The brand ambassadors will report to AfterShock Senior Retailer Relations Manager RuthAnn Thompson, who is recruiting the new staff, and be supported by Senior Retail Sales Development Manager Marc Hammond (see "New AfterShock Hires Strengthen Retail Presence").
The program builds on the experience of CCO and Publisher Joe Pruett, who visited over 80 stores since the company launched, part of an initial 300 stores visited by members of the AfterShock team (see "ICv2 Interview: Aftershock’s Joe Pruett and Michael Marts").
The initial nine members of the team and their territories were revealed as:
- Chris La Torre - Southern California
- Bill Noftz - Seattle, Washington
- Stacy Lott - Southern California
- Ben Freeman - Nashville, Tennessee
- Matt Rector - Northern Virginia/Washington DC
- Daniel Kibodeaux - Pacific Northwest
- Jean Grey - Central Florida
- Tony White - Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Ed Catto - Central New York
"More and more, we’re seeing that success for a publisher like us - one that’s been surgically aggressive in bringing fresh creator-owned content to market - is reliant on relationships at the shop level," Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing Steve Rotterdam said in conjunction with the announcement. "No two comic shops are exactly alike - even ones owned by the same retailer. That’s why we sought out service-oriented ambassadors who were as good at listening as they were at promoting."
