BeenThereDoneThat is a marketing consultancy who believe that to solve the world’s biggest problems you need to engage the world’s best thinkers. It does this by accessing a Community of 400+ subject matter experts, from across the marketing mix and the globe, who all have in excess of 20+ years of relevant specialty experience.

Key clients:

• PepsiCo – led team to articulate and activate PEP+ (PepsiCo Positive), their initiative to deliver positive action for both Planet and People. This was across their portfolio including: Gatorade, Doritos, Ruffles and Variety Packs. This also included Frito-Lay’s sustainability activation at Super Bowl 56, in Arizona.

• Kraft Heinz – led team to deliver marketing capabilities training for the newly formed North America Zone. We refocused the new marketing organization to use a growth mindset and powerful questions in order to elicit the desired incremental value from their portfolio of iconic brands. This program took 250+ marketers through a 3-month training, delivered through webinars, Q&A and a custom-built online training portal.

• Tropicana Brands Group – led team to identify and deliver their innovation pipeline.

• Colgate Palmolive – led team on Oral Care to position their Optic White range of products.

• Quaker – led team to rename Aunt Jemima, Vibrant Oats and develop their innovation pipeline.

• Mazda – led team to create a consumer facing Big Brand Idea and develop an internal Marketing Philosophy.

• Marriott – won business and led team to Position, create Name, Visual Identity and Campaign Messaging for new luxury vacation club.

Roadies Coach Inc. is a transformative experience start-up company. Using rock star coaches, guests travel by night arriving at a new location each day to maximize the time in each destination.

• Leveraged my experience and insight gleaned at IHG as the foundation and impetus to launch the company with all the bottom-up challenges and complexities of any new business.

• Launched company on a bootstrap budget and still gained coverage in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure.

• Secured investors and fundraising. Target recruited Advisory Board members by pinpointing areas in which we needed further expertise.

• Headed national operations, established key partnerships and authored strategic pivot due to COVID, resulting in the launch of CAREfully Curated Tours, which was again featured in The New York Times.

Reporting to the SVP Global Brands, was responsible for delivering “creative excellence” and the development of global frameworks, processes, standards and metrics to drive efficiency/scale and effectiveness of marketing activity across the full portfolio of IHG brands globally.

• Spearheaded an international internal and external team that implemented comprehensive global research, generated actionable insights and underpinned the creative development to launch Global Creative Brand Platforms and Design Philosophies for InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. This provided much needed global cohesion and efficiencies and subsequently yielded a significant increase in working dollars for local markets.

• Championed the creative development and execution of the first global campaign for InterContinental Hotels in a decade. This was a break-through, digitally led, fully integrated campaign that included a variety of media placement and the creation of a Global Content Hub to house multi-media “Stories of the InterContinental Life.” Millward Brown praised it as ‘a highly successful campaign, beating norms, standing out as very different and resonating on an emotional level to grow brand sentiment.’ This saved local markets a significant amount of non-working dollars.

• Architected new global internal Ways of Working and the Agency Operating Model. Lead all agency relationships with particular focus on evaluating and optimizing the WPP relationship – resulting in a new agency leadership team and renegotiated rates for significant cost savings.

With an OPEX budget of $80 million, led a high performance, fully integrated ‘in’ and ‘out’ of store brand marketing communications team to direct complex and interdependent media plans. This was instrumental in achieving $35,780M in revenue.

• Implemented the planning and execution of all LBIs (Lead Business Initiatives) and secondary events, end-to-end across all national customer marketing channels.

• Evaluated all sponsorships and talent deals. Incorporated the latest market trends to ensure budget efficiencies and communication effectiveness.

• Directed creative, tone-of-voice and design execution of all integrated campaigns and engaged, influenced and built consensus with internal stakeholders across a complex, challenging matrix structure – including the Board.

audacious group was created to fill a gap between what clients need to create great work and what the established agency model offers. This pioneering way of working was born from the audacious idea of allowing each unique problem to dictate each unique solution – a bespoke agency dedicated to creative excellence.

Key clients:

• Sharecare. Launched this high profile – Jeff Arnold (WebMD), Dr. Oz and Oprah Winfrey – company as the foundational client. Instrumental from the very beginning, helping launch the company by articulating the strategic positioning of the brand, developing the brand identity and creating the launch campaign.

