A Group of Finches is Called a ‘Charm’

A retailer, business builder, investor, and philanthropist, Daniel Erlbaum co-founded Finch Brands® after serving as an original investor and Vice President at David’s Bridal. Daniel touched every functional area of the company, and his contributions were pivotal to the company’s IPO and ultimate acquisition; much of the vision for Finch Brands’ holistic approach was borne through this success story.

Throughout his career, he has invested in and advised operating companies at varying stages of the growth cycle and is a limited partner in numerous private equity groups. Active in the community, Daniel chairs the board of the Jewish Relief Agency and is deeply involved in other philanthropic organizations.

He has been the prime mover in the development of breakthrough strategies for our clients since he joined the company in 2001. A world-class speaker, writer, and facilitator, Bill’s point of view is highly sought after in the media and academic realms.

Across his career, Bill’s work has influenced the business and brand direction of hundreds of organizations including American Express, AT&T, Burlington, Everlast, General Mills, Herman Miller, IBM, Joseph Abboud, Kraft, Microsoft, Nutrisystem, the Philadelphia 76ers, Volkswagen, and World Wrestling Entertainment.

He is a proud Davidson College alum.

After earning her MBA from Drexel University, Lauren spent 10 years at Kimberly-Clark working on innovation for iconic brands like Kleenex® and Scott®. Notably, she leveraged customer and consumer insights to develop a robust global innovation pipeline for Kleenex in professional environments – workplace, healthcare, hospitality, etc.

Most recently, Lauren led North American marketing for the drinks division of Mars Inc. where she worked to make brands matter in the B2B space. Lauren’s CPG experience, passion for brand innovation, and ability to connect dots in how people behave across categories provides a unique perspective to help our clients activate their full potential.

Recent innovations include launching FinchSightTM Insights Communities and our Voice of the Company® process for internal research and consulting.

Before joining Finch Brands in 2013, John spent 11 years at Campbell Soup Company in roles spanning Brand Management, Consumer & Customer Insights, and New Product Commercialization. While there, John led brands such as Campbell’s Chunky Soup, Prego Italian Sauce, and Swanson Broth to new heights of consumer engagement and financial performance.

He is a graduate of the Wharton Executive MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania. John brings, for the benefit of clients and colleagues, expertise and experience on both the brand and consulting sides.

He is an intrepid researcher who delights in pioneering methodologies to get at the heart of decision-making.

Prior to joining Finch Brands, Tim spent five years leading insights communities at C Space for prominent brands including Twitter, Sanofi Aventis, U.S. Bank, Hasbro, Heineken, and Dos Equis.

Tim started his career at Forrester Research, where he managed custom and syndicated research programs aimed at helping executives make better decisions.

With 15 years of experience working in service-based industries, she brings a strong background in global finance and forensic accounting to Finch Brands.

Danielle’s work includes overseeing accounts payable and accounts receivable, managing revenue recognition, and reconciling the firm’s transactions. An avid counter of beans, her work is instrumental in ensuring we’re on sound financial footing and that key operational processes flow smoothly.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Drexel University.

She is committed to promoting teamwork, collaboration, and continuing education.

Prior to joining Finch Brands, Christina spent five years managing custom research projects and the client service team at Turnkey Intelligence, working with leagues, teams, and sponsors in the sports business world.

Christina started her career at the Keller Fay Group analyzing word-of-mouth market research for advertisers, agencies, and networks.

She has a track record of elevating the role of insights across companies and brands. For 8 years, she led both B2B and B2C insights communities at C Space with a focus on food and beverage, retail, and tech/electronics brands, though her experience also spans financial services, logistics, and personal care.

She’s had the pleasure of supporting a slew of well-known brands, including Sysco, UPS, Inspire Brands, Citibank, Best Buy, LG, L’Oreal, and Sam’s Club.

She joined us from Nielsen’s BASES business, where she spent the better part of 7 years leading innovation development and renovation for brands like L’Oreal, Pepsi, CVS, and Bayer.

Prior to BASES she was a member of the brand management team at Subway restaurants, driving all US marketing activities in an out of stores for their 27,000+ locations. Her ‘both sides’ background gives her a unique and balanced lens to understand the internal challenges faced by insights teams and the expertise to deliver the learnings they need to succeed.

Kate is a proud UConn alum.

Prior to Finch Brands, she led strategy at a retail experience design agency, working with clients such as Kraft-Heinz, Gillette, Smuckers, Energizer, iRobot, Nespresso, Mars-Wrigley, and Anheuser-Busch to understand their business challenges and identify opportunities to accelerate profitable growth.

Prior, she held client-side roles at Syracuse University, Birds Eye Foods, and Oneida.

Ariel earned her MBA from the University of Rochester and undergraduate degree from the Johnson School of Business at Cornell University.

While always focused on her passion for brand design, Devon’s career is proof that broad-based marketing experience makes a designer more instinctive and effective. She chose the Advertising major at Temple University, which provided learning beyond the design realm.

As a result, Devon is an incredibly strong designer – across conceptual assignments as well as more functional business communications – yet brings a problem-solving mentality to complex assignments. A core Finch Brands team member since 2013, Devon enjoys teaching at her alma mater and nurturing young designers.

Prior to joining Finch Brands, she launched and led a creative with a top-notch client list including Target, Best Buy, LifeTime Fitness and General Mills.

She also has brand-side experience, having built and led the internal creative team for fashion retailer Christopher & Banks.

An entrepreneur at heart, Tammy also created a climate-friendly food brand powered with cricket protein, (yes, like the bug!). These experiences contribute to her appreciation for the transformative power of design and admiration for business-builders.

With strength across qual and quant, his career has included successful tenures with leading research suppliers including Forrester, C Space, and Protobrand.

Along the way, he has managed many visible and complex clients such as Citibank, Kraft Foods, 3M, Charles Schwab, and KLM.

With a Master’s Degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Emerson College, Blake’s wide-ranging curiosity and broad-based business acumen serve him – and our clients – well.

Prior to Finch Brands, Jenny spent 16 years at C Space, leading teams to help clients uncover game-changing insights and delivering strategic assets to make research “stick.” In this role she has managed teams and work for clients such as Walmart, Apellis, Hasbro, McCormick, TIAA, Campbell’s and Pacific Gas & Electric.

In addition to C Space, Jenny also led the research team at Management Ventures (now Kantar Retail/Consulting) and spearheaded analysis on the warehouse club, drugstore, consumer electronics and dollar store channels, helping CPG companies grow with retail partners.

Matt brings experience as the trusted insights guru from Fuel Cycle, Dig Insights, and Vision Critical.

He specializes in building thriving insight communities, empowering some of the world’s most iconic names like Viacom, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Goldman Sachs, to truly understand their customers.

Matt’s dedication to unearthing actionable insights has earned him recognition throughout the industry, and his work has helped countless brands make impactful decisions that resonate with their audiences.