Gene Pinder
Principal



Mr. Pinder has conducted numerous actionable qualitative and quantitative studies in his 20-year marketing career. Combining a strong communications and marketing background with a rigorous analytical approach to marketing and business problems, Mr. Pinder has been finding answers that business leaders need to drive strategy. In addition, he has been a key player in several startup ventures, and has significant experience in key industries, including public health, finance, consumer products, and e-learning. Mr. Pinder’s specialties include survey development, online and telephone research implementation, brand awareness and customer attitudinal studies, lead generation services, and online and proprietary database searches and research.

His areas of expertise include positioning, brand awareness, buyer motivations, marketing metrics, pricing and segmentation studies. In addition to being an experienced focus group moderator, Mr. Pinder is also a skilled questionnaire developer and has extensive market research project management experience. For example, he was the lead researcher for a multi-state communications campaign study directed at arthritis sufferers and authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Mr. Pinder began his career as a working journalist for several television stations in Southeast. After moving to the non-profit environment to lead several organizations with their strategic marketing, research and communications efforts (including leading the brand development efforts for the immensely popular U.S. Space Camp), he began applying analytical marketing techniques to several e-learning companies, including starport.com and Learning Machines, Inc. As the director of marketing for starport.com, Mr. Pinder led market research initiatives to identify optimal targets and effectively position the company. Starport.com was acquired by Space.com, a venture-backed company located in New York City. At Learning Machines, he was responsible for all sales and strategic marketing, which included new product development studies and lead generation efforts.

Mr. Pinder holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is a frequent guest lecturer of the CED FastTrac entrepreneurial program and is the past state president and national delegate of the Arthritis Foundation. His awards include an EFFIE, presented by the New York chapter of the American Marketing Association and a national volunteer service award by the Arthritis Foundation. He resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.