeline. He has subsequently held positions in new product/process innovation, packaging development, and corporate strategy, a role in which he championed the creation of Campbell ’s first Global R&D Strategic Plan and led a multi-functional team that developed Campbell ’s “corporate nutrition policy”.

Asad began his career at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, where he held various supply chain and finance leadership roles in Europe and Emerging Markets, including General Manager Reynolds Romania , a role in which he directed the establishment and start-up of a green-field manufacturing facility. Directly prior to joining Campbell ’s, Asad worked for Unilever in France as Business Director Soup.

Asad has a master’s of science degree in robotics engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and an MBA from IMD, Switzerland . He lives in Mount Laurel, N.J. , with his wife Samina and their two children. The family has a passion for travel and new cultures. Asad has visited over 50 different countries and speaks five languages.

David Javitch
Vice President Marketing
Scanbuy Inc.

Scanbuy is the developer of a complete mobile barcode solution that connects physical-world objects, like packaging and marketing material, to digital information through the mobile camera phone. The technology also allows code publishers of any size to view valuable analytic data from all of the codes they create or register.

David Javitch comes from the world of advertising and marketing, where he spent nine years managing integrated campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. His last position was with Publicis, where he worked with Procter & Gamble, Beam Spirits, and Citi. During that time, he managed one of P&G's largest product launches in company history with the introduction of Prilosec OTC.

Jeff Kellar
President, Hexacomb Division
Pergis Corporation

Jeff Kellar joined Pregis in January 2009 as President of the company’s Hexacomb Protective Packaging business. Hexacomb is the global leader in engineered / honeycomb sustainable protective packaging. With business operations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Western Europe, Hexacomb operates in 18 strategic segments in packaging, shipping and consumer applications.

Prior to joining Pregis, Jeff was the president of Alcoa’s / Reynolds Flexible Packaging business. Alcoa Flexible Packaging was an industry leader in producing and converting flexible packaging and thermoformed packaging for a host of markets, including pharmaceutical, tobacco, food and beverage, retail, medical and industrial applications.

Before Alcoa, Jeff was with Tetra Pak, the global aseptic packaging company for 10 years, where he was Vice President of Strategic Development and Marketing for Tetra Pak Inc., USA.

During his tenure at Tetra Pak, Jeff held a range of management assignments including general management of the U.S. business strategy, key customer development, portfolio management and marketing, communications. His team developed the first FDA accepted linear aseptic plastic filling system for the U.S. market.

Jeff is also a veteran of the brewing industry, spending 18 years with the Miller Brewing Company and its importing division, Molson Breweries USA. He held numerous brand management positions and led the Molson team as Director of Marketing for the United States. Earlier, he worked in technical packaging and operations at Miller’s Eden Brewery in North Carolina.

Jeff earned a bachelor’s of science degree in Food Science from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina.

Denise Lefebvre
Director, Advanced Research
PepsiCo

Denise has been with PepsiCo for four years and is currently the Director, Advanced Research with a focus on Global Beverage Packaging.

Prior to this, Denise lead the Pepsi-Cola North American Package Development team. Through her tenure, the team launched innovative new packs, such as SoBe Life Water, Lipton Gallon Jug, the AquaFina Eco-Fina bottle, and others. The team also won several design awards and was awarded “Beverage Packager of the Year” by Food & Beverage Packaging in 2008.

Prior to her roles at PepsiCo, Denise worked at Cadbury Schweppes, Ralston Purina and Colgate-Palmolive. She has held various roles in her career, such as Product Development, Process Engineering, Marketing, and Manufacturing. Over her career, Denise has worked on many new packages that have resulted in over 12 IOPP AmeriStar awards and have been recognized for excellent design.

Denise holds a bachelor’s degree in packaging science from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Off hours, she enjoys time with family and is a softball & cheerleading mom.

Stuart Leslie
President
4Sight, Inc.

Stuart Leslie is an entrepreneurial industrial designer with over 20 years experience in the industry. As the founder and president of the New York City based 4Sight, Inc. 13 years ago, he has created a rapidly growing and recognized structural branding firm that creates competitive advantage through innovative structural package design and product development. His firm works as a strategic partner with the world’s leading consumer packaged goods companies including PepsiCo, Unilever, Kraft Foods, Nestle, SC Johnson and Mars.

With a vision towards creating new user-focused design methodologies, Mr. Leslie’s work has been published in numerous magazines. Recently, he and his firm have created global packaging for the Pepsi, Gatorade and Lipton beverage brands. These innovative new designs have been launched in markets around the world.

A graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design, Mr. Leslie also studied product design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.

Prior to starting his own firm, Mr. Leslie was design director of the prestigious Walter Dorwin Teague Associates and a senior designer at Deskey Associates, both in NYC.

