Creative Direction
A sound strategy and creative vision isn’t enough — you have to hook up the Frankenstein wires and bring it to life. If you need a leader to step in and coordinate and get it all… back of the net?… I’ll Ted Lasso the heck outta that.
(I love soccer, and also Roy Kent, leave me alone. But also don’t, I’m a people person).
Skillshare’s Brand Guide
Trailer ad — From a series of creative cuts from class intros to tell the Skillshare story
Business & Brand
Strategy
Positioning targets the right people.
The right message makes an emotional connection, it “gets” them.
Skillshare was trying to be all things to all people.
Marketing, dance, data analytics, sales, crochet…
But, looking at the engagement data (how long someone watched, how often they came back, if they converted, one-off learning vs. habitual) alongside the size of the market, one thing became clear. We had to focus on creative classes. The team tried multiple angles, but they were too vague, they didn’t connect. I stepped in and landed us here…
From nice but vague (Everyone’s Creative) to emotionally resonant. The new tagline embodies the platform’s true value: when you make stuff, you grow in unexpected and wonderful ways. Being creative is about your whole life. It’s both who you are and who you become.
Marketing Copy
End-to-end strategy, matching voice and tone, writing for all platforms, leading your in-house creative team, helping clients see the light, meeting aggressive deadlines, navigating weird feedback, working with mountains of background materials, conducting good research… yes please!
A Cannes Award-winning video about the Morton Salt Girl’s 100th birthday.
Skillshare’s onboarding experience.
A book of personal stories from USAID’s partners: The Strawberry King (an exerpt).
An ebook for Bank of America and Equifax.
An infographic on the future of pharmacy for AmerisourceBergen.
An explainer for Cisco’s Mobility IQ.
A video for LinkedIn about why and how people change jobs.
Instructional Writing
The instructional writing genre tends to require a solid understanding of UI/UX, an ability to write to online course templates, and a second sense for how interactive functionality serves storytelling. This is both writing and product development. Projects include a 80-module, interactive sexual harassment training for a global healthcare brand.
Please get in touch for samples.
Taglines
Taglines need to do a lot of work, quickly. They have to embody a brand, explain what the company does, and evoke just the right feel, all while being catchy and memorable. Sometimes they come in a flash. Other times they take all the creative muscle I’ve got. I live for the tagline challenge!
Kia Motors
Form, meet function. Style, meet road.
This tagline was for the Kia Sedona, a luxury family vehicle focused on practicality and beauty. The target demographic really wants a performance vehicle but, they have a family dog.
Interpark
We saved your spot.
This parking garage company created an app for booking parking spots for events in downtown Chicago. They wanted their tagline to communicate the app’s function while feeling nice, friendly, and accessible, in line with their brand voice.
More Belief
Get the picture.
This graphic recording company creates live drawings for corporate events, but also packages digital images for marketing. They wanted a tagline that alluded to the benefits of the work for elevating ideas, while communicating what the company delivers.
Content Strategy
My approach to strategy is academic: meticulous research, many sources, careful insights, and peer review. I excel at translating insight into measurable content and concepts that convert.
Please get in touch for samples.
A typical strategic engagement looks like this:
A meeting of the minds to understand goals, challenges, and past work.
A content audit and review of the existing strategic portfolio.
A period of deep research. This typically includes many 1:1 interviews resulting in a report of findings and insights (often with multiple review rounds).
Ideation. Depending on project goals, this may result in recommendations for changes to existing content, ideas for new content, or a full editorial calendar.
In many cases, I also help create the content I recommend. I often serve as Creative Director for the content team.
And just for fun, here’s a little foray into science reporting:
How Do You Use Bacteria to Save Bats? Very Carefully.