A few samples of my work.
Signet Jewelers
Transforming an outdated corporate website into a revenue-producing step in the customer journey
-
Our brand needed an identity beyond our NYSE symbol. Signet’s corporate website was the primary way investors, media, and prospective employees learned about and engaged with the $7 billion, publicly-traded company. More than 200,000 people visited Signet’s corporate website each year, but we were missing an opportunity to contribute to jewelry shoppers’ purchasing journey. Despite the website’s high visibility, it had been neglected in several key areas:
- Consumers’ information needs were not accounted for in the site, potentially negatively impacting the experience for KAY, Zales and Jared customers
- The site experience and design did not reflect the company’s cultural and strategic transformation into a digital-first retailer
- The design and site architecture was more than 8 years old
-
I led a full website redesign and a team of designers, web developers, and experience designers. This included incorporating all new visual assets, copy, and information architecture. In addition to optimizing content for key audiences like investors, media and prospective employees, improvements were added for consumer-friendly experiences that helped customers learn about Signet and its brands.
-
The redesign and consumer-friendly upgrades contributed to a significant increase in traffic from jewelry shoppers, creating an incremental revenue stream for the company.
20x increase in visitors referred to the brand ecommerce sites, leading sales
SEO improvements led to 50% jump in impressions and clicks from Google in first year
Visitors spent an average of 20 seconds more on the new site versus the previous version
Signet Jewelers
Introducing Sustainability to Millions of Jewelry Shoppers Through National Brands
-
A 2019 McKinsey study projected that 20-30% of fine jewelry sales would be influenced by sustainability by 2025. Signet and its consumer brands (KAY, Zales, Jared) were in danger of losing out on current and future sales due to a lack of awareness about its sustainability and citizenship efforts. Smaller, less accomplished jewelry competitors were using sustainability as a differentiator. Signet had a history of leading the jewelry industry in responsible sourcing and charitable giving over the last 20+ years, yet none of these had been communicated in a consumer-friendly way.
-
I brought five departments together to develop Signet’s first consumer-friendly approach to the company’s sustainability and citizenship story. This included the sustainability/ESG team, consumer insights, legal, and marketing teams from four consumer brands.
I contributed to the design of Signet’s first-ever consumer research study focused on sustainability in the jewelry category. These insights helped develop the copy and creative assets used by all brand marketing teams.
Finally, I led the internal “roadshow” with brand marketing teams to empower them to tell Signet’s sustainability and citizenship story and incorporate it into their customer journeys.
-
For the first time, national jewelry brands such as KAY, Zales, Jared and Piercing Pagoda shared their sustainability and citizenship leadership with consumers. A few examples include:
Jared partnered with the Natural Diamond Council for its “Thank you, By The Way” campaign. These assets were launched in 130 Jared locations and on digital platforms, gaining 650,000 impressions within the campaign’s first two months.
Jared conflict free diamonds | The Jared Promise
Kay Jewelers: Ethical Jewelry Sourcing
Zales: Diamond Origins
Banter by Piercing Pagoda: About Us
Impressions from Google for Signet’s sustainability content was up 400% in the first year after launch. Visitors to Signet’s sustainability content coming from Zales’ website were up 500% for the first year.
FEMA
Building a Social and Digital Team from Scratch
-
Americans were using digital channels to consume information more than ever before, yet FEMA’s communications team was not equipped to meet the need. In addition, Americans were turning to social media to ask for help or seek information during times of emergency. The need to grow the agency’s digital engagement team became apparent after a successful response to Hurricane Irene, which struck the East Coast in August of 2011. The overwhelming number of social media posts from impacted Americans and the national attention gained by FEMA’s online presence showed the potential for adding to the digital engagement team.
-
I led a pitch to FEMA Administrator, Craig Fugate, to invest $1 million to grow the digital engagement team. The plan included specialized positions that were the first of their kind in the federal government. The new team would include social media listening experts, multilingual social content creators, mobile app developers, and a training lead focused on building the social media capacity of FEMA’s 100+ External Affairs professionals. The strategy called for this new digital team to focus on improving FEMA’s ability to use digital channels to help Americans during disasters.
-
The proposal was approved and I led the recruitment, hiring and onboarding of the 9 newly created positions. I successfully recruited seasoned experts from the American Red Cross, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, state governments, and creative agencies.
When Hurricane Sandy struck in 2012 (a similar part of the country to Hurricane Irene in 2011), the new team’s performance led to positive recognition from the White House, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and FEMA leadership. In addition, my team led a new process for FEMA to intake citizens’ request for help using social media channels. This resulted in disaster survivors receiving immediate help from federal officials, and permanently changed the way FEMA used social media in an operational capacity.
FEMA’s online following grew exponentially over a 1-month period at the height of Hurricane Sandy, ultimately reaching 1 million followers across all channels. Today, the team has since doubled in size, further adding to FEMA’s reputation as a one of the leading federal agencies for implementing new approaches to engage with Americans.
A blog post a day for 2 years.
To hone my skills as a quick-turn writer who can consistently create relevant stories, I published at least one post per day for FEMA’s blog…for two years. The consistency paid off, drawing 1 million + visits to the new blog in its first two years.
Leading innovative campaigns.
I’ve led unexpected and effective campaigns to better reach the niche audiences. A recent example is a paid social and display campaign for investors that drove +1 million targeted impressions and tens of thousands of website visitors.
Where I excel
-
Right Brain + Left Brain
I have a rare mix of skills, experiences, and curiosity that are critical for a digital-first communications and brand executives. I’m comfortable interpreting data to optimize campaigns and channels, interpreting financial statements, leading creative brainstorms, articulating a creative vision, and motivating a team. I’m proud to have received my MBA from Kent State University.
-
Storytelling + Performance
I specialize in creating compelling stories for multiple channels that help achieve strategic business goals. I’ve personally published and overseen direction for thousands of pieces of content across all mediums, then measured success across social, websites, SEO, mobile platforms, and traditional media. I’ve led teams of 10+ social, web, mobile, graphic designers and videographers.
-
Driven by Outcomes, Not Outputs
At every stage of my career, I have concepted and delivered breakthrough ideas, created brand activations, and built new channels that engage and inspire audiences. But success requires more than a great idea: one of the ways I differ is my focus on measurement, tying communications outputs to key business outcomes.
Want to see more?
Let’s connect.
