WEB DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATION CONSULTATION

ABBOTT (MINDSTREAM INTERACTIVE)

SCOPE: Multi-scale project engagements - on a macro level, develop a new, enterprise Brand Resource Center to house all brand assets (artwork, imagery, templates, guidelines, voice) to gain better adoption and regular use by employee and external partner users across the globe. On a micro level, collaborate on the multi-lingual launch of Abbott’s Global Point of Care microsite and a communication campaign and content strategy around the product suite.

CHALLENGE: Help shape the strategy and deliver on the scope to develop an enterprise website to serve the needs of a global body of users that included employees, contractors, and external vendors. This also included ensuring our client’s success in terms of delivering a product that made their colleagues’ jobs easier, more efficient, and would grow the enterprise and house of brands aligned with business goals.

DELIVERABLES:

• Global Stakeholder Interviews

• Customer Success

• Competitive Audits

• Workshop Planning

• Survey Design and Management

• Data Analysis and Management

• Project Collaboration and Agency Partner Management

• Content Strategy and Creation for Channel Activations (Email and Web)

APPROACH:

I conducted a number of stakeholder interviews, from internal and external users, across the globe. This, in addition to a series of audits helped us understand the current state of the platform (BRC), roadblocks to adoption, and user pain points. As a team, we conducted competitive audits and gathered additional inputs all to shape the redesign.

RESULTS: Abbott BRC’s extensive content resources are now easier to find and load quickly. Users are no longer redirected to downloads that are not clearly differentiated from one another. The experience is more rich encouraging greater use of brand materials. This led to an enterprise email project driven by persona insights aligned to product sales, adoption / sales, and news.

MX/DIGITAL & PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE

Ohio Life Sciences

BACKGROUND: Expand an engaged, investment-oriented member base, activate stakeholder advocacy efforts in priority areas, define roadmaps to address key drivers of industry growth, and establish organizational readiness to achieve near-term goals.

CHALLENGE: Grow the industry through connected investments and funding, talent pipeline, and innovative/clean spaces.

DELIVERABLES:

• Member Experience

• Customer Success

• Thought Leadership

• Affinity Mapping/Content Strategy (Social and Web)

• Email Strategy & Campaign Development

• CRM Data Management

• MarTech and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platforms

• Data Analysis

• RFP Project Management and Agency Partner Management

• Event Project Management and Activations

APPROACH:

I deeply engaged with the organization’s stakeholder base through regular communication, audience research, key trends, directed communication, events, to drive engagement and understand the climate and pressures on businesses across the health and life sciences. I audited key communication, developing an affinity map to drive member success. By people at the center of everything we did, we uncovered the user’s perspective, how the organization could best serve these needs through the digital ecosystem, channel activations, and physical experiences, and drive growth.

RESULTS: Membership revenue is up 12% vs. 2023. The organization’s brand channels are up 20% across social media followers; up 20% in LinkedIn reactions; up 15% in email campaign Open Rate and up 20% in Click Rate across email in 2024 to date.

BRAND EXPERIENCE

THE OHio State University (OFFICE of the CHIEF WELLNESS OFFICER)

BACKGROUND: The Ohio State University and its Chief Wellness Officer are national leaders in health education and delivery of care. With multiple business goals including marketing to specific segments of future and current HCPs, enterprise cost savings for Ohio State, and being a partner to academic institutions to build global wellness, a comprehensive strategy and tactical activations was needed of programs, tools and people resources.

CHALLENGE: Build a physical and digital platform for health and wellness centered at colleges and universities across the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

DELIVERABLES:

• Brand Story Development

• Content Marketing (Paid and Organic)

• Strategy and Ideation

• User Personas

• Thought Leadership

• Photo Shoot

• Print, Social, Digital, Email, Webinar, Event Marketing, and Online Community

• Content Layout and Design

• Social and Web Analytics

APPROACH: Begin by developing a strategic marketing plan and brand guidelines to clarify and expand the brand narrative. Second, dig into content management, marketing, and curation by managing the brand’s online presence in Drupal, layout and design of content, and the partnership of original content and curation of content from member and affiliated organizations and universities, and executive brand communication. I managed channel communication across print, social, digital, email, events, and community management (via Mighty Networks) using a variety of tools for content planning and management. I also conducted regular data analysis in order to report progress, tweak campaigns accordingly, and evolve the ecosystem. 

RESULTS: Ohio State’s College of Nursing social media presence and membership of the healthy academics community grew 30% in one year. Email campaigns posted an average open rate of 28.5% weekly. One, single face-to-face event yielded 98% engagement (in the event app), thus the strategy evolved to scale ways to connect regionally, nationally, and globally. Efforts included an episodic content plan, deepening audience segmentation, and driving better conversion from form completion/intent to purchase to joining to meaningful member engagement (defined KPIs).

PRODUCT EXPERIENCE & SALES STRATEGY

Eternal Water

BACKGROUND: Eternal Water comes from pure and pristine sources in the United States. The product is positioned as the purest U.S.-sourced water that travels through a natural filtration process, absorbing essential minerals, making it naturally alkaline.

