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Rowland Hanson is CEO of Hanson Maslen Group (www.HansonMaslenGroup.com) and Chairman of CRH & Associates (www.crh-associates.com). Prior to consulting, he was Vice President of Corporate Communications at Microsoft, where he created and executed the company's highly acclaimed branding strategy which included the market introduction of Microsoft's most popular product-a graphical interface that he named "Windows." Several books published on the history of Microsoft document the strategies executed that led to the dominance of the Microsoft and Windows brands. Prior to Microsoft, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Neutrogena Corporation, a skin care and cosmetics company that registered phenomenal growth thru new product introductions and global partnering before being acquired by Johnson & Johnson. J&J acquired Neutrogena for a significant premium after determining that, while it could certainly replicate the products, it could not replicate the strength of the Neutrogena brand. It was the successful branding strategies being executed at Neutrogena that captured the attention of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Together, Bill and Steve convinced Rowland that he should leave Neutrogena and help them in their quest to change the world by applying the proven branding strategies to a new emerging industry called software. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Rowland has a BBA from Loyola University and an MBA from Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania). | 