A published writer, Anne’s professional background is strongly rooted in communication—in her ability to articulate a client’s value proposition through the written and spoken word. With her combined experience in media and public relations, journalism, marketing and desktop publishing, Anne provides her clients with high quality, short lead-time work on projects where conveying uniqueness of a person, product or production is essential in order to generate buzz.
With an undergraduate degree in economics, she began her career at an investment subsidiary of CalFed, working directly for the CEO as a specialist in Asian Business Relations. Having grown up in Japan and speaking Japanese, Anne drew on her knowledge of Japanese culture, as well as her family’s strong relationships and contacts in the Asian business community both in the U.S. and Japan. In this capacity, she quickly demonstrated an ability to relate to people personally and professionally. As the CEO said of her,"[Anne is]... passionate about business, but also passionate about people-- a rare find."
Capitalizing upon the contacts made in the US-Japan arena, Anne went to work at Toyota’s U.S. corporate headquarters, where she worked on a unique marketing assignmnet to assist U.S. companies in their efforts to export to Japan. In this reverse trade environment, she honed strong consumer product marketing and branding skills at a very high level with high stakes. Prior to her arrival, the department had only managed to introduce a half-dozen U.S.-manufactured products into the Japanese market. Anne developed and implemented an international campaign to solicit and introduce products, and managed everything in the process from writing the initial business plans, developing and implementing international marketing campaigns, managing trade shows, developing press kits, designing national ads, placing media buys, creating a product catalog and corporate brochure, and handling all media outreach and follow-up. As a result of this campaign, over 500 new U.S. manufactured products were introduced and sold in the Japanese market within two years.
At this point in her career, Anne decided to obtain her MBA. She applied to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and was accepted in May 1991. However, she decided to pursue a graduate education in theology and philosophy instead, which she did at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
After several years of contract work for a wide variety of companies (including Disney Channel, Turner Broadcasting, Papa John’s Pizza, Winn-Dixie, Osco Drugs, Cracker Barrel, Ritz Carlton Pasadena, etc.) following grad school, Anne was lured back into the corporate workplace by the excitement of the dotcom boom. She was initially brought on to manage all online content for PC Mall’s “eLinux.com” Website, but was quickly promoted to Director of Marketing reporting to the CEO, after submitting a 13-page marketing proposal on how to save money and increase sales. Anne implemented a co-op marketing policy that resulted in having all direct marketing materials externally funded, and tapped into $80K of previously available but unused co-op marketing funds, which cut internal catalog production costs by 75%. Under Anne’s direction, Web sales increased 1000% within six months to $1M/month, and her original article entitled “Run Linux on Your Mac!” received 500% more hits than any other page for three weeks running.
After the dotcom bust, Anne returned to contracting, first for Toyota, where she directed corporate communications for a department within their Information Systems division. In order to create internal visibility within such a large company, she created a series of presentations showcasing a project that saved the company over $1.5 million. As a result, the project’s lead manager received Toyota’s coveted “President’s Award” and the I.S. division received unprecedented visibility from executive management. Anne also launched an internal electronic newsletter that received nearly 80% readership within the division, and she doubled attendance at two corporate sponsored events through Web, email & newspaper publicity, and by leveraging her media contacts.
Anne’s next client was Teledyne, where she developed a tactical marketing and PR campaign and all associated collateral materials for a $250K digital voice & data consumer product. Within 3 months she had increased sales leads by 50% through direct mail. She also researched, wrote and managed the design of a stunning 40-page brochure on one of Teledyne’s newest service offerings, and obtained key media coverage with an article in Avionics Magazine that highlighted the benefits of the service for one of Teledyne’s customers.
Last year, Anne was brought in to start the marketing department for a startup software company called National Notification Network as its Vice President of Marketing. Within a few months she had generated 80% of the companies total sales leads through her media and marketing activities, and secured two key interviews—one for the Vice President of Technology on a local CBS radio affiliate, and another for the Vice President of Sales on a San Diego CBS television affiliate.
More recently, Anne successfully managed a national grassroots marketing and media campaign for the 1-hour TV special “Changed Lives-- Miracles of The Passion,” securing coverage and appearances for the Executive Producer on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” MSNBC’s “Scarborough Country,” “Inside Edition” with Deborah Norville, the Crystal Cathedral’s “Hour of Power,” and a mention on CNN’s “American Morning.” She also obtained media coverage through the L.A. Times, Christianity Today, World Net Daily, National Catholic Register, Pathway @TCOTW, among other print and online publications.
Anne also worked as an Associate Producer on "Miracles of the Passion," as well as on “Faith Under Fire” a new talk/debate show hosted by award-winning author Lee Strobel on PAX TV.
Today, Anne Sharp is committed to assisting companies large and small in achieving their marketing, PR and multi-media objectives by leveraging her vast knowledge and expertise. Contact Anne Sharp today! |
