Conga - Marketing PM Software Implementation

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I served as the Marketing Operations Production Manager for Conga for nearly 20 months

The Challenge:

Our 50+ person Marketing Department was using Hive as a PM tool. It was not fitting the needs we had, it was my responsibility to lead a full evaluation and implementation of a new PM Software for our 50+ person Marketing Department.

The Project:

To start the evaluation of a new PM tool I recruited team members from each department (Product Marketing, Demand Generation, Creative, Corporate Marketing) to join me as part of an "Adoption Alliance". We did research on many different tools and then narrowed down to 5 tools (Smartsheet, Jira, Monday.Com, Asana, Optimizely). 

We then did a full evaluation, including product demos, we worked in a sandbox for the  tools, and had a  questionnaire for our Sales Representatives and scored each of the tools. Ultimately as a team and with the approval of our CMO we made the decision to choose Asana as our PM Tool of choice. 

We then spent many months working with each of the departments to gain their different requirements and then began the build and implementation stage of the project. I worked for countless hours for months building the tool to our exact specifications before we launched it. The project while it was a success was not without its challenges, both technical as well as political. The company has just recently made a decision under new CMO leadership to move to a different tool, and while some might consider that a "failure" I feel it is representative of what many Tech companies go through when a new CMO comes on board. 

I am extremely proud of the time and energy that I put in to the project. It was no easy task.

I served as the Print Production Specialist for Ratner Companies for two years.

The Challenge:

I was tasked with finding ways to save the company money in our marketing print efforts as well as increasing the quality of our print materials.

My Solution:

One of the ways I did this was through the transition of a particular piece that was being used for our POP from digital to offset printing. By working with our internal CIBU merchandising department I determined how to have our CIBU product glorifiers printed offset ahead of time in bulk and stored at the POP print vendor's warehouse until they were needed. This process increased the quality of the printing and saved our team money. Plus, by working through the scheduling of the product release dates in coordination with our monthly POP printing, we were able to plan the offset printing schedule and stop printing these glorifiers digitally. 

The Hair Cuttery Salons was a brand under the umbrella company Ratner Companies, and they were struggling with their hang tags.

The Challenge:

They had been using a variety of different "star" shaped hangtags that were being produced out of a paper stock and laminated to protect them from ripping. However they simply weren't the right solution because in any given hair salon you have various types of bottles, tubes, pucks, and the paper hang tags couldn't be used on everything.

The challenge was to find a hang tag that could be printed every six weeks for the various POP promotions at the quantity needed per store, for the 1,000 doors, and maintain the existing unit price so as to not increase the monthly budget.

My Solution:

After extensive work on procurement and negotiations with the chosen vendor, I was able to locate an elastic hang tag that could not only be used on bottles and tubes but also on pucks in our salons at the same unit price as the paper tags. The result was a huge success and remains in effect today.

Feel the Beat is dedicated to bringing the expressive world of dance and music education to individuals who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing and with special needs. 

How does FTB make music and dance accessible to deaf and hard of hearing students? They have to enable them to Feel the Beat.  Feel the Beat Co. has created a dance floor with specialized technology in order to do just that. The specialized flooring combines vibrations from transducers and pliable material that reverberates with the beat. 

The Challenge:

What do you do when you are a specialized Dance Studio for children and you have to close because of COVID-19 and the kids can’t come to class?

We needed to find something to keep the students engaged while they were quarantined at home. 

My Solution:

As a Marketing Volunteer for Feel The Beat and also a CSR at a local Denver Print and Mail shop C&D Printing and Mailing, I came up with an idea.

I suggested to the founder of FTB that we produce and mail a Coloring Book to the students. She thought it was a great idea. So I essentially took over the project, I worked both on the Printer Side as well as a Volunteer Project Manager and orchestrated the project from start to finish. 

I came up with the specifications to ensure we had a cover that was protected during the mailing process as well as a stock on the inside that was appropriate weight for a coloring book. I also managed the illustrators and the designer and provided them with timeline and print file specs to ensure everything was in tip-top shape when we released the files to the print shop.

When the final product was done and mailed to 125 students’ homes, it was a HUGE success, and will continue to be a project the team does in the future, and now that they have a baseline for all of the print and mailing specs, repeating the project will be pretty easy.

But most importantly, the students LOVED IT! And that made it worthwhile!  

In 2016 Ratner's marketing team secured a sponsorship opportunity for Bubbles Salons at the 2016 Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland.

It was an exciting opportunity for the marketing department, and I was the Print Production Specialist at the time. As such, I was tasked with both project managing the various elements through our creative team as well as the print procurement and management of the various pieces of the project. The sponsorship included a tented event where Bubbles Salon had an opportunity to showcase themselves with both branded cups and cocktail napkins in addition to fence banners at the event.

The Challenge:

This project required coordination with not just the vendors that I procured to produce pieces for the event, but also the vendors that we were required to use from the team at The Preakness. It was a complex project that required significant coordination and a press check to ensure there was color consistency among the pieces.

