HP wanted to way to inspire and engage customers on their security software and consulting. I came up with “Hacklogic”, a concept loosely based on the “Art of War” and Sun Tzu’s axiom “Know Your Enemy”. Basically HP would help customers think like a hacker, seeing their system vulnerabilities and coming up with a solution in partnership with HP.
The look and feel completed the concept by using graffiti art as part of the visual foundation, an artful tie in as these artists hack our visual landscape.
Not only did this concept get approved and produced (HP dialed it back a bit to fall better within their brand guidlines), but it delivered a year over year account for my team that to date totals more than 6MM in revenue.
On Campus Marketing built its business around direct mail and online sales for consumer durables sent to college students from their loving parents. A whole host of care package options populated their website and catalogs, to a nationwide reach and impressive revenue.
Then Amazon rocked their world.
They came to myself and my team with a brand problem, asking how they could stand out in a crowded and competitive marketplace. We gave them an answer that first challenged them then delighted them and won the business.
We told a package company that it wasn’t about what was in the package. It was about what the package meant to their customer.
Audience research revealed that to parents and their college-age kids, the 4 years at university is a one-way door, creating a bittersweet distance as part of the natural change in life. OCM’s products and services serve as a way to remind families of their shared love and memories - THAT is what the brand is about, and that is what they’re selling.
The client loved the concept and we loved their business, over 350K YTD.
Edelman had no dynamic content or social video capabilities when I started their digital creative team. Over the years we grew these skills and team, building our kinetic type, stop-action animation, motion graphics and video chops. Here’s a quick compilation of the work.
WHO: Electrify America, a coalition of EV auto Manufacturers
WHAT: New England Based Advocacy Campaign - Media Relations, Social, Website, Advertising
IDEA: Coming in at a 1.6MM budget and winning a GOLD ADDY this year, this integrated digital marketing campaign is something I’m proud of, and a creative victory for my team.
A coalition of US auto manufacturers wanted to drive conversion of electric vehicle sales in New England states (notoriously a hard to reach customer base). Our response was a comprehensive comms plan built on a simple strategy, normailzing the electric vehicle lifestyle for 3 select audiences coupled with a fresh visual and copy style, as well as a strong campaign brand.
This ongoing campaign continues to hit its marks with both the client and audiences, before I departed Edelman we won a follow on SOW after the closure of the launch scope.
WHO: ESA
WHAT: Advocacy Campaign
IDEA: The Entertainment Software Association wanted to engage gamers in the voting process, and deliver more value to their member companies like XBOX and Playstation. We developed campaign brand and social media campaign that resonated with audiences, and the client and brought home an ADDY win.
WHO: National Constitution Center
WHAT: Media Relations, Website, Social Content
IDEA: The National Constitution Center hired myself and my team to promote something pretty special, they found one of the original copies of the original Bill of Rights previously thought to have been lost - in New York City no less. As part of the campaign celebrating this historic document’s return to Philly, we asked folks who know and appreciated the power and meaning of the Bill of Rights to speak out about how it effected them. Service men and women, new US citizens and Americans who traveled abroad responded with their stories, sampled briefly in this teaser.
WHO: My Dog Bowl
WHAT: Website, Brand
IDEA: California based company needed a digital doorway for their pet food and supplies home delivery business. We gave them a unique look and feel and voice, as well as a handsome website, and the orders came pouring in.
WHO: Nature Conservancy
WHAT: Advocacy Campaign, Brand, Social
IDEA: Nature Conservancy should have a big voice as issues about the environment and our part in preserving this amazing planet trend more and more in the news each day.
It doesn’t. Membership isn’t growing and neither is the awareness of this legacy “green” brand. They asked my team for help.
Our concept and approach was to focus on the idea of “conservancy”. The new generations don’t know or understand this word, its not something you hear in normal conversation.
By landing on what this word means, how it is the core of an enduring mission, and pairing that ownership with illustrating it through the lives of members (effectively walking the walk), Nature Conservancy would have a differentiating story in the sector.
The client loved the idea, but we didn’t win the business. How do we know they loved it? We saw the exact execution and campaign a few months after we lost the pitch on their social media channels. It happens.
WHO: AHIP
WHAT: DC Advocacy Campaign
IDEA: AHIP wanted to advocate for seniors, an important audience for their member insurance companies. New legislation was on the horizon that might effect coverage for this vulnerable segment of the insured population, and AHIP needed some ideas on how to rally the troops in DC and represent their constituents.
In a 3 day spec creative fire drill we developed this concept and direction, focusing on the story told by the capable hands of seniors who counted on their insurance in their golden years. Won the business.
