Retail, Shopper & Marketing push @ Adrenalina.

Joining Adrenalina to build and raise the profile of the agency’s retail marketing business are seasoned pros Jules Aspesi, who assumes the role of new business director, and Michelle Maldonado, who has been named vice president of operations and public relations.

Aspesi will be responsible for developing and executing the agency’s consumer promotional programs and strategies aimed at driving brand retail sales in the store, at the aisle and at the shelf and for supporting the marketing plans and targeted initiatives of existing and prospective clients. Her appointment is effective June 1.

Aspesi comes to Adrenalina from Hasbro, Pawtucket, R.I., where she most recently served as a consulting senior marketing manager for the toymaker’s global consumer promotions team. Prior to that, she worked as account director at the Omnicom Group’s Alcone Marketing Group, Darien Conn., overseeing all promotional aspects of Heineken USA’s Hispanic brands via Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma (CCM). In this role, she is credited for the seamless management and mounting of key Hispanic sponsorships for the Tecate brand, including the multi-city soccer series “Futbol Tecate 2008” and the TV awards show “Tecate Premios Deportes 2008” via Univision.

In her new role as VP of operations and public relations, Maldonado will oversee the agency’s media relations team to create strategic, intimate emotions about a brand that are designed to make lasting impressions with shoppers in the store. “The brand-consumer approach at the retail level is more personal and provides an effective alternative to the traditional TV or radio spot when you only have 30 seconds to communicate a message,” said Wernicky.

Maldonado is a former VP and Hispanic marketing director of Emanate, New York, where she led public relations and marketing efforts for Bank of America. Prior to this, she directed the public relations division of WingLatino/Grey Global Group, managing Hispanic efforts for clients and brands including Intel, IBM, Allianz Life Insurance, Dulcolax (Boehringer-Ingelheim), Slim-Fast Foods Inc. and McNeil Pharmaceuticals.

She also has held public relations posts at Edelman, serving clients including Kraft, Schering-Plough, Ortho-McNeil, Georgia-Pacific and Johnson & Johnson; and at The Bravo Group, working with brands and clients such as Post Cereals, Oscar Mayer, Pfizer, U.S. Army, U.S. Postal Service and Whitehall-Robins.