
share this page
About
Roland Jacobs is President & CEO of AspireUp, a strategic marketing consultancy dedicated to helping companies grow. Roland founded the company in 2002 and has overseen its rapid expansion. He is a recognized expert in the areas of marketing strategy, branding and innovation and consults with large corporate clients and nonprofits across a wide range of B2B and B2C industries. Among his clients are Microsoft, Wells Fargo Bank, Staples, Reynolds Consumer Products, Johnson Outdoors, WernerCo, ITW, Univar, GHX, Materion, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and Wausau Homes. In addition to his work as a consultant, Roland has served as a guest lecturer in marketing strategy and innovation in the MBA programs at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. Previously, Roland served as the top marketing officer at three different companies that grew rapidly under his leadership. He was the chief marketing officer responsible for the launch of Orbitz, the online travel company founded by the major airlines. At Orbitz, Roland oversaw a team of 500 people to deliver what was labeled “the most successful e-commerce launch in the web’s history.” Roland also served as SVP Marketing & Business Development for DigitalWork and VP Marketing for Petopia.com. Roland developed a strong foundation of marketing skills in the packaged goods industry. He spent 10 years with The Clorox Company focused on building brands, introducing new products and expanding into new countries. During his tenure, he rose to Global Category Director with marketing responsibility for Clorox products across 33 countries. Roland began his career in financial services as an Assistant Vice President in corporate banking with Bank of Boston (now Bank of America). Roland serves on the boards of several companies and nonprofit organizations. He is also an advisor to CEOs of early-stage companies and an active angel investor with Hyde Park Angels and Harvard Business School Angels of Chicago. Roland received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA, magna cum laude, from St. Lawrence University.Company Spotlight in Tech

Highland Solutions
videos (1)
Jeff Nixon

ThinkCERCA
videos (1)
Eileen Murphy

Seller Labs
videos (1)
Jeff Cohen

Bacon Sports
videos (2)
Rob Cressy

Solving IT
videos (1)
Paul Taylor

Burwood Group, Inc.
videos (1)
Jim Hart

Inquidia
videos (1)
Steve Miller

Squadhelp.com
videos (1)
Darpan Munjal

Covalience, LLC
videos (1)
Kevin Sandahl

physIQ
videos (1)
Gary Conkright

Shiftgig
videos (3)
Eddie Lou

HigherGround Managed Services
videos (1)
Brian Brammeier

MFV Expositions
videos (1)
Rob Lancit

1871
videos (2)
Howard Tullman

Lemko
videos (1)
Bo Pyskir

Framework IT

AIT Worldwide Logistics
videos (1)
Vaughn Moore

eComfort.com
videos (1)
Pavel Sokolovsky

KOMET of America, Inc.
videos (1)
Jan Pflugfelder

Charlie
videos (1)
Aaron Frazin

SkillNet
videos (1)
Mike Kritzman

Foxtrot
videos (1)
Michael LaVitola

Narrative Science
videos (1)
Stuart Frankel

CBIG Consulting
videos (1)
Todd Nash

INOA Ventures
videos (1)
Paul Gustafson

doc&i
videos (4)
Brad Becker

Intetics, Inc.
videos (2)

Newark element14
videos (1)
Tamara Jurgenson

Punchkick Interactive
videos (2)
Zak Dabbas

Scientel Solutions
videos (1)
Nelson Santos

Keono
videos (1)
Michael Medema

Framework IT
videos (2)
John Fakhoury

Cityzenith

Soothe
videos (1)
Chris To

Ensono
videos (2)
Tim Beerman

Stratosphere Networks, LLC
videos (3)
Kevin Rubin

ParqEx
videos (1)
Vivek Mehra

Aprimo
videos (1)
John Stammen

Kapow
videos (2)
Chris Brown

Trading Technologies
videos (1)
Rick Lane

Northwestern Mutual Chicago
videos (1)
Nathan Kinzinger
Joseph Annotti Consulting
videos (1)

Market Track
videos (1)
Kristopher Kubicki

Catalytic
videos (1)
Jeff Grisenthwaite

InstruMMents Inc.
videos (1)
Mladen Barbaric

Insuresoft
videos (1)
Tony Villa

Cloudbakers
videos (1)
Mitch Greenwald

Sunderland Coaching
videos (1)
Debra Sunderland

Highland Solutions
videos (1)
Jeff Nixon

ThinkCERCA
videos (1)
Eileen Murphy

Seller Labs
videos (1)
Jeff Cohen

Bacon Sports
videos (2)
Rob Cressy

Solving IT
videos (1)
Paul Taylor

Burwood Group, Inc.
videos (1)
Jim Hart

Inquidia
videos (1)
Steve Miller

Squadhelp.com
videos (1)
Darpan Munjal

Covalience, LLC
videos (1)
Kevin Sandahl

physIQ
videos (1)
Gary Conkright

Shiftgig
videos (3)
Eddie Lou

HigherGround Managed Services
videos (1)
Brian Brammeier