WHO: AHA
WHAT: Awareness and Education Campaign
IDEA: AMA came to my team with a problem. People know not to put salt on their foods, but their overall salt intake is too high. Turns out many foods people eat have high amounts of salt, “hidden” in restaurant foods, or other common foods, and that hidden salt is pretty scary for your health.
We ran with that information in our concept. We developed a character, “SCARY SALT”, that would hide and jump out at audience members - in a restaurant, in the office, at home from a pantry. Capturing these reactions made for great video content that the client and audiences loved.
ADDY Judges loved it as well, this teaser video received a GOLD ADDY and Best in Show for 2016.
I enjoy leading teams, mentoring, and seeing my peeps grow and develop. Creating a team culture of creativity, accountability, great work and all around good energy is always a goal, and I hit a sweet spot with my crew at Ogilvy here!
Character design and illustration has always been something I’ve been interested in - both as an artist and a fan. Animation and comic books are a big source of inspiration for me for work in and out of the office. Here are some Dungeons and Dragon characters I play along with some other friends, and examples of a book I started about a college for super-heroes.
WHO: MCM
WHAT: Identity Development, Design, Media Relations
IDEA: Redesigning the identity for this historic race and organization, as well as introducing it in my first press conference, was a career highlight no question.
WHO: American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers
WHAT: DC Advocacy Campaign
IDEA: Retool or repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard by presenting the fact through the lens of real people. We took this wonky, dry material and made it real through emotive, creative execution - driving awareness and support in both media and DC influencers.
WHO: Trader Joe’s
WHAT: Packaging
IDEA: TJ’s is unique in that fully 85% of the SKUs on the shelves are private label. I saw this as an opportunity, raising the bar on the packaging design as East Coast Creative Lead. The result? 15-25% increase in sales on all SKUs designed or redesigned by myself and my team.
As an artist if I don’t create each day I feel like a fraud, and more than that the work suffers, in the studio and at the office. Typically I work in large format, in a studio, and my pieces take months to complete.
I asked myself “What if I turn this on its head”? “What if I work smaller, quicker, and work anywhere?”
So I bought a large sketchbook. It sat blank for a few weeks. Then I bought a smaller sketchbook. It also sat unused for weeks.
Discouraged about it one day in my office I opened my desk drawers and saw a sharpie and post it notes pad. I though “Ok if I can’t fill one of THESE up a day I should just hang it up.” Happily I managed to do just that, for a year. Then another year.
The “Draw Every Day Series” continues to resonate with me and with attendees to my studio or exhibitions. Packaging the little drawings up in plastic bags gave the small pieces a consumerist, “art snack” feel - and seeing row upon row of them on a wall is a an kind of visual diary of life that’s interesting.
Happy the series packs a punch on a few levels - good stuff ;-D
WHO: Tropicana
WHAT: Word of Mouth Marketing with BzzAgent
IDEA: Create a new identity for the customer, invite them to become fine fruit juice sommeliers with an insider’s look at what goes into making the world’s first fine fruit juice.
WHO: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
WHAT: Advocacy Campaign
IDEA: How do you get congress to really listen to the people’s call for progressive energy policy? Tell 40 million co-op members to call Washington. We inspired 5 million of them to do so.
WHO: Association of American Railroads
WHAT: Advocacy Advertising Campaign
IDEA: How do you prevent re-regulation legislation? Position a 150 year old industry as cutting edge. Demonstrate that it answers the country’s most pressing challenges. And fight with facts.
WHO: Applied Energetics
WHAT: Identity and PR engagement
IDEA: WHO: Applied Energetics
WHAT: Identity and PR engagement
IDEA: How does a company at once seem cutting-edge yet carry the weight of historic experience? Our creative introduced company founders and their new technology with a legacy look and feel and message that echoes Thomas Edison.
WHO: Biotechnology Industry Organization
WHAT: Brand Campaign
IDEA: Biotechnology was seen as more science-fiction than science fact, yet its practice and benefits are all around us. We illustrated its accessibility and ubiquity using a familiar artifact - the road sign icon.
WHO: HPE
WHAT: Social Content Marketing
IDEA: In November of 2015 HP split into two companies, HP Inc. and HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise). Because of our strong work with HP, Edelman Digital DC won the work for introducing HPE to the world, responsible for social and digital media outreach.
There were 2 key challenges for this work. The first was interpreting the new brand in to social content. Edelman was handed an 80 page “brand book” that HPE had developed with another agency. It was filled with a lot of superlatives and a lot of paragraphs about those superlatives. We needed to make it intuitive. The second challenge was the audience. IT engineers hate marketing. They are a bottom line folks who need to be won over and engaged in a non-traditional way.
