Connell Group Hires Three for New Office

Chicago-based MR firm The Connell Group has opened an office in Montvale, NJ, and hired three former client side execs to work in it: former Pinnacle Foods researcher Phillip Barone, P&G insights specialist Ali Sheffield and Alcatel-Lucent exec Connie Torres.

Barone joins as VP for Strategic Insights and Consulting. At Pinnacle, he was Vice President of Marketing Research and Strategy, helping the company to grow from a small, private organization to a consumer-driven public company. He began his career at SymphonyIRI and then moved to Nielsen where he worked on healthcare, CPG and food brands before joining Fulcrum Analytics.

Patty Klingbiel, President of The Connell Group, describes him as 'another proven leader... who can relate to our clients' challenges and deliver insights that drive real business impact for their brands', and adds that he will play 'a pivotal role' in managing the firm's growth and development.

Sheffield and Torres each take the title of Director of Strategic Insights. Sheffield spent eleven years at Procter & Gamble in the Consumer & Market Knowledge function, working on the Global Beauty, Grooming New Business Creation, and Digital/eCommerce businesses. With strengths in segmentation, digital research, innovation approaches and insights training, Klingbiel says Sheffield 'shares our passion for building insights programs that inspire smarter activation.'

Torres' fifteen years at Alcatel-Lucent saw her rise to the role of Market & Consumer Insight Marketing Director, in which she led the technology giant's primary research in planning and managing research and converting findings into action. Her specialist areas include storytelling, social media research, market opportunity assessments, segmentation and innovation / NPD. Sean Connell, founder of her new company, comments: 'Connie's track record clearly proves that she can leverage insights to drive growth on existing and new businesses'.

Founded in 2000, the company is online at www.connell-group.com .