Suzanne McDonnell

Background

About Suzanne McDonnell

Suzanne is a commercial and brand executive known for leading high-performing teams, crafting standout brands, and driving measurable business growth. With extensive experience ranging from managing brand strategy for blue-chip clients early in her career to executive leadership at BARK Inc.(BarkBox) over the past decade, Suzanne excels in go-to-market innovation across Retail, Direct-to-Consumer, and International markets. Her career spans the consumer sector, major media organizations, and top-tier advertising agencies, where her strategic insights, creative problem-solving, and ability to scale brands and product portfolios have left a lasting impact. Suzanne has led new product innovations, forged strategic partnerships, and spearheaded international commercial growth. She is deeply passionate about optimizing consumer engagement, enhancing brand visibility, expanding market reach, and driving financial performance. Suzanne is based in New York City and holds a degree in Economics from Colgate University. Achievements include-Led BARK’s expansion into over retail doors, developed innovative product lines, and drove international growth in North America, Australia, the U.K, Ireland, and Western Europe-Launched BARK’s Partnership practice, securing national, multi-year collaborations with Subaru, Dunkin, Girl Scouts, and others, delivering new audiences on emerging platforms and generating net revenue growth, contributing to a combined opportunity of over $75 million-As a member of BARK’s Executive Leadership Team for nine years, played a key role in strategic decision-making and team leadership; contributed significantly to the company’s IPO filings in 2021, crafting detailed documentation to highlight BARK's commercial growth and value for stakeholders-At Viacom and Discovery, led industry-leading teams and pioneered innovative marketing practices, including new (patented) advertising products and influencer & content marketing, driving performance and measurable revenue growth-During her 15 years at Publicis & WPP, Suzanne focused on building and elevating blue-chip brands across industries such as CPG, automotive, services, and media. As a distinguished leader at Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Berlin Cameron, Suzanne was known for developing talent and leading integrated teams across channels.