Our passion is enabling teams to find the best approach to their markets and customers. Through our vast experience working with globally diverse companies with diverse business cultures, we understand the importance of flexibility and speed. Our proven tools quickly help teams voice their opinions, and promote alignment to help make robust decisions.
Our team is as diverse as the clients we serve, and our experience spans a wide array of industries. It is also noteworthy that several of our team members have been past clients of Impact Planning Group. Our passion for the effectiveness of the Impact Planning Group approach was so great, we chose to join the firm to help others lead change in their businesses.
Mel Ingold
Managing Director Emeritus
Mary Abbazia
Managing Director
Martin Ma
Managing Director
Tom Spitale
Partner
Sean Welham
European Head
Debby Pratt
Senior Market Research Associate
Ginny Ertl
Change Mgt. Specialist
MARA MARTIN
Manager of Client Services
Over our 35 years, we have been fortunate to work with clients for “generations”. We go deep in to several industries, and can share best practices across industries.
Put our skills and expertise to work for you, and start producing customer-focused plans that deliver sustainable results.
Get In TouchMel Ingold is a strategist with a diversified background in executive education and management. He excels at teaching executives in a variety of forums—from The Conference Board to his position as an adjunct professor of Columbia University School of Business. Mel is also a Guest Lecturer in Strategic Marketing at the University of Sao Paulo School of Business. As a consultant, he helps client companies design and implement market planning processes tailored to the specific needs of their organization and facilitates strategy workshops aimed at diagnosing and addressing significant business challenges. Much of Mel’s current work involves helping clients build superior strategic planning and marketing skills throughout their company.
Mel has taught at Duke University, the University of Iowa and the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. His articles have appeared in numerous trade publications, and commentaries such as “Brand Management for Pharmaceutical Companies” can be found in recent issues of Pharmaceutical Executive magazine. Mel was also a contributor to “Reinventing the Sales Force,” a recent Conference Board publication.
Before joining Impact Planning Group, Mel directed the Management Institute at Baxter Healthcare Corporation, where he was responsible for corporate-wide executive and management development for senior executives and customers. His corporate experience also includes commercial roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb and American Hospital Supply Corporation.
Mel holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Seattle Pacific University and a Master’s degree from Central Washington State University. He lives in Wilton, CT, where he frequently hits the road as a dedicated runner.
Mary Abbazia is Managing Director of Impact Planning Group and Co-Author of The Accidental Marketer. She is known for her ability to infuse enthusiasm for the discipline of marketing. She is a strategic marketer who helps Fortune 1000 clients (such as GE, Pfizer, UTC and Marriott) grow their business by developing marketing skills and dynamic market strategies. She also teaches marketing to executives at Columbia University and at California Institute of Technology.
Mary is originally from the California where she started her career at Intel, and later joined The BASES Group, as a Vice President forecasting new products & services. Over the past 25 years, her vision to galvanize professionals has resulted in successful marketing strategies across a variety of sectors and markets. She is a renowned speaker, an executive educator and business coach. Her practical approach and proven frameworks enable clients to transform their business challenges into innovative marketing strategies.
Mary earned a Bachelor of Science in managerial economics from the University of California at Davis and received an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA. She loves to travel and explore different cultures. Mary now resides in Connecticut with her husband and two amazing children.
Martin Ma is a strategic marketer who excels at helping companies develop effective marketing strategies. Since joining Impact Planning Group, Martin’s work has included assisting global technology companies in developing their brands and re-examining their customer segmentation and product positioning. He is also a guest lecturer at Chicago Booth Business School and Indiana University/Purdue University in Fort Wayne, IN.
Over the past 21 years, Martin has become an accomplished executive who has successfully managed both upstream and downstream marketing in pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods, medical devices and orthopaedics. Martin brings a depth of experience in new product development, strategic brand management, market segmentation, brand positioning and strategic planning and execution. He is passionate about helping companies manage and protect brands, drive customer acquisition and loyalty, and deliver quantifiable results. Since joining Impact Planning Group, he’s been predominantly focused on the Orthopaedics Industry, Agricultural Industry, Medical Devices, Pharmaceutical and on Animal Health.
Prior to joining Impact Planning Group, Martin was the Global Head of Marketing for Zimmer Orthopaedics responsible for providing strategic direction for one of the companies’ largest divisions. He began his career at Bayer Pharmaceuticals and subsequently broadened his responsibilities and experience in Medical Devices at Bayer Diagnostics, where he led the development of a global brand identity and launched several successful product lines.
Martin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada and an MBA from York University (Schulich School of Business) in Toronto, Canada. He resides with his wife, Janice and two sons Ethan and Ewan in South Bend, IN where he spends his spare time playing golf, reading and enjoying the pleasures of raising a family.
Tom Spitale is the co-author, of The Accidental Marketer. He has spent the last 20 years studying and unlocking the mysteries of marketing success. As a speaker, consultant and trainer he has launched thousands of strategic initiatives and plans in the Americas, Europe and Asia for Fortune 500 companies and for lesser-known organizations in highly-specialized markets.
