Schawk, Inc., a leading provider of brand development and deployment services, enabling companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers, announced that it has appointed Jim Lucas to the newly created position of executive vice president, global insights and strategy.

Lucas will be responsible for formalizing the Company's shopper marketing offering and driving insight and strategy across the organization to develop solutions that enable clients to become more effective at converting shoppers into buyers. He will work with clients to improve, develop and advocate new shopper marketing opportunities and methods for activating and scaling the deployment of them worldwide.

Eric Ashworth, president of Schawk, Inc. noted, "The appointment of Jim to this position underscores Schawk, Inc.'s commitment to deepening its expertise in shopper behavior and bringing the perspective and expertise of industry thought leaders like Jim to c-level client engagements."

Jim Lucas said, "The power of the retail environment continues to grow as a place for brands to have greater influence with shoppers. I am excited to be in a position to help Schawk, Inc. broaden its deep packaging expertise by applying shopper insights to drive meaningful change and impact for brands throughout stores and to bring clarity and creativity to the broader shopper experience."

Prior to joining Schawk, Inc., Lucas was most recently executive vice president, global director retail insight and strategy at DraftFCB Chicago. His distinguished career in marketing also includes senior management roles in strategic planning and research at Frankel in Chicago and Krumm & Associates LLC.

The acknowledged founder of the science of retail ecology, Jim Lucas is internationally recognized as a veteran marketer and leading retail expert and brings nearly a quarter century of experience to today's changing retail landscape. As one of the industry's foremost practitioners of shopper marketing -- across the globe -- he is a leading expert in retail ecology science, i.e., understanding how consumers interact with brands and how they behave in retail environments.

Companies and brands Jim has worked with include, among others, Beiersdorf, Coca Cola, Del Monte, KFC, Kmart, Kraft Foods Inc., Motorola, Ontario Lottery & Gaming, Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, SC Johnson, Sony, Taco Bell, the United States Postal Service, and Walgreens.

A frequent speaker at leading global conferences in countries including China, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Jim's presentations have enlightened attendees at major forums including the Cannes Int'l Advertising Festival, In-Store Marketing Asia Summit, In-Store Marketing Summit, In-Store Expo, AMAP (Mexico) Shopper Marketing Conference, Shopper Insights Conference (Johannesburg) and POPAI. His expert commentary is sought after by world media and has appeared in publications ranging from Ad Age and Adweek to Cogito Journal (Mumbai), Marketing Daily, The New York Times, and PROMO magazine, among others. He is also a major contributor to the popular international book, now in its 2nd edition -- "Shopper Marketing: How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale" (Kogan Page, April 2012).

Jim has served as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and The University of Chicago. Jim received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and his MA from Loyola University in Chicago.