CHALLENGE: Design and implement an email marketing approach to increase distribution/sales, ramping up the monthly, membership-based offering.

DELIVERABLES:

• Product Story & Experience

• eCommerce & PoP Sales Strategy Recommendations

• Competitive Audit

• Email/Content Strategy

• Data Analysis

• Project Management and Agency Partner Management

APPROACH: My team and I assessed the current state of bottled water and the naturally sourced category across the U.S. and beyond. I conducted a competitive market audit to understand the landscape of premium, bottled-at-the-source water to understand the ecological, media and consumer landscape. Although the scope only required an approach to email, I also conducted PoS/in-store surveying for a 360 experience, offering a customized approach to specific segments. We presented considerations for a word-of-mouth/influencer/social media campaign to complement each drip campaign and incorporate peer reviews, recommendations, and athlete-endorsed (NIL) products. I also conducted an audit on product design and national media with recommendations related to consumers’ ecological concerns and product design preferences. The recommendations and tactical steps for an improved future state were well received and have helped the brand to experience significant growth.

RESULTS: Eternal Water switched to a thinner, pressure-sensitive label to help lessen the environmental impact, and demand for this purified, bottled water has continued to increase. It is the fastest-growing premium water in both dollars ($150M) and units in the U.S.

Battelle for Kids

Ohio Appalachian Collaborative (Keira McGlone Consulting, LLC)

BACKGROUND: The Ohio Appalachian Collaborative (OAC) was established as a partnership among 21 rural districts and not-for-profit partner Battelle for Kids (BFK). The mission is to provide enhanced educational opportunities to more than 34,000 students and strengthen the ties between education and economic development and bring students hope and aspiration for a brighter future.

CHALLENGE: Connect busy educators around six key areas of professional learning that support their efforts to build pathways to opportunity for students in rural communities.

DELIVERABLES:

• Content Management and Marketing

• Brand Communication and Messaging

• Social Marketing

• Blogging

• Analytics

APPROACH: I led the content migration and platform development of hundreds of user-generated content to a new Learning Management System (LMS) (powered by Schoology). Through team collaboration, educators' engagement grew, and valuable resources became accessible at scale for the first time. I extended the brand and created key deliverables: a content calendar, a messaging strategy / audience map, posted blog content, tweet chats, and email campaigns. I reported aggregated data across web, email and social analytics, adjusting the strategy as appropriate.

RESULTS: Implementation of the LMS and the supporting communication channel campaigns improved the resources for 3,200 educators and 34,000 students which positively impacted the overall learning environment.

• Learn more: this improved online environment linked career pathway resources and educators to better deliver education and training linking student interests to jobs. This continues to impact the state of Ohio’s workforce and economic development.

CHALLENGE: Raise awareness with a limited budget. And, overcome some long-standing, misperceptions, utilizing strategies and deliverables relevant to the "always-on", 24/7 prospective student.

DELIVERABLES:

• Strategy and Ideation

• RFP/Agency Partnership/Project Management

• Brand Architecture & Messaging - (from Brand Standards to application as a Live Chat Script)

• Photo & Video Shoot

• User Personas and Student Profiles

• Process Development

• Print, Direct Mail, Social, Digital, Email, and Content Marketing / Storytelling

• Website Development and Experience-focused Microsite

• Digital and Out-of-Home Advertising

• Brand Promotion & Event Experiences/Displays

• Analytics

APPROACH: Strategic ideation by writing briefs, proposals, and plans with integrated communication strategies targeting a variety of audiences and influencers. In developing the brand strategy and gaining insights, we refined our prospect funnel to incorporate specific tactics to attract and encourage students to our majors. I led an RFP process to hire a partner firm that quickly realized the unique experience and job outcomes of our students. The agency developed a brand story platform, which leveraged Ohio State’s global brand and our unique sub-brand. A marketing campaign extended the strategy and tactics to high school students and their influencers. Through primary and secondary research (facilitated focus groups, ethnographic research, and user testing), I developed user personas. The agency and I partnered to define and develop requirements, design and layout, and a consumer-focused web application. From an ongoing basis, I conducted usability exercises to ensure the site’s success across segments.

Brand Extension: I created a strategic, multi-channel communication plan and was part of a content marketing team to develop and manage channel campaigns across web, social, and email. From creating data visualizations, to brand narrative pieces, to scientific research papers, I extended the narrative through a “bite-snack-meal” approach to the content strategy. The strategy also extended to events, as I led the development of a new display installation with interactive kiosks and digital activations to drive traffic. I monitored social and web analytics (Google), in order to report to executive leadership. 

RESULTS: Our email campaigns posted an average open rate of 26%. Our telephone nurturing and face-to-face events yielded the highest return at around 90%. And, in the first year, the college experienced a 10% increase in applications. Campaign content continued to be developed and messaging strategy evolved through personalization of the campaign, "Be the One", to align with talent retention and workforce goals.

USER PERSONAS & CX/DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

JobsOhio and Find Your Ohio (Mindstream Interactive)

BACKGROUND: JobsOhio hired Mindstream Interactive to assess the current state of their website and user personas in order to develop an evolved JobsOhio.com online experience. The work for Find Your Ohio similarly focused on user personas driving online job application activity.

