CONNECTING BRANDS TO CULTURE
20+ years of strategic leadership, connecting brands with culture. A super-connector with the knowhow to harness a powerful network of thought leaders to solve client problems. Proven track record of identifying ways to impact the way people think, feel and do in order to drive brand growth. Trusted advisor, compelling presenter, effective cross-functional team builder, sponsor, and partner. Experience in Auto, CPG, Finance, Entertainment, Luxury, Wellness, Tech, Fashion, Financial Services, in both B2B and B2C sectors.
EXPERIENCE
VMLY&R - Strategy & Insights
Managing Director, Nov ‘21 - Jun ‘23
Group Director, May ‘21 - Nov ‘21
Director, Mar ‘20 - May ‘21
New York, NY
· Managing a team of strategist in support of CPG client including brand, digital, social, and commerce
· Defining architecture and brand strategy including portfolio management and multi-channel GTM campaigns across digital, social, tv, print, & shopper
· Critical team member in growing new business through winning pitches and growing existing client relationships
· Lead client think tanks hosting thought leaders across high profile industries, e.g., entertainment, fashion, tech, and music
· Partnering marquee client with A+ Hollywood production company to produce long form branded entertainment
Freelance Strategy Director
Nov 2019 – February 2020
New York. NY
The MARC Foundation – Leading board members and executive committee through workshop process in order to create a brand architecture to bring meaningful new purpose and mission for this 501c3
HMG/MediaMonks – responsible for consumer-centric strategy pitch with mass market auto brand for a new loyalty CRM platform
Hudson-Rouge (WPP)
Strategy Director (Contract)
September 2019 – November 2019
New York, NY
Client: Lincoln Motor Company
Lead sprint to define the 2020 cross-channel experiential strategy for Lincoln Motor Company, leveraging brand activations, social media, and digital
Brought innovative thinking to the program by uncovering cultural insights in the consumer journey, expanding the scope of the campaign into additional markets in new ways
Included consumer journey mapping, culture trends, market research, qual/quant research, and competitive analysis
Hudson-Rouge (WPP)
Senior Strategist (Contract)
August 2016 – April 2019
New York, NY
Client: Lincoln Motor Company
Reporting into CSO, serving as a trusted, client-facing advisor to the Lincoln Motor Company in developing a meaningful new brand architecture, digital transformation, integrated campaigns, and luxury category expertise
Briefed cross-channel agency teams on campaigns for vehicle launches, retail events, brand initiatives, loyalty programs, CRM initiatives, experiential activations, and digital products with activations across digital, social, shopper, earned media, and broadcast with a focus on translating engagements into conversions
Briefs drove effective creative work by providing key insights including culture trends, competitive set, market research, consumer behavior, and current market activity
Notable campaigns and products include:
2017 Wish List Campaign - EFFIE FINALIST
The Lincoln Way App - MMA SMARTIE GOLD
Lincoln’s Enhanced Build & Price Experience - MMA SMARTIE BRONZE
2018 Wish List Campaign - AdWeek Ad of the Day – Strongest December sales in over a decade·
Activations/partnerships at Pebble Beach, South Street Seaport (NYC), Dallas Cowboys
2020 Continental Coach Door - Special Edition Vehicle sold-out within 48 hours
Miami Ad School
Instructor, Social Media Strategy Bootcamp
October 2018 - December 2018
New York, NY
Provided weekly instruction in strategic planning with a focus on social media tactics as part of a 12-week training for early-career advertising professionals
Lectured on the art of writing a creative brief that delivers meaningful and inspiring insights
Managed 3 teams comprised of strategists and creatives going into final client pitch
Freelance Strategy Director / Content Producer
Los Angeles - Cape Cod - New York
May 2002 - August 2016
Clients: HP, Ford Motor Co, Yahoo! DreamWorks, Miramax, Luxury Fashion, Financial Services
Facilitated the engagement with brands and creatives, strategizing to create innovative content that harmonizes business objectives with expected customer responses
Assembled scalable teams to realize client initiatives, including recruiting, and managing throughout creative process
Authored brand strategies across verticals including product integration deals, producing feature films, branded content, websites, and social media content, white papers, and e-commerce
Destination Films
Executive VP, Creative Strategy
January 1999 - March 2002
