2005 CeCNC Direct Marketer of the Year
Patrick Connolly
Williams-Sonoma


ABOUT PAT
For over twenty-six years Pat Connolly has been a well recognized leader in the direct marketing industry. In May of 1979, Pat joined Williams-Sonoma, Inc. as Vice President of Mail Order. At that time, Williams-Sonoma's sales from its mail order catalog and five retail stores totaled about $4 million. The Catalog for Cooks contributed about half that sales volume.

Under Pat's leadership, Williams-Sonoma focused on the growth of its catalog division. In 1983, after incredible growth, the company went public. Twenty plus years later, those efforts have lead from a single catalog concept to eight catalog concepts using cutting edge database techniques on a 38 million name file. This growth was assisted by Pat's unwavering attention to production details and the maintaining the highest possible production standards. This combination of the effective use of the customer database and production excellence enabled the Direct to Customer division to maintain steady growth despite the opening of over 560 different retail locations. In 2005, Williams-Sonoma reached out to its customers and prospects by printing and mailing over 380 million catalogs.

Pat's leadership has been essential in building the Williams-Sonoma brand because the catalog delivered huge national exposure for Williams-Sonoma. As VP Mail Order, Pat directed all facets of the company's direct-to-consumer contact strategies. He consistently built the brand "by framing the company's products through a marketing lens of idealized domesticity". Mr. Connolly has also overseen the company's publishing efforts. He guided the development of a series of 10 years - - - the most successful cookbook series in publishing history.

Pat Connolly has also sponsored the development of the company's eCommerce division with the launch of the W-S online Wedding Registry in June 1999, the W-S e-commerce website in November 1999, the Pottery Barn e-commerce site in August of 2000, Pottery Barn Kids in 2001 as well as sites for PB Teen and Williams-Sonoma Home.

Today, working with eight catalogs, five e-Commerce Internet sites, Pat leads the continued growth of a $1.135 billion dollar Direct-to-Consumer business in 2005 which is staffed by thousands of employees. As Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Office, he remains responsible for the strategic implementation of Williams-Sonoma's multi-channel marketing strategy.


2007 CeCNC Direct Marketer of the Year
2006 CeCNC Direct Marketer of the Year
2004 CeCNC Direct Marketer of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award


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