My Solution:

I handled the coordination with ease; ensuring that everyone was kept up-to-speed at each stage of the process. My stellar organizational skills allowed the process to go smoothly and all pieces were produced in a record timeframe and all parties felt connected and informed throughout. The final product was a huge success and enabled the Bubbles Salon brand to be seen by a new audience of customers.

Every Holiday Season the Creative Department at Ratner Companies is challenged with creating a unique “Holiday Décor” item for each of the brands. 

The Challenge:

Our team always wanted to find a way to do something different each year, but come up with a concept that was unique for each of the three Brands. As the Print Production Manager it was my job to work with our print vendors to both bring unique suggestions to the Creative Team as well as find a way to execute the unique ideas that our team of Designers would come up with. 

The Bubbles brand had 35 locations. And we always wanted to remember that setting up décor needed to be fairly easy for the stylists because it wasn’t their primary function. 

During the Holiday Season of 2016 our second challenge was do something unique and different but we needed to save money from the previous year but somehow still have an impact. 

My Solution:

So the concept that we came up with was cut vinyl messages on the exterior of all of the locations. Some of the locations were inside a mall some were in outdoor shopping centers; some had their merchandising walls covering the front windows so the vinyl would need to be applied on the exterior instead of the interior. 

One of the fun aspects of the vinyl was creating the lips. We chose to do those in a pink vinyl instead of printing on the white vinyl and our reason was the unique color we tried to hit and the impact it had. The major challenge from a production standpoint was the fact that not all the salons had the same size windows, so we needed to create a series of size options so we didn’t have to release 35 unique sizes because that was going to be cost prohibitive. I worked with the designer and we found 5 common size options that could be used.

Our display board that we released to the POP print vendor contained instructions for which sizes were to be released to which locations. Ultimately the stylist loved the idea and it was a huge success because it accomplished the goal of doing something unique and still saving money.

Every Holiday Season the Creative Department at Ratner Companies is challenged with creating a unique “Holiday Décor” item for each of the brands. 

The Challenge:

Finding a unique production method for each of the three Brands was about recognizing that the method we chose needed to match the image of the brand.

As the Print Production Manager it was my job to work with our print vendors to both bring unique suggestions to the Creative Team as well as find a way to execute the unique ideas that our team of Designers would come up with. 

The Salon Cielo brand had 8 locations. And we always wanted to remember that setting up décor needed to be fairly easy for the stylists because it wasn’t their primary function. 

During the Holiday Season of 2016 our second challenge was do something unique and different but we needed to save money from the previous year but somehow still have an impact. 

My Solution:

So the concept that we came up with was a sheer fabric that could be installed on the inside of each of the 8 locations windows. Some of the locations were inside a mall some were in outdoor shopping centers; some had their merchandising walls covering the front windows so the fabric needed to be able to be installed differently but still on the interior of the salon window.

Some of the locations would have suction cups and others would have a dowel, but by working with the vendors directly, I ensured that the installation method would be simple for the individual salons.

One of the challenges from a production standpoint was the fact that not all the salons had the same size windows, but for 8 salons we could create unique size options for each location.

Our display board that we released to the POP print vendor contained instructions for which sizes were to be released to which locations. Ultimately the stylist loved the idea and it was a huge success because it accomplished the goal of doing something unique and high end and still saving money.

Rob Toftness owned a small entrepreneurial venture in Denver, CO and hired my company The Art Of Brand Strategy, LLC to help expand his market reach.

The Challenge:

To create and maximize the usage of various promotional materials produced to bring broad awareness to the PHOODIO brand.

My Solution:

We created a two-sided flyer and a vinyl banner, as well as a Pop Up Banner initially to only be used at the PHOODIO Launch Party. All items became quite useful for a number of different trade events, including the City of Denver's Food Truck Symposium and a trade event put on by Colorado Truckie, another client. The signage we created gave the PHOODIO exhibit table a consistent look and told a great brand story at the Symposium.

The creation of 2,500 two-sided coasters and 36 Pint Glasses were something new and different for PHOODIO. The coasters were distributed to breweries in Colorado and used at Trade Shows to provide brand awareness to both app users and truck owners.

The Pint Glasses were created as door prizes for the PHOODIO Launch Party and as part of special press kits that were delivered to a variety of local Denver magazines as an incentive to attend the launch party that we hosted.

Web banners ran on foodtruckoperator.com during the month of January. FTO.com gave PHOODIO the opportunity to advertise on a national level, where food truck owners go directly for their industry news.

The Challenge:

WorkPlace Equity Partner's Annie Contractor needed trade show materials for an event that was being held a month later. This tight turnaround time presented specific challenges to ensure that no time was wasted. I developed and implemented a strict timeline to ensure the client's materials were delivered on time.