Los Angeles
Defined the creative strategy to produce and release 12 theatrical feature films using a $100M fund including THE WEDDING PLANNER and THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE
Performed all staff management to build a matrixed team of 100, including 2 Vice President, 3 Creative Executives and support staff as direct reports
Paramount Pictures
VP, Creative Strategy
January ‘96-’98
Los Angeles
Reported to Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman, managing 4 direct reports
Liaised with agencies to secure material, writers, directors, and talent to implement creative strategies
Developed commercially viable feature film concepts and shepherd them through production
United Talent Agency
Motion Picture & Television Agent
March ‘93- November ‘95
Los Angeles
Created new business opportunities for writers, directors, and actors, packaging talent with literary material
Notable sales include THE NOTEBOOK, THE NANNY and Ellen DeGeneres’ bestseller, MY POINT AND I DO HAVE ONE
Developed talent Spike Jonze, Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Sparks
EDUCATION
Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), BA, Philosophy
Brooks School (North Andover, Massachusetts)
STRATEGY
2017 Wish List Campaign
*Under Effie Consideration
Role:
Director, Integrated Campaign Strategist
Challenge:
The end of year is crowded with auto brands trying to sell down the current model year. How could we leverage the equity of Lincoln’s WISH LIST campaign to drive dealership traffic?
Insight:
Across cultures, we all value spending time together during the Holiday Season. However, in the new, always-on world of handheld devices, we are often distracted from making the connections that truly matter.
Although the PIA study proved that emotional based advertising is more effective than rational, our client still needed to be convinced. A review of the previous campaigns convinced them to allow us to send the creatives in an emotional direction.
Result:
The campaign was activated across broadcast, social, digital and in cinema. In addition to a :30 and a :60 broadcast spot, there was a digital short produced for social. The brand saw increased engagement across social platforms, establishing new benchmarks. In addition to extremely positive commentary on digital platforms, the brand received hand-written fan mail praising the spot.
LINCOLN ENHANCED BUILD & PRICE TOOL
MMA SMARTIE GOLD MEDAL
Role:
Content & Cx Strategy
Challenge:
Build a more intuitive user journey, increase completion rates and dealer leads.
Insight:
Consumers want a streamlined, effortless way to build and price Lincoln vehicles to be more effortless.
Result:
Lincoln saw a 183% increase in lead generation, 42,6% increase in completion, and a 10% increase in inventory searches.
LINCOLN WAY APP
MMA SMARTIE BRONZE MEDAL
Role:
Content & Cx Strategy
Challenge:
Bring luxury into the 21st Century by creating a compelling App for Lincoln Owners
Insight:
Luxury is about more than material quality; it’s about experiences. The Lincoln Way App is designed to not only offer unprecedented control over your vehicle, but to also offer enhanced services such as helping you find parking and invitations to special Lincoln events.
Result:
The Lincoln Way App has seen double the enrollment of previous generations. The acceptance rate to targeted VIP programs has been as high as 65%. All-access passes to the Tribeca Film Festival were offered to Black Label owners within a 50-mile radius. Within 24-hours, The Lincoln Concierge placed all 100 passes.
MMA SMARTIE BRONZE MEDAL
2018 Wish List Campaign
AdWeek, Ad of the Day | January 11th, 2019
Role:
Director, Integrated Campaign Strategist
Challenge:
The end of year is crowded with auto brands trying to sell down the current model year. How could we leverage the equity of Lincoln’s WISH LIST campaign to drive dealership traffic?
Insight:
Across cultures, we all value spending time together during the Holiday Season. However, people aren’t the only family members excited to see each other! Inspired by the social media phenomenon of people’s dogs “losing it” when seeing their owner after a long time apart, we decided to tell a holiday story from the perspective of the family dog.
Result:
The campaign was activated across broadcast, social, digital and in cinema. In addition to a :30 broadcast spot, there was a digital short produced for social. The agency convinced the brand to send The Dogist, an Instagram Influencer with a huge following, to Paradise CA and photograph the dogs who were separated from their owners in the devastating Camp Fire and post them to his followers.
CONTACT
