As a freelance brand and communications strategist I have specialized in helping companies define marketing strategy, strategic development, messaging, communications and customer engagement programs. Whether it is a new product launch or corporate repositioning, I have worked with emerging and high-growth companies to build brand awareness and strategic relationships which help them establish a leadership position.Select clients include: Google, Xerox Corporation, Wordnik, Barnes & Noble, Palm and Timbuk2

As the Strategy Director at Teak, I have been responsible for leading the branding and creative practice across the studio. Working closely with our B2B and BSC clients in a range of product and service sectors, we have successfully led and implemented complete corporate and product rebrands, content executions and customer engagement campaigns. As part of my responsibilities, I have led strategic pitch development for new business development efforts that have resulted in the winning of a number of new agency of record accounts as well as critical tactical project work.

I was tapped to lead the strategy and development of the Google Nexus website and consequently, lead the strategy for both the Google and Nexus brands, ultimately pitching the Google Nexus global advertising business. Working with the team at Autofuss, we won the account and as a result, I led strategy for the launch of the Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Google’s first explorations into branded retail with Google’s Winter Wonderlab.

With only four weeks to plan and execute, I launched Bot & Dolly’s documentary film Box. I singlehandedly developed and executed a public relations strategy that resulted in a strategic partnership with The Creators Project and articles from key technology and creative press that drove over four million views in three weeks. The resulting exposure created a groundswell of project enquiries for Bot & Dolly, many of which are currently in development.

As the Course Director Berghs Masters Program in San Francisco, I helped develop the course curriculum, establish relationships with course lecturers, planned industry visits and coached/advised students on the progress of their course projects.

As a Director of Brand Strategy, I was responsible for building the brand practice, pitching key clients on brand work, and leading and developing brand strategy while managing a group of strategists. My work resulted in three new clients, a running brand practice, the successful launch of three new and refreshed brands, the launch of a new packaging line, and producing and hosting Creative Social San Francisco 2009.Responsibilities• Managed and developed University of Phoenix rebranding including brand strategy, messaging, visual identity, and social media strategy• Managed and developed Yes To! rebranding including brand strategy, visual identity and new packaging• Lead the successful pitch for two wine brands from Fosters Wine Estates resulting in the repositioning of their Cellar No. 8 brand and the development and launch of their new SledgeHammer brand.• Lead the successful pitch for LG Mobile customer affinity program• Host and Executive Producer Creative Social San Francisco 2009

As VP Marketing and Co-Founder, I was responsible for corporate communications, branding, product specification, business development and content acquisition. My efforts resulted in the development of a consumer focused LightPole mobile application and web portal, as well as a white label software platform that operated as a software as a service business model that brought on business and content partners including the Bank of Communications (5th largest bank in China), Trulia Real Estate Search, Urban Mapping, Paper Magazine, Browstoner, Gothamist, Yahoo!, Yelp!, Platial, MappyHour and HotSpotr. My business development efforts also established LightPole as a Six Apart, Yahoo! and Nokia strategic developer.Responsibilities• Developed worldwide brand and marketing strategy, product UI, branding, positioning, and sales tools• Managed the development of the product user interface and experience for J2ME and iPhone applications• Led content acquisition and partner promotions/merchandising campaigns• Oversaw developer relationships including Six Apart, Nokia and Yahoo!• Managed external public relations team• Directed overall concept and development of the LightPole web portal and blog

When Treo managed to combine a mobile phone, handheld, and wireless internet into an all-in-one communications tool, a new category was born: smartphones. Who better to demonstrate their usefulness than the very people that the whole world wants to connect with?Avantgarde compiled a list of 300 innovators trusted in top circles in the worlds of entertainment, business, food, philanthropy and more – people so widely known and respected, they’re household names to us all. The result was a who’s who that included musicians Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed, Matthew Broderick, chef Mario Batali, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and many others.Step one was identifying the influencers, step two was influencing them. Avantgarde got the Treo 600 into the hands of these VIPs, letting the device speak for itself. It worked. The Treo became such an integral part of their daily lives, that Reed, Broderick, Batali and others became enthusiastic evangelists, happily agreeing to be photographed in portraits with their Treos. Aldrin and others went one step further, even talking about the product at Treo’s trade show booth. Not a dime was paid for these endorsements, proving that the most priceless PR is that which is generated out of genuine appreciation for a product.So wide were the ripple effects that they reached across the pond, where we established a European influencer base long before the product’s launch there. We even created influencer partnerships with companies like Coach, who designed stylish leather cases for this new breed of smartphone.

As the Director of Marketing, I was responsible for the development of the overall brand and marketing strategy. With an in-house promotion and web team and an external public relations firm, we effectively established the eBook category and positioned NuvoMedia as the technology and sales leader for handheld electronic reading devices. After launching a successful Christmas 1999 national advertising campaign at the height of the Dot Com media frenzy with only six weeks and budget of only one million dollars, NuvoMedia was successfully acquired by Gemstar.Responsibilities• Developed worldwide brand and marketing strategy• Managed worldwide launch programs and events• Oversaw worldwide public relations, managed external public relations team• Directed overall concept and development of the Rocket family of websites

As the Director of Consumer Marketing, I developed the strategy and managed the relaunch of the Kodak PhotoCD. Rather than leverage the existing photo processing channels which had failed to drive PhotoCD sales since its initial launch, I developed strategic partnership, co-marketing programs with software publishers to bundle digital photo processing services with their consumer-targeted digital imaging applications.Responsibilities• Managed Kodak photo processing co-marketing relationships• Directed development, manufacture and distribution of a two million unit processing program• Repackaged PhotoCD to reduce total product cost of product - Project resulted in a 90% savings in COGs• Migrated PhotoCD bundling program to the new PictureCD media with the launch of Microsoft PictureIt! and Brøderbund LivePix• Managed the development of Kodak's prototype online photo processing site in conjunction with Microsoft and the launch of Windows 95/MSN• Negotiated full funding for the prototype project from Microsoft