Sam Decker is a recognized expert in eCommerce, word of mouth marketing, and direct marketing. A frequent speaker at marketing and eCommerce events and author of an award-winning marketing blog (www.deckermarketing.com), Decker brings more than 15 years of marketing and online retailing experience to Bazaarvoice. As Chief Marketing Officer, Decker is responsible for leading Bazaarvoice’s corporate marketing, PR and product strategy.
Before joining Bazaarvoice, Decker spent seven years of leadership at Dell, Inc. in marketing, eBusiness, CRM, and customer-centricity. From 1999-2003, he led Dell’s consumer web site, building Dell.com into the largest consumer eCommerce site at $3.5B in annual sales, and established global best practices in merchandising, analytics, product management, and operations. Sam pioneered Dell’s customer-centricity strategy and customer segmentation using Six Sigma methodology. Later he directed marketing for Dell’s $1B+ installed-based marketing division, responsible for eBusiness, marketing communications and brand management. Before Dell, Decker spent more than six years leading marketing at B2C and B2B startups and became a pioneer in online community building. Prior to that, he consulted with companies such as Apple, Claris, Adobe, and Borland to help them develop word of mouth and loyalty marketing strategies.
Decker has authored two books on word of mouth and guerilla marketing, serves on the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), is president of Austin Texchange, and serves on the board of advisors for the Web Analytics Association. Decker holds a BS in Business Marketing Management from California Polytechnic University.
Sam is originally from the California Bay Area, but the great barbecue, lakes, and friendly people make Austin his home. Away from work, Sam spends time with his top three priorities: his wife, son, and daughter. Sam aspires to one day enjoy an impressive collection of unused technology, get his money’s worth out of Netflix, tap into a growing stack of unopened business books, and share ideas on his blog once in awhile for how to lead, live and market in a world where customers do the talking.