Mr. Leslie frequently speaks at packaging and product innovation conferences, and was an associate professor at Parsons School of Design.

Gavin Lew
Managing Director
User Centric

As one of the founders of User Centric, Gavin Lew has been instrumental in shaping the company as the premier firm in the industry. Gavin’s 15 years of experience in corporate and academic environments have given him a strong foundation in user-centered design and evaluation.

In addition to managing the company, he holds particular interest in mobile technology, healthcare, and global research projects.

Prior to co-founding User Centric, Gavin was President of an Internet start-up, principal at a web development company, a member of Ameritech's Human Factors group, and Director at another user experience research consulting firm. He is a frequent presenter at national conferences and the inventor of several patents. Gavin is also an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University.

Russ Napolitano
Vice President, Business Development
Wallace Church

Joining Wallace Church in 2006, Russ Napolitano is Vice President, Business Development where he oversees marketing and business development for the firm. Russ’ career has been dedicated to strategic branding. He had worked for Ted Bates Worldwide and Gerstman+Meyers (now Interbrand). Prior to joining Wallace Church, Inc., Russ was Executive Vice President with The Bailey Group, Inc., a strategic branding and design firm in Philadelphia , for 14 years.

Russ has experience across many product categories and has worked closely with such clients as The Dial Corporation, GSK , Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, Maxell Corporation of America, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Novartis, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Welch’s, and Wyeth.

Russ obtained his bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University and his MBA in marketing and advertising from Baruch College in New York City. He is a member of The American Institute of Graphic Arts , The America Marketing Association, The Art Director’s Club, The Institute of Packaging Professionals, and The Private Label Manufacturer’s Association.

Dr. Benjamin Punchard
Head of Global Packaging Research
Euromonitor International

Benjamin Punchard is Head of Global Packaging Research at Euromonitor International. In this role, he is responsible for leading a global research team delivering high quality research on the packaging industry, shaped to meet the demands of a wide client base. Packaging research is conducted across all FMCG industries including foods, beverages, personal care, home care, consumer healthcare and tobacco.

Previously, Benjamin held the position of Packaging Account Manager, supporting the business intelligence needs of an international client base.

Before joining Euromonitor International, Benjamin was Science Manager for the Faraday Packaging Partnership, a UK government funded innovation support network.

Benjamin has both a masters degree and a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Leeds .

Connie Sivillo
Director of Global Marketing for Consumer Packaging
Sonoco

Connie Sivillo is Director of Global Marketing for Consumer Packaging at Sonoco. Sonoco was founded in 1899 and is a $3.7 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer packaging products and provider of packaging services, with more than 330 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in 85 nations.

Connie has built a comprehensive understanding of the consumer industry from a branded, private label, and packaging supplier perspective. Connie joined Sonoco in 2005 as Director of Customer and Business Development. Prior to joining Sonoco, Connie spent eight years in leadership roles at PepsiCo, Pepsi and Frito Lay division as Field Marketing Director, Senior Customer Marketing Manager, Non-Carb Brand Manager, Senior Consumer Insights Manager, and in category management positions.

Prior to working at PepsiCo, Connie worked five years at Unilever as the Category Manager at a leading retailer and at Huish Private Label Detergents in marketing and product development.

Connie earned her MBA at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah .

Kris Van Bael
Product Manager-3D & Visualization
EskoArtwork

Kris Van Bael began his career at Barco Graphics in 1998. He worked as a software engineer developing image retouching, color, and 3D software for the packaging industry. In the meanwhile the company evolved into EskoArtwork. In 2008, he accepted the job of Product Manager 3D and Visualization. In this function, Kris promotes Studio, the award-wining solution for 3D packaging design and visualization.

Kris has a master’s degree in computer science and lives in Belgium with his wife and two children.

Robb Ziegler
President
Brandimation ^®

Whether via strategy, marketing, industrial design, or virtual reality, Robb Ziegler has helped leading FMCG/ CPG companies explore the future of brand innovation and communications for the past 18 years. As a creative principal of Brandimation, Robb especially enjoys facilitating new product development strategy and packaging design with clients. He leads diverse talent teams and has produced collaborative software systems to provide strategic advantages in the NPD&L process.

Prior to co-founding Brandimation in 2000, Robb held New Media and Design Director positions at international design and brand communications agencies, including Schawk, Inc., and Lotsch Design GmbH. He received his bachelor’s degree in industrial design from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and studied at Universität Duisburg-Essen in Germany. He speaks English, still thinks he can speak German and is “verrryyy sslowwwlly” learning Mandarin Chinese.

Robb and his wife Lucy live outside New York City, where they’ve recently co-founded a second company, 8bottles, which is dedicated to producing and marketing 100 percent recycled goods.