Creative And Strategy Director
Des Plaines, Illinois, Us
• Led all forms of brand, design and consumer insights research: Online and focus group concept validation, shop-alongs & in-store perception research, culturally-oriented brand visual language research (across different international brand regions), cultural design landscape secondary research and in-home ethnographies.• Elevated agency status with General Mills, transforming from "lowest-rated" agency to "poster child for agency excellence." by developing Phase 0 pre-design stage that drove better briefs, earlier client alignment and more meaningful and high-performing creative solutions.• Established Design Strategy Department, culminating in a 6-figure revenue increase and creation of new agency competency• Directed brand revitalization projects with creative team and client stewardship for major, multi-million and billion-dollar brands like Nature Valley, Yoplait, Healthy Choice and Tropicana. These were comprehensive projects that involved brand meaning shifts, brand leadership stakeholder management, brand research and deployment tactics across touchpoints.• Conducted semiotic cultural analyses for P&G brands like Downy and Puffs, Coppertone, Mars/Cadbury, and a Global Nuclear Power Collective• Developed design videos, principles and standards for major brands to guide partnering agencies and client company onboarding• Keynote speaker at How/Dieline Design Conference in Chicago, 2012 on design trend evolution and brand meaning.
