FLW announced today that Kelly (Flinn) Oettinger has returned to the company as vice president of marketing, replacing Patterson Leeth, who has departed the company after accepting a position with Simms Fishing Products.
Oettinger, who has nearly 20 years of brand and marketing experience, including eight with FLW, will be responsible for providing strategic direction and engagement for all of FLW’s marketing initiatives.
Oettinger will be based at FLW’s corporate office in Hopkins, Minn. She previously held the position of marketing and account director with FLW from 2005 to mid-2013. Since then, she has continued to work in the marketing industry, specializing in brand integration, sponsorships, sports marketing and retail merchandising.
Most recently, she was a management supervisor at Catapult Marketing, an award-winning conversion marketing agency with an integrated approach that delivers brand strategy, insights, shopper marketing, consumer promotions and more. Oettinger will report to FLW president of marketing Trish Blake.
“The FLW family is very excited to welcome Kelly back," Blake said in a statement released by FLW. "She has the industry knowledge, relationship, and skill sets to help lead FLW’s marketing initiatives along with the rest of the teams in our organization."
Leeth moves on after spending 3 1/2 years with FLW, where he helped guide the organization's rebranding to Fishing League Worldwide and its transition away from Walmart and the related branding strategies.
“The past few years at FLW have been an extremely fulfilling and rewarding experience,” Leeth said in a statement. “I’m thankful for every partnership, friendship and relationship that I’ve been able to forge here in my time with the company. The FLW and bass-fishing community is a wonderful family and I’m looking forward to still being a very big part of it.”
“It has been an honor and privilege to work with Patterson these past three years,” added Blake. “We wish him the very best in his new position at Simms.”
