Built and led the external agency team that operated as a dedicated marketing partner for Navistar’s commercial truck and engine business expansion over a 10-year period. Led the Drive Together strategy and integration models that guided the company’s significant growth through market share increases across all business units, successful new product launches, and expansion into new territories globally and in new sectors like the military. By applying best practices and innovation from business-to-consumer marketing models, strengthened brands across the company’s product portfolio and forged deeper customer relationships in this traditional business-to-business marketing category.

PepsiCo’s Propel was undergoing an identity crisis, had been operating unsuccessfully as a nebulous lifestyle water, and its business was in decline. As the strategic lead for the agency team that successfully pitched its vision for transforming the brand, was instrumental in guiding the Propel team to a more relevant and more confident positioning as, The Workout Water for Passionate Exercisers. This brand strategy transformation, combined with a new targeted customer engagement strategy that prioritized event, content, and digital marketing over more traditional mediums, immediately set the brand on a sales growth trajectory and an all-in embrace of a more authentic and resonate brand positioning that continues to this day.

As the company’s first CMO, architected and led Q30’s transformation from research and development to brand commercialization for its foundational and transformational Q-Collar product. Developed the Q30 corporate brand and reputation strategy to build credibility with, and commitments from, constituents critical to the business’ success, including regulatory agencies, investors, medical influencers, schools and universities, military procurement, retailers, sports leagues, and governing bodies. Led the Q-Collar’s Change the Game brand, e-commerce, content, digital marketing, and media strategies for U.S. and Canada product launches and ongoing marketing, which has driven steady month-over-month sales growth since inception.

As lead advisor to the private equity-backed YoCrunch Yogurt company, engineered the brand’s repositioning from a kid indulgence to focusing on health-conscious moms looking for a snack their kids will actually eat. Effectively deployed limited budgets through a highly targeted and occasion-based It’s Crunch Time social media strategy that pioneered brand gamification and built communities of like-minded, idea-sharing moms. The two-year campaign generated hundreds of thousands of loyal and active social media followers and drove 30%+ sales increases each year; growth that was instrumental in the company’s eventual sale to Danone.

Assembled and led the agency team that devised a national texting championship to launch LG’s “QWERTY” keyboard phone line that offered consumers faster typing capabilities. Based on a deep immersion to find the phone’s true value proposition, the agency conceived a breakthrough creative concept that positioned the product as the ultimate texting phone for the highly influential and loyal teen segment and drove record high levels of media and social media engagement for the company. The LG National Texting Championship generated a 30% increase in unaided brand awareness (2X the goal), $15 million in PR value (3X the goal), a 90% increase in product recommendations (4X the goal), and evolved into a multi-year, global brand platform that built awareness, authentic excitement, and whole new levels of engagement with this prized younger demographic for the LG brand.

Strategist leading the successful and enduring positioning transformation of Autozone’s ALLDATA automotive software business unit. Led a top-to-bottom business and brand audit to identify opportunities for improved organizational focus and alignment. Designed and developed a new brand and messaging architecture that created a sharper competitive point of difference and more effective sales conversion model under the simple and powerful Automotive Intelligence brand platform. Led brand, messaging, and customer engagement integration strategies between ALLDATA’s parent company AutoZone and the company’s other brand for repair professionals, Duralast.

A key leader of the agency team responsible for the communications strategy and marketing campaigns for the public launch of the largest corporate merger in history between Exxon and Mobil. Operated as the lead integrator for the Better Together corporate reputation campaign that launched the new company’s mission and vision around the world. As Director of the U.S. region, played a leading role in the development and launch of the subsequent $150MM We’re Drivers Too portfolio brand campaign that was deployed in over 100 countries.

Built and led a customized direct marketing engine for the Optimum Cable company on a strategic foundation of creating more human, personal, and entertaining brand touch-points that customers and prospects would want to engage with—in stark contrast from competitive cable company marketing. Built a team comprised of 20+ direct marketing specialists across strategy, creative, and production disciplines responsible for managing a fast-paced client service model that generated an average of three-campaigns each week and led to a 15% annual customer acquisition growth rate.

Inspired to create more choice and competition in America’s political party system for the Exhausted Majority of Americans rejecting extremism, cofounded, named, and branded the Serve America Movement (SAM), and guided the organization’s messaging strategy over a six-year period as a Board and Executive Committee member. SAM’s, A New Party for the New Majority positioning helped drive the organization’s growth of loyal members across four states, and led to its 2022 merger with two other political advocacy groups to form the country’s third largest political party, called The Forward Party.

Montenegro Amaro, a legendary brand in Europe that dates back to 1885, was looking for a unique marketing platform from which to dramatically expand their awareness and relevance in the US market. Based on a deep analysis of their business and brand dynamics, led a “trade first” strategy that leveraged the best known bartenders in the country to serve as the brand’s voice for distributors, influencers, and the media. Montenegro’s quality and diversity of ingredients made it an authentic brand for leading mixologists who are the trusted experts to discerning drinkers and the campaign quickly exceeded business goals in key performance measures — social engagement, PR impressions, and most importantly a triple-digit % increase in case sales.

Lead strategist for the client / agency team that conceived and executed the Ram On Demand test drive program which changed the company’s approach to product demonstrations by creating a more responsive, customized, and on-location brand experience for prospective customers. Documenting and promoting the All Business Test Drive experiences in broadcast and digital media increased brand engagement, demonstrated the company’s unique understanding of, and commitment to, its small business customers, and drove increased sales conversion rates for the Ram’s ProMaster line of commercial vans.

To help codify an organic company culture, led the development of Fathom’s 10 Maxims that became the pillars upon which the company’s entrepreneurial spirit rested. As described in the company’s internal- and external-facing messaging, “They set us apart. The keep us together. They help produce great work. And we do our best to live up to them every day.”

The 10 Fathom Maxims are:

1) Fast & Smart 2) Tell a Story 3) Take Pride 4) Be a Student 5) Make it Better 6) Be Honest 7) Reach 8) Every Bit Counts 9) Simplify 10) Enjoy the Moment

Gatorade was looking for an experiential, high engagement component for its launch of the G-Series portfolio, which offered a new range of products to hydrate athletes before, during, and after competition. Led strategy and consumer insights for the development of the G-Series Mobile Locker Room concept that gave high school athletes access to a traveling professional grade locker room experience, “chalk talks” from pro athletes, and access to unlimited product trials in an environment that embodied the product’s intended before / during / and after usage occasion. The mobile unit directly engaged thousands of influential varsity level athletes, generated 25MM media impressions, high social media engagement and sharing rates, and brand favorability and purchase intent ratings in the 70%-90% range.

Introduced the first ever values-based strategy for the Canadian Government’s tourism enterprise, called Destination Canada. As polarization and acrimony were reaching a fever pitch in America, devised a positioning opportunity to lean into Canada’s reputation for kindness and a welcoming spirit as a foundational attractant for young, urban dwelling Americans. Led a content partnership with CNN’s Great Big Story and developed a multi-part True North content series that drove substantial increases in social media engagement and US visitors to Canada.

Served as interim CMO to lead the merger of three democracy reform groups under one mission, vision, and brand. Led team integration and communications strategy for the new Forward Party’s public launch, comprised of website, social media, blog, e-mail, event, and PR campaigns under a single-minded and inclusive Not Left, Not Right, Forward brand strategy. Within two weeks of the public launch, the highly coordinated earned- and owned-media roll out (no paid media) reached 50+MM TV viewers, generated a 200% increase in website traffic, and double-digit % increases in social media engagement, small dollar donations, and new volunteers pre / post announcement.