Melissa Grillo Aruz
Marketing at Aruz Ventures
Melissa Grillo Aruz
Marketing at Aruz Ventures
New York, New York
Overview
Work Experience
E-Commmerce, Marketing & Business Development
2010 - Current
-Provide marketing, team building & business strategy support to brands such as Ritual, Pattern Brands, Pure Beauty, Ghia, Homer, J.Crew, Madewell, Warby Parker, Bonobos, Sakara Life, Moda Operandi & many more. Client base built 100% through founder referrals - Marketing & Recruiting focused on consumer brands. Fractional CMO work, Business development, Partnerships & Team Building. - Built, managed & optimized marketing programs & reporting from scratch across numerous brands including CRM, Social, paid, seo, offline & more Active Advisor: Melissa Joy Manning
Senior Advisor, Consumer
2022
BDA is a leader in cross-border investment banking, advising on M&A and restructuring.
Advisor
2023
From the minds behind the Female Founder Collective comes The North — the first platform that puts the most influential women in business, on speed dial.
Chief Marketing Officer
2021 - 2022
- Brought on as interim CMO and hired as permanent CMO - Oversaw all marketing including DTC, data analytics, creative, customer journey mapping, digital and social media, CRM, wholesale and public relations. - Developed Diggs’ new brand strategy & identity which includes mission& values, brand, website, packaging & creative assets - Restructured social strategy to include focus on TikTok, Pinterest & YouTube. Social currency increased exponentially with numerous TikTok videos garnering over 1M views - Improved MOM/YOY revenue 50% from 2021 while keeping CPA consistent and increasing LTV & AOV metrics - Fostered new wholesale relationships including Bloomingdales, Maisonette & Neighborhood Goods etc.
Head Of Business Development/Marketing
2018 - 2020
- Sole NYC team member in NYC for the leading consumer venture capital firm Forerunner Ventures. This included running all NY based events, building network, interfacing with founders, attending conferences etc. 4th team member & first Operator hired at the firm during FundI-FundIV - Responsible for post investment supporting including brand & direct response marketing across high performing brands, founder guidance, recruiting & more - Recruited & placed talent across the portfolio including star brands Hims/Hers, The Farmers Dog, Glossier, Glossier, Ritual, Chime, Prose & many more - Discovered, developed & maintained relationships with creative, media, public relations, developers on behalf of our brands in order to create preferred contracts & business development deals - Created community for portfolio including dedicated slack channels across all functions. Resulted in learnings across brands and for firm which impact direction of learning sessions, research & partner agreements - Planned bimonthly speaking & community events to support portfolio companies including sessions on business development, growth, operations which were led by C Suite leaders within the portfolio & outside partners. Post event survey results exceed 9/10 for every event (30+ over time period) - Envisioned & implemented 10 week DEI training session for C-Level suite across the entire portfolio of brands
Operating Principal/VP Platform
2014 - 2018
Representative investments include: Away, Hims/Hers, Dollar Shave Club, Glossier, Faire and Warby Parker.
Director of Online & Growth Marketing
2009 - 2010
-Responsible for launching the first online, social marketing and seo programs for the Women's, Men's, Children's and Home categories at Gilt Groupe. Executive Team Member - Created & managed engagement plan across social platforms for all lines of business. First retail brand to conduct live Q/A sessions on Facebook/Twitter, polls, contests & featured content - Established a process to produce all marketing collateral in house resulting in savings of over $1M for the business - Executive team member. One of the first 75 employees during Gilt’s period of exponential growth
Director of Online Marketing
2008 - 2009
- Founded & built media department for createthe group. Accounts included Oscar de la Renta, Tory Burch, Dunhill etc. Executive Team Member - Notable Brands included LVMH, Bottega Veneta, Tory Burch, Hermes, Cartier. Introduced and created first ever digital programs for Tory Burch, Oscar de la Renta, David Yurman & more - Reported to founder & member of executive level team
Account Director
2003 - 2008
- Accounts included Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, AstraZeneca. Acquired by MSFT in 2007 - largest acquisition by MSFT Managed and led the agency's cross functional retail practice which was responsible for pitching & winning consumer and luxury business Razorfish - Collaborated with creative team to create emerging media solutions for clients including digital, TV, mobile and social for Victoria’s Secret, PINK, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Bath & Body Works, Express - Launched the first social pages & live stream concerts for Victoria’s Secret PINK, Hollister & Abercrombie and Fitch. First brands to feature video and a music player within pages - Promoted 3x times
Media Planner/Buyer
1999 - 2003
Accounts included: Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clarke, Sears