Edward Faruolo

Ed Faruolo, VitaLincs…
has an exceptional track record for creating and securing sustainable market opportunities for new and existing business ventures. His experiences in challenging and complex categories such as healthcare and financial services allows him to bring a unique set of critical thinking skills to all categories of clients he serves.
On the corporate side, Ed served as Chief Marketing Officer for CIGNA for over 10 years where, through a sequence of strategic divestitures, he successfully repositioned the company as a tier 1 global health benefits provider. A major factor in this success were the unique brand positioning and breakthrough media sponsorships Ed created that allowed CIGNA to yield results beyond what was expected for their level of spending (e.g. The Power of Caring). He also served in the senior most marketing and brand leadership roles at Lincoln Financial and The Travelers. At the Travelers he spearheaded the efforts to reposition the brand as a diverse financial services provider. This was accomplished by “reinventing” the iconic Travelers umbrella and seeding it as the most powerful consumer financial brand. So powerful it helped attract an acquisition by Citi.
Through his own company, (vitalincs.com), Ed has created highly engaging workshops to help brands be more vital to the markets they serve. These highly rated workshops are used by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), among others. The client list for the workshops reads like a Who’s Who of the Fortune 500 and range from CPG to industrial to financial services organizations. A few examples in the financial and government category include: American Express, Allstate, Citi, Dow (Kuwait), Lockheed, Navient, and PayPal.
Ed has also facilitated high level meetings and discussions such as joint board meetings of the ANA, AAAA, and IAB for CEOs to discuss issues relative to privacy and “do not track” in the digital age.
In the digital space, Ed co-created The Good For You Network, a content aggregator with an employee engagement portal piloted through Beiersdorf USA (Nivea). Ed also provided early stage business strategy and direction for MD Insider (mdinsider.com), a highly successful big data health provider performance evaluation tool. Over $20 million in venture capital was raised and MD Insider was subsequently purchased by a health information company in 2019 (Accolade Health - www.accolade.com ).
Ed is often called in to provide business strategy and brand development leadership for organizations serving overlooked populations. For example, in 2016 Ed helped secure a $2.5 million grant from New York’s OPWDD for a New York City health services organization to recruit people to open their homes to the developmentally disabled to live. He then built and oversaw the entire campaign and marketing operation that generated over 1400 people in Brooklyn and Queens expressing interest to be care providers in the program. For every person converted as a care provider the state saves over $50,000 per individual per year (see Natural Born Caregivers/PEP peopleembracingpeople.org). More importantly, the developmentally disabled receive more individualized attention and have a better chance of being a productive part of the community.
Other examples of this genre include brand and marketing strategy development for PHADA, the Public Housing Authority Director’s Association in Washington, DC. PHADA’s 1,900 member housing agencies represent over 1.9 million low-income housing units throughout the United States. As of the Fall, 2021, Ed was contracted to provide strategic support for MetroPlus Health in New York City.
Also, in the public housing sector Ed led the brand and marketing strategy development for The HAI Group, the insurance arm of the public housing category.
In terms of industry and philanthropic activities, Ed mentors a number of young entrepreneurs, through an incubator and accelerator group that serves the New York/Boston corridor. One client currently being mentored is an ex-felon who is establishing an innovative program to address the “food deserts” that negatively impact urban neighborhoods.
Ed has served several industry organizations such as, Executive Chair of The Conference Board’s Corporate Brand Council, Corporate Leader for the Ad Council, Advisory Board Member for WomenHeart, and the Board of Overseers for The Bushnell Center For The Performing Arts. He has also lectured at Northwestern, Kellogg, Wharton, Temple, thee University of Miami, and Yale.
Ed’s work has been profiled in many industry leading publications and college texts including Brand Asset Management, by Scott Davis (Prophet), Communicating Globally by Don E. Schulz (Northwestern), and Value Above Cost by Don Sexton (Columbia). Ed has also been recognized through numerous awards over his career including the Ad Council’s Robert V. Goldstein Award, the Wenger Award for Corporate Leadership in Healthcare, and the National Easter Seal Society Award. In addition he has received 4 EFFIES (marketing excellence), and 1 CLIO (creative excellence).
Ed currently serves on the board of Elevate New England, an organization that builds life enhancing relationship and mentorship programs for urban youth. He is also the past president and current board member of the Milford Education Foundation - a non-profit dedicated to engaging the children of Milford, CT with life long learning and vital skills development.
Ed and his wife Carol are lifelong residents of Milford, CT and have 3 grown children and 4 beautiful granddaughters.