Research Triangle Park, NC -- Serial RTP marketing executive, Grace Ueng, announced today the launch of strategic marketing consulting firm, Savvy Marketing Group, where she holds the role of founder and president. Utilizing proven methodologies, the firm targets senior management launching new ventures and products in both established and emerging growth companies with their two service offerings: Resolute Ventures and Chief and Crew for Hire.

Resolute Ventures is designed to assist chief executives and founders with their business planning, market assessment, corporate strategy, fund raising, business development and to provide overall strategic counsel.

“As an experienced pharmaceutical sales and marketing executive, I knew how to operate effectively in a Fortune 500 environment,” said Gopal Muppirala, CEO, Mardil Inc. and former Global Commercial Strategy Director, GlaxoSmithKline. “But the venture world was newer to me - I engaged Savvy Marketing Group’s Resolute Ventures to navigate through the business planning and fund raising process for our medical device startup. The introductions to resources which Grace had access were invaluable – she also provided insightful counsel thereby maximizing our chances for success in fundraising and future commercialization.”

Chief and Crew for Hire offers outsourced chief marketing officer and implementation services for those ventures not yet ready to have a head of marketing and staff in house or those simply needing extended bandwidth and expertise. Capabilities include market research, brand management, writing marketing plans, analyst and public relations, lead generation programs, and providing counsel on overall marketing strategy.

“Grace’s launch of Savvy Marketing Group will add tremendous value to this marketplace,” commented Kip Frey, Intersouth Partner and one of the region’s most noted CEOs and venture capitalists. “Grace’s marketing and branding skills were critical to the success of OpenSite – she is a very resourceful and respected leader who is results driven – I could always rely on Grace. I’m confident she will deliver the same high quality results for her clients.”

“After assessing the needs of the entrepreneurial community, I decided to leverage my combined 20 years of classical marketing and entrepreneurial experience to help CEOs and management of new ventures maximize their chances for success,” said Ms. Ueng. “People who have worked with me know how very passionate I am about gaining breakthrough results for the organizations with which I am involved.”

Savvy Marketing Group uses proven methodologies garnered from real world management experience to deliver results for clients in the categories of consumer products and services, healthcare/life sciences, and software/information technology. A sampling of the established and emerging growth companies served include: John Deere, Cherokee Investment Partners, William Ashley Agency, and H-Cubed.

About Savvy Marketing Group
Savvy Marketing Group, LLC is the leading RTP consulting firm that uses proven methodologies to help new ventures within Fortune 500 companies as well as startups maximize their chances for success. SMG focuses on business and marketing strategy through their Resolute Ventures services, and delivers on implementation as well through their Chief and Crew for Hire services. Clients include companies in the consumer products/services, life sciences, and information technology sectors.

About Grace W. Ueng, Founder and President
Ms. Ueng helps new ventures within Fortune 500 companies as well as startups optimize their chances for success. She takes a very strong interest in her clients and enjoys sharing their passion and vision for growth. She is a proven executive with nearly 20 years of broad business experience with a foundation built on classical consumer packaged goods brand management leveraged into the sales and marketing of high growth consumer and business to business products.

Ms. Ueng started her career as a consultant with international strategy leader Bain & Company and then worked in the consumer marketing division of Time Inc. After receiving her MBA, Ms. Ueng managed five national consumer household brands with leaders General Mills and Clorox. She then held executive leadership positions with five software ventures which collectively generated over $1 billion in investor returns.

Key career highlights include serving as vice president of marketing for SmartPath, noted by Gartner as visionary leader in the marketing resource management category, which was acquired by DoubleClick. Prior to joining SmartPath’s executive team, Ms. Ueng served as vice president of worldwide marketing for TogetherSoft, a $50MM high growth leader in software application development tools, which was acquired by Borland for $200MM. Prior to TogetherSoft, she was the vice president of marketing for OpenSite Technologies, market leader of dynamic commerce software and services. Ms. Ueng built and maintained brand strength resulting in acquisition by Siebel Systems for $542MM, 45x revenues. She was then named senior director, product marketing for Siebel Systems. Ms. Ueng has also held business development and product line management roles at consumer education and entertainment leaders, The Learning Company and Interactive Magic.

Ms. Ueng earned her undergraduate degree in Management Science from MIT and her MBA from Harvard Business School. An officer and board member of The Harvard Club of Research Triangle Park, she is also a frequent panelist, speaker, and guest lecturer. Honors include being named Triangle Business Journal’s “40 under 40” and “Top 25 Women in Business”. She serves on the inaugural board of the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and is the Co-Chair of the 2004 CED Entrepreneurial Conference. Her personal interests include endurance sports (marathon and triathlon), fitness and nutrition, and community service.

For more information contact Grace Ueng at Grace@SavvyMarketingGroup.com or 919-319-8538.