Ciscom has appointed retail marketing, finance and governance executive Blair Severn to its board of directors.
Severn is the co-founder and managing partner of enabling ideas, an international professional services consultancy that provides fractional executive services to companies across retail, financial services, energy, software and consumer products.
His fractional leadership roles have included serving as chief marketing, strategy, operating and financial officer for clients.
Severn has served as a board chair, vice-chair and committee chair across organizations focused on strategy, finance, public affairs and marketing. He previously chaired the board of Retail Advertising and Marketing Canada and several of its committees before the organization merged with the Retail Council of Canada.
Earlier in his career, Severn served as National Marketing Manager for Sony of Canada. He developed and launched a new retail concept that increased revenue from $100 million to $165 million while turning a $10 million loss into a $10 million net profit.
At Consumers Gas, he led another retail transformation that increased revenue from $18 million to $40 million and improved the business from a $2 million loss to a $3 million net profit.
Severn also held strategy roles within BMO Financial Group’s Office of Strategic Management.
He currently serves as trustee and chair of the Finance Committee at D’Youville University. His previous governance roles include positions with the Council of the Great Lakes Region, the CanAm Council for the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and the Canadian Gas Fireplace Association.
Severn holds an MBA in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Ciscom invests in and manages information and communication technology companies, with a focus on advertising technology, marketing technology and data-driven retail intelligence.
KEY QUOTES:
“Blair brings a rare combination of retail marketing expertise, financial rigor and governance discipline to our Board. His hands-on track record growing retail businesses and leading marketing and strategy committees speaks directly to where Ciscom and Prospect Media are headed and will be a significant asset to the Company and our shareholders as we scale our retail intelligence platform.”
Michel Pepin, President and CEO of Ciscom
“I am excited to join the Ciscom Board at such a pivotal point in the Company’s evolution. Ciscom and Prospect Media have built a differentiated set of retail analytics tools, and I look forward to supporting the Board and management team as they scale the business and create long-term shareholder value.”
Blair Severn, Director of Ciscom
