Gaurang Maniar

Gaurang Maniar is the Executive Director of Dash In Marketing at The Wills Group. Gaurang has extensive experience in marketing, having previously served as the Senior Marketing Manager at Giant Eagle from January 2006 to August 2012. In this role, they were responsible for Market District; Beer, Wine, and Liquor. Gaurang expanded their responsibility to lead the experiential marketing efforts and create an environment where customers can experience an enjoyable, informative, and inspiring exploration of food. Gaurang grew the gourmet foodie stores with $400+ million in sales and continued building awareness and sales for beer, wine and liquor to make it a destination category with 18% annual growth.

Some of their key tasks included devising marketing strategies, executing promotional and competitive defense plans, working with agencies for media buys and creative, and analyzing customer research and promotional metrics. Gaurang also partnered with cross functional teams to develop and execute the AOP to achieve sales goals. Gaurang planned and administered a $8+ million marketing budget.

During their time at Giant Eagle, they delivered STS sales growth at Market District stores by creating a one-of-a-kind food and shopping experience. This included hosting 40 national and local celebrity food experts with live cooking demonstrations for over 15,000 customers, creating niche events: Food and Wine Fridays, Burger Bash and Chili Cook-off, which resulted in 45% traffic increase. Gaurang also explored food trends to recommend and launch a Foodie Truck to grow brand and generate incremental sales. In addition, they initiated a multi-faceted B2B marketing plan for the catering business, increasing sales by 35%. Gaurang also analyzed consumer insights and best-in-class retailers to pilot ‘Curbside Express’ online grocery ordering service.

Gaurang also collaborated with wine and liquor vendors for Catalina promotions, doubling sales vs. market trends. In addition, they executed multicultural marketing plans resulting in 26% sales increase and 20% increase in customer penetration. Gaurang also created a competitive response plan for stores, increasing sales versus market growth rate.

Maniar has received several awards for their work in marketing, including Retail Marketer of the year (AMA) and Runners-up for Corporate Marketing Campaign of the Year (IACP). Gaurang has also received the President’s Award for marketing the Pennsylvania beer launch to 30 stores, resulting in $7+ million in sales.

Gaurang Maniar has an MBA from Temple University and has also completed the Executive Education Series at Carnegie Mellon University.

A direct report to Gaurang Maniar is and Brian Chase - Director, Dash In Operations. They are on a team with Kenneth J. Halperin - CFO, Chris Brown - Director, Customer Insights & Loyalty, and Joseph M. Wills - EVP, Fuels Marketing & Real Estate & Development. Gaurang Maniar reports to Julian B. Wills III, President & CEO.