"The heart of the Jones brand has always been our consumersfrom the photos on our labels to the user commentary feeding into our website every day," [image-nocss] said Jones CEO William Meissner. "Retail marketing efforts have to be a priority as we grow our distribution, but our online efforts are where we stay connected to the people who built our brand, and that's where we'll get our marketing cues. Mike's leadership in social media paired with his proven track record as a nimble brand marketer made this an easy decision."
Spear has been with Jones for nearly eight years, starting in a dual role covering both consumer response and marketing. In his new elevated role, Spear will provide crucial contributions in taking Jones to a new level, with goals to step up marketing efforts in retail while maintaining the brand's leadership online and in social media.
In his time at Jones, Spear has had a number of product launch successes, and forged product partnerships with Dark Horse Comics, Seattle Seahawks, Fox Studios, Microsoft, Wizards of the Coast, icanhascheezburger.com and many more. Recently, he also led the charge to aggregate the brand's many Facebook fan pages to create one central hub boasting more than 470,000 fans.
He's also the brains behind www.jonessoda.com, which often receives accolades among the marketing industry for showcasing user-generated content in innovative ways. Under Spear's leadership, the site was recently rebranded to mobilize the brand's loyalists online, improve user interface and simplify navigation. Jonessoda.com is designed to act as more of a community than a corporate site, including a live Twitter feed and streaming photo gallery from fans, and it is also equipped with more than a dozen ways to share Jones content online.
"I've always loved the uniqueness of the Jones brand and enjoy the challenge of coming up with creative ways to continually engage our consumers," said Spear (pictured). "It's my priority to always stay one step ahead of our consumers and bring them something of value from Jones Soda."
Headquartered in Seattle, Jones Soda markets and distributes premium beverages under the Jones Soda, Jones Pure Cane Soda, Jones 24C, Jones GABA and Whoopass Energy Drink brands and sells through its distribution network in markets primarily across North America. Jones Soda is sold through traditional beverage retailers.
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