Katherine has more than 28 years of experience helping some of most respected B2B companies in the transportation and logistics sector gear up market development—including CSX, GATX, Shell Fleet Services, G-Log, Pacer International, TranSystems, and Odyssey Logistics & Technology—as well as product strategy projects for  manufacturers and professional services firms.  Her forte is creation of strategies, structured processes and campaigns that engage B2B decision makers in context of their buying process and perceptions, worked in conjunction with strategic selling efforts.

Katherine holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg School of Management and an A.B. in History from Brown University.

Katherine Ventres Canipelli
president, marketingFOLIO

Prior to launching marketingFOLIO in 2001—having followed a conventional corporate business development career path—Katherine refocused and took hold of the marketing reins at several early-stage ventures innovating managed services offerings (technology plus operations execution) for commercial truck fleets and niche global freight management.    

At Shell Fleet Services, Katherine lead marketing and national sales where she spearheaded portfolio brand promotions and lead generation programs—efforts which within 9 months achieved 75% target market awareness, $45 million in qualified leads and $15 million in new business closed via inside sales—on a modest budget of less than 1.4% of sales.
    
At GATX, Katherine conceived and managed a new business development strategy that increased average new account value from $50,000 to $1.6 million and pushed the deal win ratio from 25% to 50%--through segment specific direct marketing and introduction of disciplined sales pipeline management, lead nurturing, and sales incentives that focused the organization on high value opportunities.

At iFLEET, Katherine designed and executed research—focus groups, in-depth interviews, and user testing—assessing unmet needs of commercial fleet owners and drivers, and contributed to new product development strategy that emerged from the market findings.

Leading marketingFOLIO client engagements, Katherine has helped corporations:

1. Devise, execute, and apply primary research to hone strategy, positioning, and messaging
2. Improve sales productivity with creative B2B integrated lead generation campaigns and disciplined funnel management
   
3. Prioritize market opportunities based on three pivotal tests: is it real?  is it worth it? and can it be won?