Dr. Robert Grayson, a marketing and management consultant, has combined 30 years of consulting, industry experience with an advertising agency and a multinational packaged goods company, with a long career teaching at a major graduate school to give him a very broad perspective on the critical contributions that marketing can make in legal cases.

Adjunct Professor of Marketing at The New York University Graduate School of Business Administration for 18 years, Dr. Grayson is able to draw upon both theoretical constructs and professional experience to provide a wide range of expert opinions. For example, in a case involving a non-compete contract, he was able to draw upon was Edward Chamberlin’s masterful theory of Monopolistic Competition as the basis of his testimony. This theory buttressed his opinion that two shampoos were, in fact, not competitive in the marketplace. (See some representative cases.)

Instrumental in the development of such creative marketing concepts as The Face Factory, a chain of retail cosmetic shops, Design Line Telephones and Phone Center Stores for AT&T, several trade shows, and academic journal publishing, Dr. Grayson is a general partner in Grayson Associates, a marketing and management consulting firm specializing in consumer goods and services, and industrial products.

Prior to establishing his consulting practice in 1970, Dr. Grayson was Senior Vice-President of Daniel and Charles Advertising. As Director of Marketing Services, he was responsible for the marketing, market research, media, and financial administration departments. Dr. Grayson also worked for many years at Lever Brothers in marketing and new product development--the latter for six years.

The author of the text, Introduction to Marketing, Dr. Grayson also edited one of the first computer books on Marketing and the Computer in 1967. In addition, he founded and subsequently sold The Marketing Journal Publishing Company, which produces The Journal of Consumer Marketing, The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, The Journal of Services Marketing, and The Journal of Product & Business Management. These are academic journals which are written and edited for practicing marketers. They uniquely fill the gap between the anecdotal trade press and the esoteric research journals. In addition, he is the editor of THE GRAYSON REPORT, a marketing analysis newsletter for the cosmetic and personal care industry, currently being published in Household & Personal Products Magazine

He created the landmark study correlating corporate organization with the amount of new product output. This, in turn, led to the development of a systems approach to new product development with several of his clients.

Over the last 25 years, Dr. Grayson has initiated new services and provided original marketing ideas for such industry giants as Avon, Citicorp, AT&T, Estee Lauder, Franklin Mint, General Telephone, Pfizer, BCG, SRI, Bristol-Myers, and Unilever, among others.

Besides offering a full range of consulting services, Grayson Associates is developing and producing the Educational Program for HBA Global Expo, the trade show for the cosmetic, personal care, and fragrance industries at the Javits Center held annually in October. In 1972, Dr. Grayson started CosmoExpo, the trade show for the cosmetic, personal care, and fragrance industry, which he sold 13 years later to Cahners.

A current thrust of Grayson Associates consulting is advising would-be acquirers of businesses of the "true" marketing potential of the subject company. In this capacity they work for venture groups, financial institutions, and marketing corporations. An adjunct to this enterprise is the development of a methodology for analyzing acquisitions for marketing companies, now an active part of their consulting practice.

Dr. Grayson is one of the founders of the Product Development and Management Association and is past president of the New York chapter of the American Marketing Association. During his term as president, he initiated the Marketing Man of the Year award and the Effie Award, given for the most effective advertising commercials. Effie is now the most respected of the advertising awards because it goes beyond creativity to measure actual sales results. (Note: Effie is short for “effective advertising.”) Effies are now awarded in 12 other countries.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Dr. Grayson received his master's degree and doctorate from the Graduate School of Business, New York University and, in addition to being a professor there for 18 years, was a visiting professor of Management at Fordham University and Pace University. He has taught and lectured worldwide on almost every facet of marketing with special emphasis on new product development.

SUZANNE GRAYSON

Suzanne Grayson has been instrumental in the development of many of the personal care industry's most innovative concepts. Numbered among her most successful innovations was the creation of The Face Factory, the first freestanding cosmetic stores which stimulated the trend to full-line testing of colors. It was hailed as a revolutionary merchandising concept in cosmetic retail marketing. The 25 stores were subsequently sold to Regis Corporation. 

The partners used their experience from The Face Factory to direct AT&T into retailing, with its Phone Center Stores. Ms. Grayson also developed the first color analysis system, leading to the production of the first, and patented skincare and color computer for Helena Rubinstein's point-of-purchase display, which sparked the uses of computers for many industries in addition to 
the cosmetic industry. Since that time she has developed five other color systems currently in use. 

During a fourteen year career at Revlon she was responsible for the new product marketing planning and development for the company. One of her most significant creations was the blusher category, which lead to powdered eye shadow, now the largest selling type. For Cover Girl, she created the first curved mascara brush, which helped to establish the brand in eye cosmetics. 

Suzanne Grayson's clients within the cosmetic/toiletry/fragrance business have ranged from Avon to Zotos with almost every company in between. She is an important speaker at many industry functions and favored for annual reports to financial companies on the marketing state of cosmetic companies and the industry. Her perceptive editing of THE GRAYSON REPORT has made that newsletter a "must read" for 27 years in the cosmetic industry.

Ms. Grayson serves on the Board of Directors of The Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors Association and had been active with the New York University School of Business and Public Administration--also serving on its Board of Advisors. Together with her partner, she started the Beauty Industry West Association, to serve as a focal point for the members of the industry on the West Coast.