Keith Lerner

Managing Director

Keith Lerner is a stand-out leader, driver and implementer of business innovation, strategically growing both established and new consumer packaged goods brands to new share, revenue and profit highs.   Keith has played a pivotal leadership role in developing share building brand campaigns, external innovation deals and improved operating processes for such iconic brands as Tylenol^® (including Infant, Children’s, Adult, Cold, Sinus and Allergy extensions), Halls^®,Voltaren^®, Listerine^®, Nicorette^®, Habitrol^®, Schick^®, Rolaids^®, BeneFiber^®, Neosporin^®, Lubriderm^®, Keri® Certs^®, Clorets^®, Ben-Gay^®, Ocean Spray^®, Sesame Street^® and  others.

Keith has also led a variety of successful new brand launches in the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia (China/Japan) including  Köldt™, Ocean Spray^® FruitWaves™, Halls Zinc Defense™, Tensylase™.  In particular, he is credited with being the driving force behind the initial launch and ensuing global expansion of dissolving film technology under the Listerine^® Pocket Paks brand from its technological roots in Japan and was personally featured in The New York Times Money & Business “Responsible Party” column in July 2002 for this innovation.  Keith was additionally named a health care industry innovation leader in April 2009 by OTC Perspectives.

In addition to delivering consistently strong marketing results, Keith has accumulated over 20 years of highly successful deal outcomes from in- and out-licensing, M&A and alliance management activities while serving in leadership positions at four leading Consumer Packaged Goods/Pharmaceutical companies: Johnson & Johnson, Warner Lambert, Pfizer and Novartis.  In fact, Keith has managed and supervised a large variety of Licensing and M&A deals covering US and international markets on every continent, delivering several billion dollars of deal value.

Keith served as a member of the Novartis Consumer Health OTC Global Executive Committee and held two senior positions at Novartis Consumer Health: SVP & Global Head of Business Development and Licensing, and SVP & Commercial Marketing Head, Direct-to-Consumer Marketing. 

Keith possesses an uncommon ability to pragmatically synthesize disparate but proven concepts and technologies from unrelated industries into compelling new innovation frameworks of opportunity and profitability.  He has the vision and agility to create actionable strategic plans and the leadership to persuasively align organizations to quickly and profitably implement them.  Keith leverages a global perspective built over years of extensive fieldwork across five continents.  Partnerships forged with a global network of colleagues, advertising agencies, regulatory bodies and other third parties have taught Keith the value of diversity and the criticality of excellent communication, persuasion and negotiation skills, which he consistently and reliably demonstrates.  He has demonstrated a keen vision for developing winning commercial strategies, sets priorities and has the wisdom to know when and when not to persevere.  Keith has led teams to efficiently and effectively execute programs to produce winning sales and profitable results.

Keith holds a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA in Marketing Management and Communications from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University (nationally ranked in the top 60 MBA schools nationwide).  During his career, Keith has completed intensive training at Harvard Business School and Northwestern University (Merger Week).  He is also the Chair of the Consumer Products Sector of the Licensing Executives Society and a a well regarded lecturer.

JaMax Ventures Consulting, LLC provides domestic US and global Marketing, Strategy, Innovation, BD&L and M&A consulting services to a variety of business in different industry segments.   He and his wife, Heidi (a Board Member of the Chromosome Disorder Outreach Organization) reside in Livingston, New Jersey.

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