Tom creates tools and frameworks that his clients use in workshop settings, helping them uncover the keys to differentiating their products and services in as little as two days. His goal is to help elevate the role of marketers in the modern organization to be the “orchestrators of company strategy.”
Tom is a dynamic facilitator who has led engagements in industries as diverse as technology, healthcare, financial services,, manufacturing and distribution businesses. He specializes in helping superior companies gain above-average prices and profits through meeting more customer needs than the competition.
Prior to his consulting career, Tom held a variety of marketing, pricing and actuarial positions for Wal-Mart, General Electric and Great American Insurance Company. He is a husband, father, entrepreneur, investor, musician, golfer, sports fan, spiritualist and cook. His hobbies expose him to successful practitioners in many different areas, which he finds extremely helpful in his work as a marketer.
Sean is a compelling communicator and an innovative and practiced strategic marketing executive bringing fifteen years of experience working in Europe and North America with General Electric and Barclays PLC to Impact Planning Group clients. Sean has managed global sales programs and developed sales force effectiveness training in Europe, Asia, and North America. His past business experience has created a high level of real world implementation knowledge which Sean now applies to client companies in the UK and Europe.
Sean shares his significant strategic planning and commercial execution experience including new product development, brand positioning, value proposition development, and strategic market planning.
Sean is a great advocate of new technology and leveraging that technology to enhance commercial propositions such as product and service enhancements like the introduction of Sales Force Automation, Pioneering Internet trading system, driving $200mm of revenue per year, web based on-line auctions, fully integrated finance system with a major customer enterprise system, web based marketing communication using ‘intelligent interface’ web sales tools using next generation video technology, retail B2C site development, commercial property ‘peer to peer’ information system, and vehicle tracking and mobile solutions development.
Sean holds an MBA from the University of Manchester (UK) Business School. He is also trained as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. After seven house moves in ten years Sean has settled in Manchester England with his wife Elaine and son Connor. He currently spends most of his spare time restoring a 1964 jaguar MK2 to roadworthy condition – a big challenge, for as he puts it “I’m not sure it was roadworthy when it left the factory!”
Driven by her curious mind and passion for knowledge, Debby is always inclined to dig deeper than most. This has served her clients well throughout her twenty-four years of experience working as part of the executive marketing team at a Fortune 100 company, as well as with small businesses.
Prior to working with Impact Planning Group, Debby was Sprint’s Senior Director of Market Research. She was selected as a key member of a 20-person task force to develop a wireless service offering in the telecommunications marketplace. This venture grew to $10 billion in revenue— faster than any company in history. During her tenure at Sprint, Debby led the effort to bring consistent methodologies across five market research teams to facilitate senior management’s ability to view the business holistically.
Debby’s proven leadership ability includes setting a vision, galvanizing large groups and leading them to accomplish goals. She has a reputation for ensuring that projects and analyses are valid, reliable, cost effective, within budget, and timely within the constraints of the situation. Having delivered extensive research for the Sprint/Nextel merger within six months to meet a marketing launch deadline upon FCC approval, she’s known for her innovative approach to high-tech projects in fast-paced environments, under aggressive timelines and tight budgets. Prior to her Sprint career, she worked in a qualitative market research firm specializing in new product development for Fortune 500 clientele.
Coming from a long line of entrepreneurs, it was inevitable that Debby would join an organization where she could uncover invaluable market insights to large and small businesses, allowing them to act on that knowledge and move forward. Her areas of focus include marketing communications, acquisition, base management, sales and distribution, product marketing, market strategy and strategic planning.
Debby holds a Doctorate of Theology, a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing and a Bachelor of Science in journalism. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and her dog, Sophie and enjoys gardening, reading, and traveling.
Ginny is passionate about the power of effective change management. She has extensive background helping businesses implement lasting change to achieve their strategic goals. This includes strategy setting, leadership development, organization and team effectiveness, talent management, large scale culture change and executive coaching.
Ginny spent 24 years at GE in a variety of executive leadership roles in the areas of change management, leadership education and organizational development at GE Crotonville, GE Corporate, and GE Capital. She was instrumental in driving the company’s top initiatives through the creation, development and implementation of:
Additionally, Ginny has expertise in WorkOut and the Change Acceleration Process (CAP).
Before coming to GE, Ginny spent seven years at KPMG, holding the title of Audit Manager. She also served as Director Professional Recruiting for KPMG’s Stamford office.
Ginny holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boston College and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mara is skilled in fostering relationships with clients and maintaining positive working relationships with cross-functional team members. At Impact Planning Group Mara is responsible for handling a wide range of administrative and executive support related tasks, all while providing Impact’s clients with outstanding client service.
Mara has over a decade of client service and financial operations experience. Prior to joining Impact, Mara worked in finance for banking and technology companies, leading the development and execution of technical specifications for clients across the globe.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Rollins College.
