Moving People to Action
Brand Design + Strategy
Copywriting + Art Direction
Performance Marketing + Marketing Operations
I will suck the raw yolk out of eggs if it will make magic.
(It usually does.)
For a presentation that involved smashing empty eggshells, I once sucked the raw yoke out of a dozen eggs. I actually did it three times — modifying the technique each time to make the extraction process more efficient (and removing the need to suck raw egg into my mouth).
It’s emblematic of my working style — have a big vision, do whatever needs to be done to have the biggest effect, then optimize for performance.
In my 15+ years of branding and marketing in the education/non-profit sector, I have launched multiple website overhauls and updates, codified (and personalized) communication systems, optimized digital and print campaigns, and built platforms for positioning and messaging — all in service of building brand culture around innovation, inspiration, and transformation.
And, yes, that egg presentation went over smashingly…
A 12-Foot, Brand-Building Beach Ball
At summer orientation, a large group of EXPLO faculty members had just succeeded in keeping twenty beach balls aloft in the air for two minutes.
Suddenly, the Chariots of Fire theme song began playing on the PA.
Over the crest of grassy hill, a giant, 12-foot beach ball appeared and began rolling towards the crowd.
They gasped.
If the faculty were led to believe that the exercise was to showcase how they would be working together — amidst chaos and fun — to keep a lot of balls in the air, they suddenly realized that EXPLO was about something much, much more.
As that beach ball soared above the joyous scrum, it brought the faculty members back to their childhoods, to the joy of surprise, the tactile feel of discovering that life is full of amazing possibilities (and bigger than you ever imagined). It provided a tangible taste of the magic of EXPLO and framed the essential question for the staff that summer: Am I producing a giant beach ball moment in my classroom? On my floor? In the quad?
It’s was an experiential metaphor that the organization leaned into all summer long. (And it didn’t hurt that the students eventually got to play with the ball, too.)
An Authentic Program Launch — Storytelling Through Video
“It’s Like We’re Already There”
The goals of the EXPLO New York program launch were (1) to generate buzz and excitement about the new campus, and (2) to introduce a new brand platform targeted at middle school students that focused on independence and personal growth.
Our in-house creative team scripted and executed four-days of video and photo shoots throughout New York City and the Sarah Lawrence campus. Utilizing a mix of alumni students and hired talent, the resulting creative assets felt familiar to the EXPLO brand, but with a wildly new and aspirational pivot.
A New Day in a New Life played to a rapturous reception for students during the summer, delivered an 85% engagement rate on launch landing pages, and provided multiple creative assets for digital advertising, hero videos, and website updates.
Logos, Taglines, and Naming Conventions
Keeping it Simple, Focused, and Clear
Wordmark + Tagline
When updating the brand identity for “Exploration Summer Programs,” the non-profit embraced its quirky and colloquial name “EXPLO.” The addition of the new tagline “Learning Through Exploration” allowed the organization to retain the origin of its name — Exploration — and frame its central mission beyond summer programming.
Distinctive, Bold Wordmark
Playful organization name buttressed by solid, open architectural forms
Tagline that frames and crystalizes broader organizational mission
Program Naming
After many years of expansion, EXPLO offered 17 different summer programs for five different age groups on three different campuses. The program matrix became complex, and families were confused about what exactly EXPLO offered, and where to even begin their search. The updated naming convention restructured the offerings into 3 programs, differentiating based on location, grade level, and age-appropriate positioning.
Vastly simplified program options with clear starting points
Program locations are leveraged without being tied to host institutions
Options codified throughout program matrix, with age-appropriate differentiation
The Front Door, The Side Doors, The Basement
Website Innovation Through Iteration, UX Testing, and Site Analysis
At EXPLO, I strategized and managed several multi-stage website development cycles to produce seamless, iterative upgrades (and site overhauls), always with an eye towards storytelling, brand experience, and measurable data to track the results. In addition to winning a CASE design award, website highlights include:
Deployment of new website conversion points which saw inquiries jump 40% and stealth applicants (non-inquiring enrollments) drop from 85% to 44%
Structural SEO update that resulted in a 26.5% increase in annual organic traffic
Landing page optimizations that led to a 28.5% increase in lead conversion
Video placement testing that increased per-visit viewing by 80%
Spend Less, Enroll More
Using Data Mining + Analytics to Improve Direct Mail
EXPLO’s annual in-house designed and executed direct mail campaigns were the highest performing marketing channel for generating new domestic enrollment but also had the highest customer acquisition costs (CAC). For the 2019 campaign we shifted gears on the list selection of the campaign, building predictive enrollment models by matching 2018 census data with the previous year’s flyer performance.
Utilizing the new list selection models to select households most likely to enroll, rather than most likely to inquire, EXPLO reduced its mail send by 20% while simultaneously posting a 6% increase in enrollment attributed to the campaign.
The Key to Creativity is Learning to Pickle
Brand Delight + Engagement via Email
The Weekly Edventure newsletter was designed to delight EXPLO families (and future families) by sharing unique takes and a fresh lens on the world of education. We A/B tested a variety of formats and content — from introducing families to Emilie Wapnick’s TED talk about multipotentialites’, Harvard professor Richard Light talking about taking chances, and, yes, even how pickling is connected to the creative process.
In two years, the Weekly Edventure grew to 20,000+ subscribers
The newsletter averaged a 38% open rate and a 6% click-through rate, both well above industry standards
The Gettysburg Address was 272 words
Marketing Emails Shouldn’t Be Any Longer
By being singularly focused in each communication — and doing a lot of A/B testing along the way — EXPLO optimized its drip and nurture campaigns to annually return a 15% higher open rate and 20% higher click through rate.
By generating additional user data and site interactions, the segmented and personalized email campaigns helped the Admissions department identify leads to further target — these highly qualified leads converted to enrollments at 4X the rate of regular leads.
Building a Culture That Embraces Video
At EXPLO, we annually produced 40+ internal and external videos a year.
To get buy-in, we started by getting EXPLO’s greatest asset — its employees — comfortable in front of the camera telling stories. It may not show in the segment above, but most of the people interviewed for this piece were terrified of being filmed,
FWIW, my tool is featured at the 3:50 mark in the video.
And a Culture That Embraces Play
Yankee Swap
Through a set of codified rules and clear instructions —hot-chocolate-mix-and-mug sets are verboten — the $20-limit Yankee Swap is quickly turned into a creative, cultural event.
Favorite submissions: A lock-pick set inside a package mounted with a door lock, fifteen cut-rate 35oz tubs of cheese puffs in an ENORMOUS box, and a sealed aluminum can filled with glitter and a can opener (inside the can).
Green Pants Day
Once a year, on May 26, Green Pants Day is celebrated. Arguments commence about what does and does not constitute a “Green Pant” — both in terms of color, clothing, and spirit — but the celebration is an easy one: wear green pants. (At the end of the day only you can know if you’ve fully participated or not.)
Magic 8-Ball Friday
Every Friday at 4pm, the office all-call beeps: “Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s that time of day: Magic 8-Ball Friday. Please prepare a question that may be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. When you have your question, think on it… We are shaking the Magic 8-Ball… And the answer is…”