Jennifer O'Grady
Dallas,TX
Summary
Customer research and marketing strategy leader with over 10 years of experience in analyzing customer behavior and delivering actionable insights. Proven ability to align business objectives with strategic initiatives, resulting in enhanced marketing effectiveness. Strong skills in storytelling, communication, and project management, with a track record of building and leading high-performing teams.
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Manager, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
Dallas, TX
07.2022 - 02.2025
- Created and implemented the vision and roadmap for the future of customer insights at the company, including expanding the scope and level of support to be more strategic and integrated with company goals, and to infuse the voice of the customer into strategic decision-making; support was provided to the go-to-market strategy, brand, customer experience, product, digital, loyalty, and co-branded credit card teams.
- Managed a budget of over $6M in research, allocating resources, prioritizing projects with senior leaders, and managing capacity based on the strategic objectives of the company.
- Led a team of six consultants using talent management practices to coach, develop, engage, and drive performance.
- Led the Voice of the Customer (VOC) program, which measures and reports all day-of-travel customer feedback (including transactional NPS and customer satisfaction) across the organization (customer experience, inflight, Southwest Business, cargo, baggage), partnering closely with internal analytics and data science teams on consolidated reporting.
- Led the research for refreshed brand positioning, partnering closely with brand, marketing strategy, and the ad agency; the research was used as the foundation of a new brand campaign and continued support post-launch with concept and messaging testing (clarity, fit with brand, impact on purchase intent).
- Led the organization through a $2M brand tracking vendor transition in 2023 and oversaw the analysis of KPIs (awareness, consideration, purchase intent, relational NPS); presented quarterly results to the Commercial Leadership Team.
- Led customer research related to Southwest's operational disruptions due to Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022; influenced the C-Suite on the appropriate marketing strategy based on insights.
- Oversaw the launch of a competitive day-of-travel experience tracker.
Senior Business Consultant, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
Dallas, TX
07.2019 - 06.2022
- Led Executive Chats, focus groups conducted twice per year with customers and Southwest executives, discussing feedback on the customer experience.
- Led customer research for Southwest's new fare product, Wanna Get Away Plus; research topics included deciding the benefits associated with the fare, naming and visual treatment, communications, monitoring the take rate post-launch, and a digital site survey post-transaction.
- Led the COVID research strategy, collected insights across the customer journey, and regularly updated leadership to inform key strategic decisions on COVID management.
- Managed the Southwest Airlines Customer Advisory Council, an online research panel of customers; managed the vendor relationship, contract negotiations, and $1.5M budget planning and tracking.
Business Consultant, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
Dallas, TX
07.2018 - 06.2019
- Led research in support of the digital team with both quantitative research and usability testing to optimize the user experience (UX) on desktop and mobile channels.
- Led an interactive customer workshop with the digital team to understand customer needs across channels (desktop, mobile, and inflight entertainment portal); the results were used to prioritize the team's multi-year project roadmap.
- Collaborated with the customer experience team on various ad-hoc research requests on topics such as baggage processes, irregular operation processes/remediation, and the inflight experience.
Associate Manager, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
Dallas, TX
05.2015 - 06.2018
- Managed the company's brand health tracker, analyzed, and reported key performance indicators across the company, including relational Net Promoter Score (NPS).
- Supported customers focus groups/co-creation sessions in local markets to support overall go-to-market strategy.
Global Research & Consulting Director
Frost & Sullivan
San Antonio, TX
01.2007 - 04.2015
- Led a team of ten consultants and analysts across North America and India to fulfill market research projects involving market sizing and growth projections, competitive profiling and analysis, identification of trends, opportunities, and risks.
- Managed the business development, sales strategy, project fulfillment, resource management, and budget, hitting annual revenue targets and excelling in meeting client expectations.
- Responsible for all aspects of people management for the research and consulting teams, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, performance reviews, career development, and training.
Research Manager
Frost & Sullivan
San Antonio, TX
01.2004 - 12.2006
- Developed and launched a syndicated research product focused on market, competitive, and financial analysis across multiple industries (Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Energy, Healthcare, IT); achieved revenue and customer satisfaction goals.
- Managed custom consulting projects with clients, including evaluating clients' business needs, writing proposals, developing cost and time estimates, and fulfilling market research projects using primary and secondary research.
Business Systems Analyst / Project Manager
Hewitt Associates
Lincolnshire, IL
10.1996 - 10.2003
- Conducted client needs assessments, translated client requirements into specifications, and managed client communications for a variety of Fortune 500 companies across industries.
- Led a cross-functional client team of quality assurance analysts and systems analysts.
- Performed systems analysis and design using relational databases with GUI, IVR, and web interfaces; SAS and SQL proficient.
Education
MBA - Marketing, Finance
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Chicago, IL05-2003
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN05-1996
Skills
- Customer insights
- Voice of the customer
- Project management
- Customer experience
- Communication skills
- Market research
- Strategic planning
- Competitive analysis
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Performance metrics
- Vendor management
- Relationship building
Timeline
Senior Manager, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
07.2022 - 02.2025
Senior Business Consultant, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
07.2019 - 06.2022
Business Consultant, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
07.2018 - 06.2019
Associate Manager, Customer Insights
Southwest Airlines
05.2015 - 06.2018
Global Research & Consulting Director
Frost & Sullivan
01.2007 - 04.2015
Research Manager
Frost & Sullivan
01.2004 - 12.2006
Business Systems Analyst / Project Manager
Hewitt Associates
10.1996 - 10.2003
MBA - Marketing, Finance
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
University of Notre Dame
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