GBK Collective Expands Executive Team; Hires Veteran Rob da Silva as EVP, Promotes Brian Smith to EVP, Strategic Insights

GBK Collective, a leading marketing strategy, consumer behavior and analytics consultancy, announced the appointment of strategic insights veteran Rob da Silva as Executive Vice President (EVP). The firm also announced the promotion of Brian Smith to Executive Vice President, Strategic Insights.

“GBK’s unique approach of combining leading academic thought and real world experience to deliver strategic insights and analytics expertise continues to resonate with clients”

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“2021 has been a year filled with growth for GBK. Today we’re doubling down on our commitment and investment to hire the industry’s best product and marketing strategy, insights and analytics leaders to deliver even more value to clients,” said GBK Co-Founder and CEO Jon Greenwood. “We’re thrilled to welcome Rob da Silva as EVP, as well as recognize Brian Smith with a well deserved promotion to EVP.”

In the past year, GBK has rapidly expanded its team and business – more than doubling revenue, while expanding its global collective of experienced practitioners across product and marketing strategy, insights, analytics and other areas. Today the firm works with more than a dozen Fortune 500 clients across industry verticals including consumer products, enterprise and cloud computing, financial services, healthcare, technology, among other sectors.

“GBK’s unique approach of combining leading academic thought and real world experience to deliver strategic insights and analytics expertise continues to resonate with clients,” said GBK co-founder Eric Bradlow, who is also Vice Dean of Analytics and Chairperson of Wharton’s Marketing Department. “We’re excited to welcome Rob as one of the top strategic insights leaders in the country, as well as elevating Brian’s role with a promotion to EVP. I have no doubt that their leadership will fuel new growth for our client partners, inspire our talent, and continue to elevate our work as a collective team.”

Rob da Silva brings a wealth of research and insights experience to the role, having consulted across a broad range of industries and product categories. In his role as EVP, da Silva will advise clients in the areas of product and marketing strategy, brand equity, customer segmentation, advertising effectiveness, among other areas. Prior to joining GBK Collective, Rob held senior leadership positions at Kantar and Ipsos collaborating with global clients including AT&T, Google and Visa.

“I’ve always loved working with clients to apply better data and insights to build a holistic strategy to maximize their marketing investments,” said da Silva. “I’m excited to join the talented team at GBK and look forward to partnering with the firm’s growing roster of Fortune 100 clients to solve challenges and drive growth.”

Brian Smith’s deep expertise and prowess in working with clients to solve product and marketing strategy challenges has been instrumental to GBK’s growth with clients across technology and other sectors. In his new role as EVP, Smith will continue to oversee strategic insights and analytics engagements – working with client partners to improve brand equity, increase customer lifetime value and drive growth.

Based in Seattle, Brian joined GBK in summer 2020, and has already made a tremendous impact working with clients in the technology, cloud services, enterprise computing, FinTech, among other areas. Prior to GBK, Brian held senior roles in strategy and operations at Deloitte and strategic marketing at Microsoft.

“Applying insights and analytics techniques to inform strategy and decision making is absolutely paramount for brands today,” said GBK EVP Brian Smith. “GBK is adept at working with clients to clearly define the business problem, create custom solutions to maximize impact and ROI, all while improving strategy to grow the brand over time. I’m honored to have the opportunity to expand my role with GBK, as we continue to expand our team and work with clients across industries.”

Headquartered in New York, GBK Collective continues to expand its leadership team and footprint – with locations around the world including Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Philadelphia and Seattle. Smith and da Silva join Rebecca Szew as EVP, who was promoted to the role in December, with other recent additions to the firm including experts such as Kim Whitler, Sr. Associate Professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Dr. Marco Di Maggio, Ogunlesi Family Associate Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School, among others.

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