Professional Experience
Brand Strategy & Positioning
• Blaze Software Inc
• Carmel Partners Inc
• International Center for the Arts
• McKinsey & Co
• National Alliance for Media Arts + Culture
• Nokia
• Paragraph/Seibu
• Patrick Robinson
• PCTEL Inc
• Susan Dell Inc
• Swan Systems Inc
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Brand Naming
• Avisent Management Group (McKinsey/General Atlantic’s joint venture)
• Even (skateboarding/lifestyle brand)
• Firebrand Venture Partners (investment company)
• Hyphen (software-as-a-service)
• Igo Foods (specialty spices)
• Kudo Communications (PR company - UK)
• mb2c (management consultancy)
• McKinsey Silicon Valley / @McKinsey (nomenclature system)
• MGM (Pink Panther color nomenclature system)
• Paragraph (specialty retailer - Japan)
Brand Communications
• Asian Art Museum (exhibition copy)
• Banana Republic (direct mail, loyalty card copy)
• Catellus (ad concepts)
• Eircell/Vodafone (signage messaging system)
• Hewlett-Packard (printer copy)
• Macromedia (marketing copy)
• San Francisco Arts Commission (tagline, brochure copy)
• San Francisco Ballet (tagline)
• WHSmith (marketing taglines)
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (tagline)
Employment History
• NOON, Brand & Marketing Director (2004 - present)
• Culturebrand, Brand Strategy & Verbal Identity Consultant (1999 - present)
• Citigate Corporate Branding, New Business Director (1997 - 1999)
• Landor San Francisco, Marketing Manager (1995 - 1997)
• Landor London, Marketing & PR Manager (1993 - 1995)
• British Council, International Relations Officer (1992 - 1993)
Education
• University of Southampton (UK)
MA — Culture and Social Change (1991 - 1992)
BA Honors — English and Philosophy (1988 - 1991)
Accomplishments
• Published “Designs on Greatness” (European Communications)
• Winner of The Daily Telegraph limerick competition
• Selected for Rutgers University Exchange Program
• Selected by Project Trust for teaching English in Egypt
¦
NOON, Brand Strategy & Marketing Director
• Managing the NOON brand (online and off-line) from strategy to positioning, sub-branding, architecture, awareness, voice, messaging, copy and guidelines
• Inspiring teams (internal and external) and clients to push boundaries and effect positive change with innovative communication solutions - Blaze Software
• Providing counsel to senior leadership and developing brand strategy for multiple projects - Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
• Managing the strategic and creative process; turning marketing objectives into brand platforms and compelling brand narratives that engage consumers, motivate action and increase revenues - Patrick Robinson
• Leading and collaborating with high performance, cross-functional project teams and external partners - Avisent Management Group
• Developing consumer analytics, research methodology, discussion guides, conducting senior management / board of directors interviews and quantitative research - National Alliance for Media Arts + Culture
• Brand equity analysis and evaluation using primary and secondary research sources to draw key intelligence, recommendations and conclusions - Nokia
• Establishing brand architecture, nomenclature systems and information hierarchies - McKinsey & Co
• Defining target audience segmentation, developing brand essence, positioning, story, communications and value propositions using ethnography, semiotics and cultural insights - International Museum of Women
• A track-record of new business development and initiating opportunities with existing clients - Banana Republic
• Content strategy and development for social media channels (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)
• Instigating and executing marketing planning strategy
Culturebrand, Brand Strategy & Verbal Identity Consultant
• Launched own brand strategy, positioning, naming and writing business.
Clients include: Banana Republic, Center for Asian American Media, General Atlantic, HP, Inovus, Intrax Cultural Exchange, Liftec Inc, McKinsey, MGM, NOON, San Francisco Arts Commission, Seibu, Solitude Fly Fishing Co, Vodafone, WHSmith
• Developed relationships with disparate national and international creative partners and vendors
• Project management
• Writing proposals, creating presentations, pitching new business, developing creative briefs, delivering speaking engagements
Citigate Corporate Branding, New Business Director
• New Business wins included: Aegis Communications Group (naming), AT&T (phone packaging), California Bank & Trust (corporate identity), Caesars Palace (brand review), Exxon (retail concept), Getty Trust (museum signage), Invesco (corporate identity), Pacific Life (corporate identity), Shorebank (corporate identity)
• Instigated repositioning and developed new corporate name (from Bass Yager Citigate to Citigate Corporate Branding)
• Created the proprietary ‘CCB: Spark’ offering; a branding service aimed at start-ups and pre-IPO companies. Targets included, VCs, investment companies, incubators
• Developed relationships within Citigate and Incepta global network; Dewe Rogerson, Lloyd Northover, Citigate Albert Frank
• Developed marketing plans, biannual tracking, assessment and evaluation reports and presented to Chairman
Landor San Francisco, Marketing Manager
• Conducted and evaluated market research, competitive analysis, brand audits, audience segmentation and profiling to draw key brand insights, conclusions and recommendations. Clients included: Coors Brewing Company, Frito Lay, Gatorade, Microsoft, Neutrogena, Panasonic (Matsushita), Pete’s Wicked Ale, Rice-a-Roni
• Brand portfolio strategy consulting for Coors, Neutrogena
• Initiated and executed the writing of ethnographic brand stories to aid creative development. Clients included: Gerber Foods, Absolut Vodka
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams on naming, structural packaging and innovation ideation. Clients included: Philips Electronics (Velo), AT&T (Lucent)
• Partnered with research department in fielding qualitative research focus groups. Clients included: Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams), Frito-Lay (Lays)
• Partnered with public relations to brainstorm sector-specific marketing initiatives: Valentine’s Day ‘Red Hots’, GE, Airline branding
• Instigated, coordinated and executed marketing and new business initiatives
Landor London, Marketing & PR Manager
• Wrote press releases and pitched stories to national and international newspapers as well as trade publications. Clients included: Cathay Pacific, Doritos, FedEx, L’Oréal, Nagano Winter Olympics, Nestlé, Pepsi, Xerox
• Wrote articles and opinion pieces for topical issues including telecom branding, private label brand strategy and naming children
• Instigated and executed marketing, new business initiatives and follow-up for all brand practices; FMCG, Corporate Identity and Retail Environment Branding
• Project management
• Managed marketing and new business database