The GameChanger Story

Larry Popelka is founder and President of GameChanger Products.  Popelka has had a successful 20-year career within Fortune 500 packaged goods companies, having held positions as VP of Marketing, VP Global Development and VP New Ventures, with a strong record of success.  During the past 5 years Popelka established and led a Ventures team for the Clorox Company and CEO Jerry Johnston.   In his Ventures role, Popelka invested roughly $50 million in 20+ companies.  Seven of these investments resulted in successful new products launched nationally by Clorox, with several others still in the pipeline. 

 

During this effort, Popelka discovered a growing gap in the marketplace.  Entrepreneurs with limited budgets and little training were having more success launching breakthrough new brands than big companies – largely because these entrepreneurs had better business models.   As the world has changed - with the internet, media fragmentation and social networking – classic marketing models have become ineffective.  Big companies which grew up in the mass market era, now have outdated business models, making it difficult for them to successfully launch new products.   Successful entrepreneurs – like those who launched OxiClean, Method Cleaners, Proactiv Solution and Burt’s Bees – are succeeding with fewer resources because they have created successful new models.

 

For GameChanger Products, Popelka studied many of these success cases and has developed a set of approaches to allow anyone – whether you’re a start-up or a big company - launch successful “game-changing” brands using these winning approaches.

GameChanger Products is accepting new clients on a limited basis.  To qualify, you must either be a start-up or small company with a “game-changing” quality product or a larger company with a desire to implement our GameChanger principles within your new product organization.  One of our principles is that good innovations do not require big financial resources.  So, we frankly don’t care what your budget is.  We will make whatever you are doing financially more attractive, and if necessary, help you raise money to expand.  If you believe in the GameChanger principles, you can’t afford not to work with us. 

 

 

 

Other Team Members

 

Jonathan Tofel
Entrepreneur, Marketing Brand Management, Product Innovation

Jonathan has strong experience and understanding of what it takes to manage, develop and drive consumer brands. Jonathan has successfully leveraged both marketing discipline and entrepreneurial spirit by working at companies as diverse as Procter & Gamble and Orange Glo International (makers of Oxi-Clean) in addition to being a brand entrepreneur for the past 4 years.

 

Jonathan received the bulk of his experience at Procter & Gamble by managing nationally recognized brands such as Olay, Pert Plus and Physique and by helping to pilot the MDO – P&G’s new customer marketing development organization. He later joined Orange Glo and helped turn Kaboom into one of its category’s most successful initiatives of the past decade. In both of these roles Jonathan led efforts to create strategic marketing plans, advertising plans (both traditional as well as direct response campaigns), new product initiatives, in-store promotional events, public relation programs, interactive marketing campaigns and competitive response plans. He also effectively guided multi-functional teams through the intricacies of R&D technological development, product sourcing, volume and sales forecasting, customer presentations and supply chain management.

 

Lately Jonathan has held the dual role of Entrepreneur/General Manager working to launch a new home-care brand for Clorox New Ventures as well as that of Senior Consultant to a variety of large consumer packaged goods companies. In both roles he has launched several brands from paper concepts to a full platform of products on shelf, across a range of diverse categories from home cleaning to food to beauty care. Each brand launch required taking an entrepreneurial approach with limited resources available to achieve significant goals. 

 

 

Ted Simon

 Integrated Marketing & Advertising Expert, Brand Builder, Entrepreneur

Ted Simon combines the experience and knowledge of the big company advertising world with 12 years of experience as an entrepreneur, utilizing new and non-traditional media.  As a result he is now one of the leading experts on new and old advertising, and how to get the most out of both to build your brand and sales.

 

A graduate of Colgate University and Northwestern University’s Kellogg MBA Program, Ted began his career with the Leo Burnett Company, the agency that led the expansion of mass market advertising with numerous well-known icons, like Tony the Tiger, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, the Jolly Green Giant, and the Lonely Maytag Repairman.

 

At Leo Burnett, Ted was Vice President, managing many of the agency’s leading clients, including Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Miller Brewing and Phillip Morris.  While at Burnett Ted also authored a book called “Integrated Brand Planning” to help his company and clients better understand how to strategically utilize a complete range of media and creative options to build business.

