Sievertsen & Wagner Promoted To Vice President Positions At La-Z-Boy

Furniture World Magazine

La-Z-Boy Residential, an operating company of La-Z-Boy Incorporated announced it promoted Jennifer Sievertsen to vice president of brand marketing and Mark Wagner to vice president of store development and marketing, both newly created positions to lead the company’s marketing and store development group. Sievertsen previously served as director of brand and retail marketing, while Wagner was the company’s director of Furniture Galleries excellence and marketing. Both will continue to report to Steve Matlock, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Jennifer has been with La-Z-Boy for four years and Mark for nine and both have exhibited excellent leadership in their respective roles. They have been successful in moving the La-Z-Boy brand forward by developing and implementing innovative programs while working to develop the industry’s top retail system,” said Matlock. “We know that they will continue to develop, grow and challenge our marketing team to propel the La-Z-Boy name and our La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® store system to even greater heights.” As vice president of brand marketing, Sievertsen will lead all brand and retail marketing functions and develop long-term brand marketing strategies, focused on building equity, preference and loyalty. She will coordinate and administer all national advertising, public relations, licensing and consumer research programs, develop and manage Web site and e-marketing activities, manage database marketing, and lead the company’s in-store gallery and general dealer retail marketing programs. Sievertsen also will oversee the marketing operations and analysis function, including the fulfillment of all marketing materials to La-Z-Boy dealers. “Jennifer has the experience, education and track record to lead our brand and retail marketing efforts as we continue to aggressively grow the relevance of the La-Z-Boy brand with today’s consumers,” said Matlock. Sievertsen’s contributions at La-Z-Boy include leading successful national print and television advertising campaigns, launching the Todd Oldham by La-Z-Boy collection to consumer and media fanfare, and creating the “Kaleidoscope” in-store color matching system. Sievertsen came to La-Z-Boy in 2002 as the director of brand marketing and brings with her more than 12 years of experience in brand development and product management. Most recently, she was senior product manager for Calphalon Corporation, a division of Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., where she had profit-and-loss responsibility for all Calphalon and Wearever brands of bakeware. Prior to that, Sievertsen spent seven years with Motorola, Inc., where she held a number of brand and channel marketing roles with various divisions. Sievertsen earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California in Santa Barbara, Calif., and her Master of Business Administration in marketing, management and strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill. In his new role as vice president of store development and marketing, Wagner will lead the development and execution of the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries model, and the continuous improvement of all La-Z-Boy proprietary store programs. Wagner will oversee display planning, retail training and education, La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries marketing and the retail operational excellence system. “Mark brings tremendous energy, enthusiasm and results to all of his efforts for La-Z-Boy. He has elevated the quality of the overall Furniture Galleries system while developing a strong relationship with the dealer organization,” said Matlock. “We all have complete confidence in Mark’s ability to continue to drive growth in our successful proprietary retail system.” Wagner’s most recent accomplishment was leading the development of the Furniture Galleries Excellence (FGE) program – the only retail performance improvement system of its kind in the furniture industry. “FGE provides our proprietary dealers the tools and support programs to help drive continuous and focused improvement, providing our stores with an incredible advantage,” said Matlock. In 2004, Wagner was the inaugural recipient of the Al Droege Memorial Rep Appreciation Award, an award given by the La-Z-Boy field sales force to a team member exhibiting a commitment to excellence and passion for the company. Wagner brings more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience to his new role, having started with La-Z-Boy in 1996 as retail advertising manager. In 1999 he was promoted to La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries advertising manager, where he managed and developed communications programs for the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores. Wagner was promoted to director of retail marketing in 2002 and in 2004 became director of Furniture Galleries excellence and marketing. Prior to joining La-Z-Boy, Wagner served as territory manager for Peoria, Ill.-based Multi-Ad Services, Inc., where he developed retail marketing support programs for leading consumer goods manufacturers. Wagner was also a partner and sales and marketing manager of a marketing communications firm, Key Multimedia in West Bloomfield, Mich. Wagner began his career at Levolor Corporation of Greensboro, N.C., as sales representative and district sales manager. Wagner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. About La-Z-Boy: Headquartered in Monroe, Mich., La-Z-Boy one of North America’s largest manufacturers of upholstered furniture and the world’s leading producer of reclining chairs. The company manufactures a full line of products for the living room and family room, including the company’s world-famous recliners, reclining sofas and loveseats, sleep sofas, modular furniture and leather upholstery, as well as stationary sofas, love seats and chairs. It is a division of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, one of the nation’s largest furniture manufacturers and marketers.