Leaders in loyalty
Michael O’Sullivan
President, Aimia - Canada
Since joining the Aimia team in 2004, Michael has contributed to the global success of some of its key regions. As Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, and Managing Director of Australia since 2006, Michael’s leadership helped transform Aimia’s Australian business into one of the most successful operations in the network.
Michael’s career has encompassed a breadth of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy and management consulting across the retail, technology, gambling, automotive and banking sectors, before leading him to join the Aimia team. Michael brings a pragmatic and entrepreneurial mindset developed from the experience of leading and co-founding a number of successful start-up businesses.
Outside of Aimia, Michael is a Non Executive Director of Patientrack, a UK based hospital risk management system that collects and analyzes patient clinical data to evaluate patients at risk of avoidable injury and death.
In his career, Michael is most passionate about creating high performance teams that achieve remarkable results - building camaraderie, learning from failure and celebrating success in all its many forms.
Michael holds an Economics Degree and a Masters in Applied Finance. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
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Martha Barss
Senior Vice-President, Loyalty & Marketing Services
Martha leads the Loyalty & Marketing Services team, focusing on helping leading brands build strong, sustainable and profitable relationships with their customers through Aimia’s full suite of loyalty marketing services. With over 20 years of loyalty and integrated marketing expertise across a variety of industries and channels, Martha ensures all loyalty programs are designed, executed and managed to achieve all budget and success requirements – both in strengthening relationships between brands and their consumer, employee and channel audiences, as well as generating significant ROI.
Since joining in 1992, Martha has had hands on experience in managing many loyalty programs from their inceptions, such as the VIA Preference Reward Program, TD Travel Visa Infinite Card and the AIR MILES Reward Program. Her skills in loyalty strategy, operations management, reward solutions, digital marketing and promotions have also benefited clients including Scotiabank, General Motors, Nortel, Whirlpool Corporation, IBM, BMO Bank of Montreal, Ford of Canada and American Express. Martha is a member of the Aimia Executive Committee.
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Cam Thomson
Senior Vice-President, Enhancement Services
Cam leads the Aimia Enhancement Services team.
Enhancement Services collaborates with clients to create and market both stand-alone and embedded service products and features that enhance customer relationships by delivering highly valued assistance services and lifestyle benefits, while generating significant incremental revenue for our clients.
Cam is a career direct marketer who has spent over 20 years working with clients in the retail, financial services, publishing and airline sectors to help them leverage the strength of their consumer brand relationships to create important new revenue streams. An early adopter of CRM and customer segmentation strategies, he has helped clients bring more relevant optional products and services to their customers, increasing the number of consumer touchpoints and strengthening their brand relationships.
He is a graduate of York University, and has been an active member of the Canadian Marketing Association, servicing as Council Chair, Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee Member.
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Brenda Higuchi
Vice President, Strategy & Analytics
Consumer Loyalty Practice Leader
Brenda leads the Strategy & Analytics team comprised of data analysts and strategy consultants focused on strategic planning, knowledge management, discovery and design, customer insight and program performance management for financial services, retail, travel and telecommunications clients. Areas of specialty include customer loyalty, employee loyalty and data analytics.
Brenda continues to drive new thinking and innovation in client delivery and adds expertise where required. She is a frequent speaker at industry events including the CMA, AARM, Infopresse, AMR, Canadian Institute, Card & Payments Summit, and Motivation Show. Her work has been published by the CMA, DM News, 1to1 Magazine and Strategy. Brenda currently is a member of the CMA, AARM and Women’s Executive Network.
Brenda has a Master of Science degree in Statistics from the University of Toronto as well as a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Statistics from McMaster University. In 2006, Brenda earned her P.CRM designation from the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing.
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Diana Arbutina
Principal Consultant, Loyalty & Marketing Services
Employee Loyalty Practice Leader
In the Loyalty and Employee Engagement arena Diana Arbutina is known as strategic leader who has spear-headed numerous client consulting engagements over her 10 years at Aimia and her previous experience as a consultant.
Diana leads the client strategy team providing Aimia’s clients value through the design of effective marketing programs. Diana is responsible for many award-winning programs, and gets involved in all aspects from facilitation and brainstorming to strategic planning and consulting. She has worked with companies across the spectrum from financial, pharmaceutical, white goods, to retail and technology.
Diana’s focus on pushing boundaries includes not only her work externally with clients but internally within Aimia. Diana has been involved in numerous projects internally to push Aimia beyond what the competitors are doing.
Diana holds a Masters of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Masters in International Relations, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from McMaster University. She is currently a member of the Toronto Chapter of the Strategic Leadership Forum. Diana has spoken at industry events for AARM, Canadian Institute, Recognition Professionals Conference.
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Gordon Ross
Vice President, Business Development and Client Services
A multi-disciplined marketing and sales professional with over 25 years experience in Advertising and Marketing, Gordon is responsible for leading new business initiatives and developing a range of communications strategies for clients at Aimia. He also manages client engagements with RIM and Husky Energy.
Gordon has been a featured speaker on Loyalty, Online and Direct marketing at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops. He is active with both the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) where he is the Co-Chair of the annual CMA Awards Case Study Event and serves on the Strategic Committee for the CMA Awards and the Direct Marketing Association of Toronto (DMAT) where he served on the Board of Directors.
Gordon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Finance from the University of Western Ontario.
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