 

After 17 years in the agency business, Ted moved to California to become a client and an entrepreneur.  Ted has spent the past 12 years successfully launching a new games division for Broderbund Software (Including smash hit Riven: The Sequel to Myst) and two consumer product start-ups, BestOffer.com and Therative (maker of OTC acne treatment device, ThermaClear).   

Ted has focused on developing expertise in launching companies and new products via integrated marketing programs incorporating new and non-traditional advertising and media.  He has experience in a wide range of marketing vehicles, including Search Engine Marketing, Infomercials, Blogger Outreach, Direct Response Print, PIP Programs, Search Engine Optimization  and other tactics that help capture customers and build business. 

 

Ted believes that ROI is an important measure of success and that advertising and marketing efforts that build brand can also deliver financial returns.  At GameChanger, Ted will be helping large clients learn ways to move beyond 30-second commercials to implement innovative ROI-focused marketing tactics and small clients learn how to make the most of their limited resources while generating return on their marketing investments. 

 

 

Wilmer Fong
Designer, Art Director, Print Manager, Entrepreneur

Wilmer Fong brings over 30 years of product and package design expertise to GameChanger.  During his career he developed a number of award-winning designs for large and small companies.  Wilmer specializes in Results Oriented Design – driven by combining consumer insights with creativity.

 

Wilmer started the business in 1977 as a freelance design and illustration service. The business was formally incorporated in 1985 as Wilmer Fong + Associates, Inc. (WFA) and later changed to wilmerfongDESIGN.

 

A milestone event occurred in 1981 when Wilmer began a relationship with The Clorox Company, resulting in a shift from an advertising design focus to consumer marketing design. In time, this relationship was leveraged into lengthy associations with other consumer product companies such as C&H Sugar, Capri Sun, Del Monte, Dreyer’s, Golden Grain, Flecto, Kährs, and Nestle Beverages.

In 1997, after 16 years of continuous service and a thorough knowledge of their products, processes and standards, Clorox asked Wilmer to train and implant a design team to work on-site within Clorox’s corporate headquarters.    An initial 3-person crew became a 15-person design staff dedicated to Clorox work. Ultimately in 2001, this team was turned over to Clorox as the core members of what became a thriving, in-house Clorox Creative Services Department, which has won several awards.

During those extraordinarily busy years from 1996 – 2001, the San Francisco Business Times recognized Wilmer Fong + Associates as one of the Bay Area’s “Top 150 Fastest Growing Private Companies” in the area.

 

Moreover, Print, Graphic Design USA, and HOW magazines recognized Wilmer Fong & Associates work with various awards. In addition, several of Wilmer’s logo designs were included in David Carter’s 2002 Edition of Big Book of Logos 3, depicting innovative design trends in the world of logo design.

 

In joining GameChanger, Wilmer is reunited with former Clorox marketing leaders who collaborated with him on many successful Clorox company designs.  Wilmer’s strength is in Results Oriented Package Design – translating consumer insights into designs that sell product.  While at Clorox he and Popelka collaborated on several designs, including one on Hidden Valley dressing mix that increased sales trends by over 30%.

 

Wilmer received his formal training at the California College of The Arts. He serves on the board of directors of the Printing Industries of Northern California association.

 

For more information on Wilmer, visit his website. 

 

Open Consulting

We are an “Open” consulting firm.  Unlike traditional consultants who closely guard their knowledge and approaches, if you work with us, we will not only solve your problems but help teach you many of the “new rules” of consumer new products marketing and management so you and your team will be more successful over the long-term.  You can start by reading our GameChanger Manifesto.

 

Virtual Team
We are a “virtual” consulting firm.  We have a variety of experts with experience on different types of products and different areas of management, including sales, product supply, finance and R&D.  By working with us, you can tap into the skills of many people for less than the cost of a single, experienced full-time hire.  

 

Contact Us
Call GameChangers at 510-521-7985 for a free consultation.  Or e-mail us at info@gamechangerproducts.com.