We solved for both by creating a social persona. “HUGH” (short for Hewlett Packard of course) was born and quickly beloved. We discussed what he looked like, the clothes he wore, the music he listened to, how he took his coffee. We designed how he spoke and how he would interact with our audience if he worked in their office. Then we packaged him up in an internal set of training modules and promotional materials and brought him to anyone who was creating content for HPE (in addition to our efforts the individual business units and agency partners also produced content for this global brand). We promoted and adopted the mantra “WWHD” or “What would HUGH do?” when it came to making creative decisions about creating content.
It worked. With HUGH HPE experienced a 4X jump in engagement metrics. We kept refining HUGH and the process, with HPE being a flagship legacy account for my team worth 1.6MM annually in revenue.
WHO: Corporation for National and Community Service
WHAT: National Brand and Service Campaign
IDEA: “Selfish Volunteering”. What if the call to national service started with a focus on the volunteer, and avoided over-used messages that had saturated the volunteering space? What if we directly addressed the personal impediments to volunteering? What if we helped build a new generation of volunteers?
I’ve kept a studio since graduating college as a Fine Arts Major. Making art augments everything I do professionally, and provides a steady source of joy and fulfillment. These are a series of large oil paintings (as big as a bedspread) I did of my neighborhood. They garnered a solo exhibition in Baltimore a few years back.
WHO: Thunder Bay 1636 Clothing
WHAT: Brand, Website, Social
IDEA: How do you punch through into a market dominated by powerful, established players like Ralph Lauren and JCrew? With a solid brand and concept based on an authentic story. Lacrosse is a First Nations sport “discovered” in 1636 at Thunder Bay, a region near America’s Great Lakes.
Using a compelling brand concept - “The Original American Athlete”, striking photography (with real lacrosse athletes) and design, we delivered a high-end, sports apparel brand to a select audience, launching a business and driving sales.
One of the most satisfying things about my work at Edelman was building something that wasn’t there before - namely a profitable, award-winning digital creative team. We went from 1 full-time member of the team (me) in May of 2014 to the great crew you see here.
We were successful due to a few key ingredients. Full voiced and courageous support from leadership, close partnership with other group leads, an Operations team that reported to me and understood both the creative process and creative product, and a culture that emphasized craft, partnership, hard work and family.
At the end of the day we billed 3.6mm in annual revenue at 8% profitablility (one of the only profitable creative teams in the Edelman network), winning 6 gold/silver ADDY awards (a first for the DC office) for Fortune 500 clients like Hewlett Packard Enterprise and SCJohnson.
WHO: Property Room
WHAT: Brand, Social, Website
IDEA: This unique auction site needed a story and look to make it stand out from ebay and other sites. We worked closely with the client to evolve Property Room from flea market to “what a find!” - and sales increased by 10-15%
WHO: Small housecleaning business.
WHAT: Brand, Identity, Digital, Print
IDEA: As a probono client, we partnered with Veronica to develop her footprint in the market, leveraging her deep commitment to customers and doing a great job. We called this “Scrub Brush Clean” and used that brand idea as the cornerstone of her business.
I so enjoy identity development and have had many opportunities to do this work as both a creative director and a designer, here are some samples of logo design I’ve developed.
WHO: WSPA
WHAT: Media Relations, Advocacy
IDEA: In the western states as well as nationwide, legislators and energy producers and distributors are getting together to fill the demands of a growing population. The landscape is charged with concerns on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the environmental discussion. We developed a campaign based on the idea of collaboration and inclusion - asking audiences to use “and” over “or” - and it resonated with both the client and stakeholder groups.
WHO: MAYO Clinic
WHAT: DC Advocacy Campaign
IDEA: The Mayo Clinic wanted to team up with legislators to drive healthcare forward. We helped focus and refine their POV to take to the hill.
WHO: Aramark
WHAT: Social Content Marketing
IDEA: My team loved working with this client, and the client loved these Halloween animations for their instagram channel. Building these mini-sets and our stop-action animation chops added to the reward of these fun executions.
WHO: ACS
WHAT: Poster Design
IDEA: Sometimes our best work is for a pro bono client. Promoting a Roaring 20s Themed fundraiser for ACS was good work in more than one sense of the words.
WHO: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
WHAT: New Business Proposal
IDEA: The CMS RFP asked agencies to help them activate the boomer base of Medicare users, reminding them to steward their coverage year over year. We took an approach that celebrated this audience, giving them an anthem to carry into their mature phase of life. Simple execution, solid copy, we won the business.
WHO: Jim Casey Youth Initiative
WHAT: Anthem Video, Cause Development
IDEA: Youths who age-out of the foster care system have few options. Jim Casey needed a quick and memorable video to illustrate the challenge to seed support and funding. We delivered this work to client and audience acclaim.
