lynn birdwell

Alan Vera

research & strategic planning

Innovator. Champion. Master Marketer. Pick 3.

That’s Alan Vera.

For over 40 years, Alan D. Vera has pioneered the application of consumer product selling techniques to the marketing of a broad spectrum of industrial, technical, service, professional and public interest offerings.

In his former life as a Brand Manager for the Procter & Gamble Company, Alan was responsible for the introduction and marketing of major brands including Biz bleach, Lava and Coast soaps, Mr. Clean household cleaner and Head & Shoulders shampoo.

Needless to say, his experience and leadership at P&G helped prepare him for the next chapter of his life…cleaning up and eliminating excessive packaging and waste in the plastics industry.

Alan has consulted for and worked with a number of organizations and companies in the environmental arena. As a facilitator for the Society of Plastics Industries, Alan helped lead groundbreaking changes in packaging source reduction and recycling.

Alan has also been a consultant to the EPA’s EnergyStar program. He currently consults with several clients engaged in developing clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

As Vice President at McCann-Erickson in Houston, Alan teamed up with current Acme Fish partners, Peter Vogt and Lou Congelio, where he helped develop marketing and advertising programs for Texas Instruments and Six Flags.

In 1982, Mr. Vera joined the Bloom Industrial Agency and in 1985 he bought the company and formed The Quest Business Agency with headquarters in Houston, Texas.

Under his leadership, Quest grew into one of the most highly regarded marketing and communications organizations in the U.S. serving clients including Exxon, FedEx, 3M, Mitsubishi, Dow, DuPont, BP, Shell, International Paper, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, ConAgra, HP and many other Fortune 500 firms.

While at Quest, Alan developed the Quest Marketing Paradigm, a new marketing system that has helped some U.S. companies capture increased sales and markets. The paradigm includes 5 copyrighted or trademarked marketing methods and models.

Under his leadership, Quest was twice named “Vendor of the Year” by FedEx Retail Operations. His predictive modeling, direct marketing program grew margins for this FedEx division from 3% to 29% in 2 years.

Today, Alan is regularly retained as a marketing consultant to assist companies in development and implementation of marketing plans and in planning for new product/service introductions or turnarounds.

But it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Alan that his proudest moment was serving our nation as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger.

Needless to say, everyone at Acme Fish is honored and lifted up by Alan’s service and commitment to everything that we hold dear…life, liberty and the pursuit of extraordinary marketing.