• The Economist. Launched Ideas People Media – a fully transparent vertical ad network of 65+ digital publications, working directly with the N.A. publisher. Provided ongoing high value strategic and creative advice for their clients including HP, GE, SAP and Chevron.

• The Coca-Cola Company. Analyzed and developed fresh solutions for existing dysfunctional agency relationships. Working with the Venturing and Enterprising Brands Group, audacious group provided an agile cost-effective alternative to the traditional agency offer.

• Jose Cuervo. Repositioned the core Jose Cuervo brand working hand-in-hand with the CMO. Re-positioned and re-launched pre-mixed ready-made margarita product.

• Verifone. Created a Big Organizing Idea and go-to-market strategy for Verifone Media, which was subsequently brought to life creatively in both traditional and digital channels.

Hired to lead Chevron and then immediately was given the troubled Disney account. Then pitched and won the J.P. Morgan business, as well as brought in work for Jose Cuervo. I generated +50% increase in agency revenue through organic growth and new business wins. Expanded the agency by opening new office in Chicago, which grew from 12 to 120 employees under my leadership.

Key clients:

• Chevron. Secured the new business and immediately executed a $14m TVC production – possibly the most expensive TVC ever shot. Continued to build client confidence, which resulted in the account moving away from a 20-year relationship with Y&R as McGB become the Agency of Record (AOR). Within two years, successfully brought in the Digital, Recruitment, Events and CSR businesses and grew revenue by 110%.

• Disney. Salvaged this troubled account and under strong leadership completely turned it around. Reinstalled confidence and secured additional lines-of-business including: Disney Vacation Club, Disney World of Adventures, Disney Cruise Line, and Hong Kong Disney. Established continued commitment to the Annie Liebowitz ‘Portraits’ campaign. Grew revenue by 80% at a time when the economy adversely affected the client’s business.

• J.P. Morgan. Headed the pitch team to win this prestigious account at a time of global financial crisis. Integrated Bear Stearns post acquisition. Created new positioning and brand identity for Investment Bank, Treasury Services and Asset Management. Grew our responsibilities resulting in an increase of $4.5m of annual revenue.

Recruited to head the International American Express account, with a specific global responsibility for their proprietary card business. Then very quickly pitched, won and led the BlackRock account.

• Orchestrated the 360° communications team for BlackRock as they merged with Merrill Lynch Investment Management – the biggest merger to date in the asset management category. The merger has since been considered a great success resulting in the share price rising 30% within six months of the deal closing

Worldwide lead on global products developed in the European Studio and responsible for influencing and executing the International Studio’s output.

• Oversaw the launch of Harry Potter, the most successful EA game launch ever, including a simultaneous global introduction across four gaming platforms. Harry Potter achieved 5m units sold in Europe alone within its launch period. This was a critical project for EA globally, where product development, license management with Warner Bros and global marketing were all led by Europe.

• Resurrected the FIFA franchise. Led comprehensive Pan-European research that illuminated issues and gave direction for complete reappraisal of Product Development and Marcoms. FIFA now generates over $1B revenue annually.

• Launched the FIFA World Cup 2002 game, which was the most successful launch of an event-driven game in EA history. Created integrated marketing campaign, an international virtual World Cup event and a hugely successful, critically acclaimed Pan-European advertising campaign that generated record sales.

• Launched iTunes, with a new humanity-based campaign.

• Launched the new iBook as part of a ‘digital hub’ strategy positioning the product as the center of teens’ digital lifestyles.

• Launched Titanium G4 PowerBook resulting in demand that outpaced supply.

• Directed $43M budget in APAC. Joint responsibility for $140M USA budget.

• Brand Responsibility: Coca-Cola, Nestea, COOL from Nestea, New Brands (including Dasani)
• Regional Responsibility: Consulted on all T.C.C.C. portfolio of brands in A.P.A.C Division. 

• Responsible for brand Coke’s Holidays and Celebrations. Produced the most enduring TVC of all time – ‘Christmas Caravan.’ Conceived and developed the first successful global attempt to leverage the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

• Developed and executed worldwide, the first new campaign on brand Coke in seven years – ‘Enjoy.’ The campaign produced the highest and third highest scoring ads in persuasion ranking, according to research done on all commercials produced for the brand.

• Created the marketing strategy and executed the consumer communications for the birth of a new water brand, Dasani.