Gongos, Inc. Appoints Katherine Ephlin Chief Operating Officer

AUBURN HILLS, MI--(Marketwired - Aug 4, 2014) - Katherine Ephlin has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Gongos, Inc. as announced today by president & CEO Camille Nicita. As COO, Ephlin will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations for the parent company and its business units, comprised of Gongos Research and O₂ Integrated. Additionally, she will continue to provide strategic input and direction as a member of Gongos' Enterprise Strategy Team.

Gongos also appoints Susan Scarlet Vice President, Strategic Branding. Along with this promotion, Scarlet joins the company's Enterprise Strategy Team. Both ladies were hired into Gongos (then Gongos Research) in 2006 during an inflection point in Gongos' growth related to its market research online community business, among other diversification initiatives.

As a privately held company, Gongos uses foresight and an unfettered approach to building employees' careers. Given the evolution of its industry, there is a recognized need for both women to embrace increasingly strategic roles to help drive the company's future vision.

"The role of COO can take on different forms and is highly dependent upon an organization's needs," said Nicita. "Katherine is exactly what Gongos needs relative to proactively managing the operations of our growing enterprise, balancing vision and execution, flexibility, cross-enterprise collaboration and being an agent of change." 

Most recently, Ephlin was Vice President, Operations for Gongos. Prior to that she was Director, Financial & Diversified team for Gongos Research, for which she was instrumental in helping to establish a client-facing team in the research business. Prior to Gongos, Ephlin was an independent consultant and Marketing Manager for General Motors. She holds a MBA in Marketing Management from Michigan State University and a BA in psychology from the University of Vermont. 

Scarlet was most recently, Senior Director, Strategic Branding and Director, Marketing & Public Relations for Gongos. She has held marketing communications and publicity roles in both Detroit and Los Angeles, for Seven Network Australia, entertainment branding company 3 Ring Circus and ad agencies, The Berline Group and Doner. Scarlet holds a BA in Advertising from Michigan State University.

"Taking it upon herself to immerse in our industry, competitive intelligence and our customer experience," adds Nicita, "Susan's true understanding and instincts ensure our brand strategy and external initiatives are well-orchestrated, differentiated and consistent with the experience we deliver."

Gongos' approach to decision intelligence supports Global 1000 companies. Fusing technology with custom research and insights curation, Gongos offers clients multiple levels of engagement to address their ongoing business challenges. Serving the consumer products, retail, financial services, transportation and technology spaces, Gongos combines innovative and foundational approaches to primary research and market intelligence.

The company's primary research division, Gongos Research, partners with corporate research and insights teams on initiatives spanning the entire product and marketing life cycle. O₂ Integrated, its data sciences business unit, harmonizes enterprise and research knowledge through consultative relationships. The company thrives on developing techniques to shape purposeful stories that can be readily socialized within client organizations.

Gongos works with companies such as Hallmark Cards, Mars-Wrigley, Visa, GM, OnStar and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. In 2007, the company was first named to the Inc. 5000 list of "The Fastest Growing Companies in America" and is among the Gold Top 50 U.S. marketing research organizations. For further insight into the Gongos culture, visit gongos.com or facebook.com.