MALINDA SANNA
is one of the most sought-after strategic planners in the world of consumer research, advertising development and marketing strategy. She cut her teeth at The Coca-Cola Company in brand management straight out of business school in the New Products department, but was eventually seduced to the advertising side of the business.
Sanna founded SPARK in 2009 after working for a decade as an independent strategist following tenures at both Fallon and Merkley Newman Harty as a senior brand planner
Sanna runs the New York office of SPARK, a virtual network of collection of planners, stylists, innovation specialists, moderators, designers and videographers. SPARK creates a custom research team for each client project, allowing us to be focused and extremely cost-efficient, fast, and flexible.
In her ten years as a freelancer, MALINDA worked directly for clients as diverse as Pepsi, The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, and kate spade.
SANNA is a classic strategist, motivated by the philosophy that we have a choice in this profession. We can choose the path of least resistance, or we can choose to make the world a better place through what we do, whether it is adding beauty, telling a compelling story, or opening minds. She aims for the highest levels of creativity, always balanced by the pragmatism of her early client-side training.
SOFIA COSTA ALVES
is one of an elite handful of international marketers who can successfully expand brands into new markets, with a brilliant track record of growing well-known brands in both Europe and South America.
SOFIA started her career at Philip Morris, where she cut her teeth in classic brand management first in Portugal then at the company's European Headquarters in Switzerland. In 2000 she was recruited to London by Nestle and in 2002 eventually to Kimberly-Clark. She held a variety of senior-level marketing positions across Europe and the U.S. at KC before moving with them to Brazil, charged with spearheading the phenomenal growth of consumer goods products in the buoyant Brazilian market.
She is now fulfilling her great passion for Qualitative Research & Strategy and is SPARK's Partner in São Paulo, meeting the needs of both South American companies looking for top-level marketing insights, innovation techniques and consumer research, and multinational companies looking to the Brazilian market to grow their brands. Brazil has some of the best creative energy and talent in the world at the moment and SPARK is tapping into that nexus to make it available wherever possible to its client base.
SOFIA has a strong entrepreneurial spirit, with a fiery can-do attitude and a highly sophisticated knowledge of the cultural nuances that can make or break market strategies. She is a regular speaker at insights and global marketing events.
SOFIA is driven by her belief that the most insightful understanding of consumers is a company's most powerful competitive advantage. She aims for the highest levels of innovation and rigor, achieved through groundbreaking methodologies, creativity and attracting top-level talent to SPARK projects in Latin America.