Great People
Make
Great Work
We built this agency on our people and relationships.
The COR Brand
Building Experience
We ensure Marketing & Sales win together with every program we craft. Over 30 years of experience help guide our success with brands both large and small.
Trade & Retail
Shopper Marketing
Experiential
Marketing
Consumer & Category
Insights
Influencer
Marketing
Integrated Marketing
Strategy
Digital & Social
Media Strategy
Ideas & Creative
Design
Lasting
Partnerships
Corey Saenz
President
Corey is an experienced marketing leader who lives to build iconic brands and lead talented marketing teams. Corey fine-tuned his brand marketing skills as Vice-President of Marketing for Coca-Cola, glaceau and ConAgra Foods, and then mastered his agency skills for Alcone/The Marketing Arm.
Corey’s expertise ensures that clients hit their growth and creative goals through Shopper Marketing and consumer engagement brand strategies. In 2019 Corey founded COR Branding Agency. Corey guest lectures at USC Marshall School of Business, serves on the Meals on Wheels of Orange County Board of Directors, is a yogi at heart and hits the hiking trails regularly with his four-legged office buddy, Sadie.
Virginia La Forte
Brand Strategy
Virginia has worked on every side of the desk. She’s led marketing initiatives and partnerships for top music venues in Chicago including Metro,
Smart Bar and House of Blues. She’s hustled for Coca-Cola North America
to build the vitaminwater and smartwater brands through
experiential + partnership marketing.
She’s led the development of both above-the-line and trade marketing campaigns for top craft beer brands including Elysian Brewing Co. and Kona Brewing Co. Virginia’s well-rounded perspective of the strategic goals of every player – brands, partners and agencies – provides a unique strength for all COR ideas that builds meaningful connections to consumers that last. She’s strategizing 24/7, calls Portland, OR home, is a Cubs ride-or-die and is a live music junkie.
Shane Gonzalez
Creative Director
Shane’s creative vision reaches far and wide – literally. He’s the creative mind behind transformation design work that has landed in Times Square, on billboards across the country, the back cover of Rolling Stone Magazine and at a grocery store near you. Shane always works to deliver transformational work for every client. Well-known for developing creative solutions that lead to fresh new perspectives for brands, he brings over 10 years of design and creative experience to the office every day.
Shane has led 360 campaigns for brands like Thermador, Tik Tok, Netflix and WD to name a few. When Shane’s not telling his cat to please get off of his computer keyboard, he’s manifesting a 49ers win and hitting the golf course with a cold Space Dust IPA.
Laura Lamude
Projuct Manager
If you have an American Express card, you’ve probably crossed paths with Laura’s work. Prior to COR, Laura led the development and launch of numerous rewards programs for both agencies and brands including killer, best-in-class travel packages for American Express Membership Rewards. Laura is a partnership and streamlining master, keeping COR client work organized and always on time. She lives in Huntington Beach, hails originally from Chicago, is not a Sox fan, and loves hockey.
