LIA BUFFA DE FEO

Lia’s engagement at S’well was to ensure that their first foray into the food category would be a highly successful one. Lia began her work by evaluating the products currently in development. She recommended some very important changes—from adding measurements on prep bowls to testing the bowls to see if they could be dishwasher safe (they were!). The changes had a big impact on consumer response to the products. Lia shepherded a cross-functional team handling everything from developing packaging & in-store POP concepts, to defining product positioning (Prep, Nest, Go!, Eat), to executing an in home user test, to preparing the customer service team, and more. The product launched to massive accolades in the press and impressive sales results!

Getty Images boasts the world’s largest archive of photographs—over 200 million images spanning the birth of photography to today. The company, known for its stock photography, wanted to capture a share of the $4.2B online art market. Lia was brought onboard to launch a fine art product offering for consumers both online (Photos.com) and brick & mortar (Getty Images Gallery). Under her leadership, Photos.com grew +100% YOY and Getty Images Gallery was transformed into a well-respected fine art photography gallery.

Lia began her career at Martha Stewart routing packaging for approval and overseeing production for photo shoots. She moved up the ranks rapidly and found herself leading a cross-functional team that launched the following Martha Stewart Everyday product lines for Kmart: Baby, Paint and Soft Home (including bedding, bath and window). Lia was responsible for everything from merchandise planning to product development to photography to packaging & in-store point of sale. She conceived of and launched Martha’s “bed in a bag” program, elevating it to a name she personally conceived: “The Complete Bed”.  

As Martha Stewart’s Brand Manager, it was Lia’s responsibility to monetize Martha’s brand and television assets. In addition to launching Martha’s first-ever DVD line with Warner Home Video, she developed a line of CDs (yes, it was a long time ago) in partnership with Sony Music. From determining marketable collections (we landed on Wedding and Holiday for the music launch), to overseeing packaging, marketing and A&R, it was an unforgettable experience.  The best moment may have been when Martha and Lia shared root beer floats while listening to Christmas Music with the Sony A&R team.

When Lia pitched Food Network the idea of launching a line of wine, she was met with resistance. Company leadership was conservative. At the time, the family-friendly network was not even accepting liquor ads. To Lia, wine and food are meant to go together. She felt Food Network could change the conversation and perception in America that alcohol is meant only for celebrations or nights out. Plus, if Food Network integrated wine into programming, it would open up new advertising revenue opportunities. A couple of years later, entwine was born. Entwine: the union of two things—Food & Wine; Food Network’s culinary team & Wente Vineyards winemaking team; entertainment & wine. The brand was a smash-hit winning awards and topping the sales charts. The initiative also brought in millions of dollars in advertising revenue from the wine industry and from CPG companies interested in partnering with entwine to promote food and wine pairings.

There are times when you learn just as much from doing something as you do from not doing something. Food Network Food is one of those times… For a few years, Lia led the exploration of a branded product line for Food Network with large CPG companies, meal-kit delivery services and grocery stores. Ultimately, the network decided not to move forward with this initiative, but the insights, evaluations and learnings along the way were invaluable.