My Solution:

After working with the client to identify the goal of these materials, I put together a creative brief which served as an instructional guide for the graphic designer I hired to work on the pieces. The graphic designer then developed a two-sided banner, a two-sided pop-up signage piece called a lama, and a two-sided flyer. The designer also developed the best Pantone color matches for the client's branded logo colors because the CMYK colors the logo was built from did not have exact PMS paired matches. This made the printing process easier for the vendor to produce the signage, and saved us valuable time.

One of the challenges with the flyer was the amount of copy we tried to fit on an 8.5 x 11 flyer. Since the goal of it was to inform potential customers stopping by Annie's exhibit table it was critical to have specific information: who WorkPlace Equity Partners is, what they do, the process that Annie goes through with her clients, the packages she offers, and some client testimonials. After a round of edits and with my direction, the designer was able to format the document to include all of the information the client wanted into a professional looking flyer.

HairWars has always been an annual fashion event for the Bubbles and Salon Cielo salons. The event has multiple different components. Every year the Creative Team at Ratner Companies comes up with a concept and prepares many of the elements needed for the day of the event. 

After the event there was an immediate need to work on the catalog from the event. 

The hairstyles are incredible and creating a uniquely designed catalog that fits with the theme is always fun and challenging and always required a Press Check.

The Challenge:

As the Production Manager I was always challenged at Ratner to procure new and different print vendors and printing methods for various projects and events. HairWars was no different.

Ann Ratner the founder of Bubbles and Salon Cielo was anxious to have different types of methods but in a reasonable budget. 

My Solution:

For Aquatica in 2016 I had come across a vendor that was doing a print method I’d never seen the likes of before, and I had the idea to use that method for the event Welcome Posters and the event Display Signage.

The method is referred to as CMYK + Light and the vendor is Mega Media Concepts.

It combines technology and materials that bring a depth to the imagery. The process creates translucency of the inks, which allows the reflectivity of the media to come through the inks after they amplify the translucency in their pre-press process. It also creates contrast between highlight and shadow; the combination along with ambient front lighting creates a unique affect. We did their global not targeted example and Ann Ratner loved the application. 

But the process was definitely a learning experience working with their team and our creative team to get a file that had the right contrast in the shadows of the file.

The finished product was incredible and I only wish it photographed as incredible as it presents in person.

The Challenge:

I'm a jewelry designer and needed a website to showcase my pieces. This presented a unique situation where I was both the customer wanting to create a website and the project manager, overseeing the development of the site.

My Solution:

I was an integral part of ensuring the site had a brand look and feel that resonated with both me as the creator and my clientele. I spent significant time working as the photo stylist for each photo represented on my site.

Additionally I acted as a model for the site and the talent scout to hire all of the additional models showcasing the jewelry. I also chose all of the wardrobe selections for the models and collaborated with two well-known Atlanta  photographers who took all of the photos.

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDITS

Iain Bagwell  & Parlee Teague of Studio Chambers

I was also the copywriter; writing and editing all of the copy that appears on the site.

Finally, while the website template was designed by the team at Dragoon Studios (Jason Driver and Stefanay Allen) in Atlanta, GA, I collaborated with them every step of the way, deciding on colors, fonts, and the details to reflect what best represents me and my brand.

**Original Site Designed 2008 - Site in Re-Design Phase Dec 2020**

When I was developing the concept for the website I conducted thorough research of fashion magazines and high-end jewelry catalogs to develop a style of photography that had an organic feel but was also still high end.

I also wanted to utilize the strengths of the photographers that were so gracious to give me their name for this pro-bono project. Ian Bagwell was a well-known food photographer in Atlanta, GA whose photography was stylistically superb. I designed a portion of my shoot with food, knowing that the contrast between the high-end Swarovski crystals and the organic feel of the food would make for the beautiful shots.

I also chose myself and 4 friends as the models for the photo shoot. Using the inspiration from my research of fashion magazines to influence the wardrobe and the shots themselves.

I thrive on creative autonomy and this project was precisely that. I was able to design my site exactly as I envisioned it and was extremely proud of the outcome.

(Site in Re-Design Phase - Dec 2020)

DesignsByLisaFox.com

The Challenge:

Food Lion was opening new stores in the south and was looking for a way to reach out to people in the neighborhood to share with them the details of the store opening and the weekly specials. This direct mail campaign was and ongoing project during the Summer of 2008.

My Solution:

As the Traffic Manager and the Production Coordinator on this project, I was responsible for ensuring the creative department hit all the marks strategically and on-time. I also conducted the press check at the print shop Scott Litho to ensure color consistency. It was a huge success because everything ran on schedule and Food Lion was very happy with the result.

This project was my first entry into the world of print production coordinator and my first press check. I knew then and there that I had found my professional calling. By being at the Printer when a project you've worked on is coming off the press and knowing you are the last set of eyes, its exhilarating.

I went on in my career to have many years as a Traffic/Project Manager and to become a Print Production Manager in charge of managing a POP program every six weeks with both digital and offset pieces that delivered to over 1,000 hair salon locations.