A corporate rebrand that added 15 Fortune 100 companies to our client logo wall
As Head of Marketing, I helped turn the B2B logistics company Green Standards from an anonymous service provider into a premium executive-level brand.
The problem. As a B2B logistics company specializing in removing used office furniture, the Green Standards brand communicated operations, not strategy. Facilities managers were interested but the C-suite wasn't. We needed an elevated brand with proven bona fides and bigger ambitions.
The idea. Reframe the company's story around sustainable office decommissioning with the visual and editorial language of a thought-leadership brand. Achieve B Corp certification to validate claims. Engage the architecture and design community to explain how furniture waste was a major source of embodied carbon in the built environment. Connect our results to our clients’ larger corporate ambitions, including UN Sustainable Development Goals and LEED certification.
The result. Inbound leads rose 70%. Fortune 100 representation on the client logo wall grew from 25% to 40%. And Green Standards was featured as an authoritative voice on the front page of The New York Times.
A branded podcast so successful, it became a revenue generator that continues to earn.
As Senior Director of Brand at the medical startup Figure 1, I launched DDx: A Podcast About How Doctors Think. The series brought in new users, won rave reviews, attracted high-margin ads from pharmaceutical companies, and powered the startup’s successful exit.
The problem. Figure 1 — a venture-backed medical startup described by NBC's Al Roker as "Instagram for doctors" — had thousands of verified healthcare professionals sharing riveting deidentified medical cases behind the registration wall of a closed professional network. High-quality organic growth required us to reach a larger audience with these medical stories.
The idea. DDx: A Podcast About How Doctors Think. Six ten-minute episodes safely unlocked the drama of clinical reasoning for a wide listenership. Pharma advertisers, already paying to reach Figure 1's professional audience, were the natural sponsors. The show topped the Apple Podcasts charts on debut and earned a rave from Slate.
The result. The show paid for itself and then some. After Figure 1's successful exit, DDx continues generating advertising revenue in its 12th season as a branded content asset.
When the world’s most interesting story needed telling, the data was already on our platform.
BlueDot, an AI-powered epidemic intelligence platform, brought me in as Director of Marketing in the hectic early days of COVID-19. I helped bring their client case studies to a world desperate for information on the novel coronavirus.
The problem. BlueDot was a leading epidemic intelligence company in the middle of a global pandemic. The world was desperate to understand COVID-19. The company's platform contained some of the most compelling data in existence — and almost nobody knew the company existed.
The idea. Tell the Taiwan story. In the early months of COVID-19, Taiwan had recorded just 16 cases despite its proximity to the outbreak's epicentre in Wuhan. Part of the answer was the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and their subscription to BlueDot's intelligence platform.
The result. In the middle of an “infodemic” of unverified reports, I convinced the media-shy governmental body to tell us their story in a series of interviews. The case study became a live proof point for the product's value, helping close deals with other governments and multinational corporations.
A joint survey with Spotify generated global coverage and 5,000 new users without a budget.
My compelling pitch convinced the streaming giant to partner with the medical startup Figure 1, creating a global story.
The problem. Figure 1 needed to grow its base of verified healthcare professionals. Paid acquisition in that demographic is expensive and inefficient.
The idea. A cold email to Spotify's data science team kicked off a plan to survey our Figure 1 users on what music plays in operating rooms, with Premium accounts as a bonus for all healthcare professionals who shared their playlists. The resulting release traveled through health, tech, and entertainment verticals simultaneously.
The result. The story was picked up by Business Insider, Newsweek, and outlets worldwide and has been cited in medical journals. 5,000 new verified healthcare professionals joined the platform. Media budget: zero.
What’s better than a mission-driven company?
A company-driven mission.
At Green Standards, we wanted to amplify our mission. We called it Circular Workplace and invited our Fortune 100 clients to share the stage with us. In Toronto, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, and San Francisco, our coalition grew and grew.
The problem. Green Standards had an ambitious and worthy mission: A world without office waste. The concept had broad support in our target market. How could we make it actionable?
The idea. Launch the Circular Workplace coalition: a branded body that convened practitioners, published original research, celebrated members, and gave trade press a story to tell. Green Standards became the thought leader, not just another vendor.
The result. The coalition now includes more than 50 corporations across ten industries and four continents. At conferences and in showrooms, through field guides and workshops, we produced inbound attribution that made the program a measurable demand channel.
Wit makes ideas people want to share.
In my early career as a journalist and my ongoing creative work, I’ve found clever ways to connect people.
The National Mitten Registry
At the National Post, my cross-Canada campaign to reunite lost mittens — a riff on the national firearm registry in headlines at the time — generated 1,000+ mailed-in submissions, one successful match, and eventually a joke on The Simpsons. It's now taught in a university course on strategic public relations.
The Toronto Recursive History Project
A plaque about a plaque about a plaque, this art project has surprised and delighted passersby for eight years and counting. With a 4.9-star average on Google Maps and media coverage across the internet, The Toronto Recursive History Project of Toronto’s Recursive History is featured as an image on Wikipedia’s page about recursion.
I engage audiences across media and platforms.
Three well-reviewed books of non-fiction published by HarperCollins and Penguin.
On television, national radio, and in print, my books have found readers around the world.
