Ok, so I'm really proud of my media calendar and budgets....but I've been lucky enough to create, build, and even auctioneer on behalf of some awesome projects.
Below are the pieces of work that will always make me smile.
YMCA of Greater Omaha - Charles E. Lakin Opening
After a successful capital campaign (raising $13M), the YMCA of Greater Omaha built a new YMCA in Council Bluffs, named for its lead donor, philanthropist Charles E. Lakin. At 73,000 sq ft, the Lakin YMCA would prove to be a catalyst in the region for what a YMCA could be. In addition to a comprehensive PR, donor stewardship, and member acquisition campaign, the new Y gave me the opportunity to flex my interior decorator muscles, designing all interior signage and design elements. My most rewarding challenge was finding a way to fit all 616 capital campaign donors, ranging from $3.5 million lead gifts to $1.75, on the wall of the facility.
To celebrate the opening with the community, we hosted a donor sneak peek, and community open house (complete with 3,000+ guests!)
To celebrate the opening with the community, we hosted a donor sneak peek, and community open house (complete with 3,000+ guests!)
YMCA of Greater Omaha 150th Anniversary Celebration
2016 marked the YMCA of Greater Omaha's 150th year in Omaha. In 2015 I was approached by then CEO, Len Romano, to begin planning the year-long celebration. I began to work with UNO Criss Library's Archives department to archive the boxes and boxes of board minutes, photos, and scrapbooks we found in a closet in the Downtown YMCA and hoped something worthwhile would be found.
Meanwhile, I began planning a year-long celebration, dependent on the support of major donors, including a community-wide weight loss challenge, video series, open house, balloon celebration, Durham Museum exhibit, 8 page Omaha World Herald special section and Gala (among plenty of additional advertising opportunities.)
We successfully raised over $400,000 in our Y150 efforts, increased our media exposure and made significant strides in establishing the Y as a reputable and impactful nonprofit in the Omaha metro area.
Check out the historical book I wrote to commemorate the Y's 150 years in Omaha.
Meanwhile, I began planning a year-long celebration, dependent on the support of major donors, including a community-wide weight loss challenge, video series, open house, balloon celebration, Durham Museum exhibit, 8 page Omaha World Herald special section and Gala (among plenty of additional advertising opportunities.)
We successfully raised over $400,000 in our Y150 efforts, increased our media exposure and made significant strides in establishing the Y as a reputable and impactful nonprofit in the Omaha metro area.
Check out the historical book I wrote to commemorate the Y's 150 years in Omaha.
Branding Experience
YMCA Branding - Website RedesignThe Y-USA has issued brand standards for all YMCAs in America to adhere to and promote. In my position at the Y, I've acted as "Brand Ambassador" on behalf of the YMCA of Greater Omaha. While the website was technically brand-compliant upon my arrival in 2014, the website was not user-friendly, had poor navigation and was performing poorly in SEO. After selecting Red Branch Media as the website designer, I worked on complete website redesign, changing the navigation, improving registration process with help of a plug-in, and incorporated a Google calendar for group exercise calendars.
Right as I was ready to soft-open the site, I trained Welcome Center staff at our 9 facilities to navigate the site. However, they didn't know I was using their feedback to get a consumer's perspective. I used this feedback to make some last alterations and released the site on-time and within budget. 
Cornerstone RebrandIn 2012, I was working at Cornerstone Print & Marketing as marketing director when we decided to rebrand ourselves as a marketing solutions provider. Formerly known as Cornerstone Printing & Imaging, we focused on positioning ourselves as more than a printer through renaming, rebranding all marketing collateral and launching a completely new website. As marketing director, I directed all print materials and website design as well as wrote copy to communicate our new positioning statement. I also played a strong role in strategizing the new direction of the company.
The website redesign won an AMA Prism award for Small Business Website Design in 2013 and our rebrand helped us win the Lincoln AMA 2013 Corporate Marketer of the Year award. See my interview accepting the award here. Today, Cornerstone Print & Marketing is now Firespring. |
Cornerstone Campaigns
The "Crazy" CampaignWhile at Cornerstone, the CEO Jay Wilkinson imagined a viral campaign expanding from the current "You'll Love Us" tagline. He envisioned a campaign in which people were so crazy for Cornerstone they couldn't contain themselves. And thus the Crazy for Cornerstone campaign was born. I directed another website creation (this time using Wordpress), created numerous videos and content and began a strong social media campaign. We later added television and radio spots to the campaign as well as incorporated the "Crazy" image on all Cornerstone print materials and executed a number of cross media and guerrilla marketing elements to add audience interaction to the campaign, providing clients who confessed why they were crazy for Cornerstone with their own "Official Crazy for Cornerstone kit."
The "Where's Bob" Milk Carton CampaignThis has been my favorite guerrilla marketing campaign to work on. A couple talented summer interns and I built this milk carton to place on the corner of 14th and P when Cornerstone was located in downtown Lincoln. The "Where's Bob" contest had been established prior to my coming to Cornerstone but had exclusively ran on social media, asking Facebook fans to be the first to find and place delivery driver Bob's photo on Cornerstone's Facebook page. The milk carton brought the campaign to a new level and generated a lot of interest outside of customers for the company...not to mention the unsuspecting delivery driver.
Crazy KitI saw an opportunity to use the Crazy for Cornerstone campaign to promote two-way conversation. We used our direct mail campaign to ask for feedback from clients and prospects through a personalized URL, telling us why they are "Crazy for Cornerstone." I set up the PURL to send a direct email to notify me of any responses we received. I then put together a crazy kit (seen above) full of Cornerstone merchandise and had the sales rep hand deliver them.
I also used the compliments from the clients to promote company morale by creating a collage in the break room. Overall, the Crazy Kit campaign had a positive impact not only with our clientele, but also by creating a positive report within the company. |