CHALLENGE: Create a seamless online experience for a variety of user types and personalities telling the JobsOhio story in a meaningful and relevant way in order to connect to build businesses, attract and retain talent, and drive economic growth in Ohio.  

With Ohio ranking amongst the world’s largest economies, JobsOhio, the state’s economic development engine needed their online presence to best target businesses and job seekers.

DELIVERABLES:

• Stakeholder Interviews

• User Research

• Persona Development

• Journey Mapping

• Paid & Organic Media Planning

• Communication Audit

• Data Analysis

• Future Product Planning

APPROACH: Collaborate with a team to evaluate macro and micro trends impacting the economic landscape of Ohio. I conducted stakeholder interviews, user testing, and audience intelligence research in order to understand audiences’ wants and needs at speed with experiences on jobsohio.com and findyourohio. From this, I developed robust personas and journey maps and content items were collaboratively tested between Strategy, UX/UI and Data to analyze performance layered with the behavioral insights.

RESULTS: The approach contributed to a 34% increase in form submissions over 30 days. Given that Google organic search drove the majority of organic traffic, the collaborative teams held a storytelling workshop to propose evolved content approaches layering user nuances to improve SEO. The goal: as a strategic client partner, design a future experience plan to help improve the user-centricity of the site structure, content optimization, keyword research, and link building to move the organization (and Ohio’s economy) forward.

PERSONA SEGMENTATION & CONTENT STRATEGY

PENFED (the Pentagon’s Credit Union): Mindstream Interactive

BACKGROUND: PenFed tapped Mindstream Interactive as a long-term partner to make ongoing strategic recommendations, and to engage in projects to best personalize, and optimize the prospective and current member experience. I was given internal access to audit communication platforms and data, in order to sunset unnecessary tech. streamline communication, and provide governance.

CHALLENGE: To understand and navigate the roles of multiple internal partners, properly segment, and help manage and analyze the brand experience through various communication to millions of users.

DELIVERABLES:

• Content Strategy (to deliver a customized approach)

• Customer Success

• Email Strategy & Development

• Product Marketing

• Governance Playbook

• Tech Stack Audit (to connect the user experience, improve product continuity)

• Data Analysis

APPROACH:

Begin by conducting an audit and dusting off / updating user personas to prioritize three out of five personas with key products that would align and drive business growth. Second, provide strategic content recommendations to best engage users optimizing existing content and creating new from identified gaps in order to convert more current members across channels. Third, audit and sunset antiquated Email Service Providers (ESPs) to provide a robust, connected CX. In the audit, I uncovered the frequency and disconnected product journey that potential and existing customers were having. I worked across internal teams to provide a product marketing cadence and content that sliced deep into audiences’ financial journeys to drive cross-selling, upselling, and adoption. Lastly, the approach contained creating and evolving channel activations across web, email and social.

RESULTS: PenFed Credit Union member shares grew by 15% in part through this focused strategy that now better aligned with sales pipelines. Customers were delivered a communication journey that delivered brand value at key milestones thanks to less frequent, more customized, coordinated touches that will continue to grow in personalization aligned with users’ financial/lifestyle needs.

With nearly 3 million members, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union has a lot of brand communication and engagement to manage. They tapped Mindstream Interactive as a long-term partner to make ongoing strategic recommendations and partner in projects to best optimize the prospective and current member experience. 

BRAND ARCHITECTURE & MARKETING

GRANGE INSURANCE

LEADING EDGE TRANSFORMATION: A stodgy brand didn't align with the technology the enterprise was known for and a competitive advantage offered to partner clientele. The challenge: launch a new brand, marketing campaigns, and new products in multiple target markets. 

BACKGROUND: The Grange Insurance brand was not cohesive and multiple perceptions existed. The company was quickly becoming known as a leading provider of technology solutions for internal clientele. The internal clientele were consumers first point of contact, so a new brand rollout was first initiated internally and then to external audiences over an 18-month period.

CHALLENGE: Implement a strong graphic style, giving all communications a clean, contemporary look and feel. The stodgy, outdated aspects of the brand needed to be eliminated, while continuing to communicate that the foundation in which the business began, was still very important to the future of the company.

DELIVERABLES:

• Brand Strategy

• Print, Out of Home, Digital, and Email Marketing

• Web Application

• Brand Promotion and Events 

• New Company/Brand and Product Launches

APPROACH: Working with an external agency partner we developed a brand personality and positioning. As a team of marketers, PR, communication and designers, I produced internal communication, external press releases, integrated marketing campaigns, promotional marketing, event sponsorships, and displays in target markets. Our new brand architecture met business goals with targeted marketing and advertising campaigns in markets from Michigan to Georgia. This included channel campaigns across print, radio, out-of-home (billboards, digital OOH), email, and direct mail. With a team, I developed a web application that launched a new product (Identity Theft coverage) and extended the brand to specific targets within a business line.

RESULTS: The launch of this campaign contributed to $65 million in new business. Across key markets, my campaigns grew by 40%, and I customized local campaigns across multiple lines of business, which contributed to $542 million in revenue.