Everyone's Personal Concierge
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International Hospitality Platform powered by Artificial Intelligence
String brings together the leading restaurant reservation providers around the world, to let you find the restaurant, chat with friends and book - all in one app.
+ Worked alongside founder of StreetEasy to launch his next company, String
+ Provided creative leadership and design services across brand, mobile and web products and marketing initiatives from Sept 2016 - Nov 2017
+ Led design and UX prior to Public launch in Nov 2016, and after for continued optimization and feature rollout
+ Led design, brand voice and experience strategy for the launch of String Experts, which connects customers with their own personal concierge, in major cities around the world
Curators of Life's Best
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Feb 2016 - Aug 2016
Vice President of Global Brand & Creative
Premium Experience Platform for International Tastemakers
+ Member of the global management team; provided creative leadership for company worldwide
+ Worked in partnership with Co-CEOs
+ Defined brand strategy, positioning, messaging, and visual identity system that led to a successful Series B raise of $22.5MM in July 2016
+ Led rebrand during and after consolidation of Velocity as core brand, post-acquisition of 3 companies in the US (Cover), UK (Uncover) and Canada (Tab Payments)
+ Led design and marketing teams globally including 5 core offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami
+ Led team in defining and designing promotions for activations including Cannes Film Festival, Coachella, WSJ+, Sheerluxe, SIXTY Hotels, the Hamptons and more
+ Led design and copy standards for marketing communications, social strategy and editorial calendar ensuring a consistent and intelligent brand voice and visuals across global markets
About Velocity:
Velocity provides insider access to the world’s best dining and hospitality experiences, including over 1,000 restaurants in London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and more.
With Velocity, quality is a given: every dining experience on our platform is hand-picked by our local experts, with an eye for the unusual, the exotic and the exceptional. Velocity’s digital ecosystem makes it easier than ever to discover unique dining experiences, instantly secure hard-to-get reservations and pay without delay: all from a single mobile application.
Time is your most precious asset, Velocity helps you make the most of it.
Partners span premium hospitality groups across the US and UK including: Major Food Group, Dinex, Mercer Street Hospitality, Patina, Coya, Nobu, Blue Hill, Catch, Cosme, Charlie Bird, Slanted Door, Peyote, Burger & Lobster, Toro, Chotto Matte and more.
Mobile and Web Platform for Sony Music Reps nationwide
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Led creative vision, user interviews, UX and visual design for Sony Music's College Marketing department. The CMP Platform empowers Sony Managers, Artists, Brands and College Representatives across the United States to capture the industry pulse and work collaboratively.
Atlas Research & Segmentation Platform
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Led creative vision and product design for translating a printed book into a full-fledged, real-time data experience that allows brands, record labels and managers to search across 72MM data points.
Led strategic approach and product design of the cross-platform experience delivered on web, tablet and phone (iOS & Android). This global campaign was focused on raising donations and awareness to build children's hospitals to serve Africa's 450MM children - this was Nelson Mandela's last primary initiative prior to his death.
Features included crowdsourced actions to empower users around the globe to take part in a shared experience while on the same screen in the mobile app - upon hitting audience marks, Sponsors matched donation amounts in real-time.
www.bloomingdales.com
Conceptual mobile application that rewards customer loyalty with surprises that can be unlocked by walking the perimeter of the New York City Flagship store. Dressed windows come to life with beacons and NFC technology, enabling a consumer to discover the Bloomingdale's brand and exclusive designer pieces, in a new way.
Site redesign for a 500+ editorial staff across 300 college campuses
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+ User behavior research showed increased mobile usage, lack of ad engagement and buried content
+ A new UI focused on cross-platform fluidity that increased engagement with core content, ads and sharing
+ Created multiple homepage layout modes for different browsing styles
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Led design of conceptual mobile app and mapped environment experience for the Flagship New York City ABC Carpet & Home.
Product purpose was to enhance the customer shopping experience by making it easier to find items, save as part of room designs and reward loyalty. Extension of product also allowed for specific use cases that added value for Trade Professionals and their Clients.
Feb 2002 - Aug 2009
An Innovative & Intelligent Digital Women's Community
As one of the first digital magazines for women, the MaryElise Magazine offered women around the world an empowering and thoughtful presentation of career, lifestyle, finance, beauty, fashion, relationship and emerging news journalism. Women across the US wrote for the publication, which created a strong sisterhood of support and awareness. As one of the first online magazines for women, we focused on delivering rich editorial digitally to spread reach and reveal global opinions.
I designed, hand-coded and marketed the online magazine and managed an editorial team of 10-30 columnists monthly. The magazine had an adjoining ecommerce site and sister non-profit where 10% of all sales were donated to local women's support centers across the United States.
Led content meets commerce design and development to transform selling channels
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+ Interviews with national bloggers and DIYers drove strategic insights
+Restructured navigation around retail and trade opportunities
+ Mobile site is streamlined to drive path to purchase
+ Social content strategy and blogger guidelines transformed branded content efforts
+ Developed community features including sharable mood boards and blogger network
+ Shop looks from Project Runway and find similar items to inspire looks
Led digital strategy, design and content strategy for this leading multi-line showroom of fashion accessories, based in New York City
Conceptual mobile app and mapped environment experience across Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C.
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The mobile experience was centered around (1) enabling visitors to find artifacts and exhibits specific to their interest (2) introduce new exhibits and encourage engagement (3) drive repeat visits to museums (4) help spread the word post-visit (5) encourage user-generated content (6) drive continued relevancy of Smithsonian Institutions (7) deliver value-add and "save-the-day" moments to sweeten the customer experience
Led digital creative to bring this prominent art gallery to life online
+ Current exhibits placed as focal point with scalable grid homepage that supports multimedia
+ Timeline features major gallery milestones and artists
+ Creative direction of artist video interviews
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Led digital design, launch and social training for Food Network Star, Sunny Anderson
Led digital design and relaunch for iconic candy brand
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+ Nostalgic candy shoppe and candy castle offer pathways for adults and kids
+ Seasonal design updates for major U.S. holidays encourage curiosity and exploration
+ Trained client on social platforms and content creation; social and content strategy now drive repeats and contest engagement
"The site portrays a magical candy world that both children and adults can enjoy. Since the redesign, we have received much positive feedback from our consumers."
Liz Dee, Co-President (and 3rd Generation Smartie)
Metrics:
+ 300% increase in time on site
+ 900 > 967K increase in Facebook fans within 6 months of launch
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Led digital brand strategy and social training for leading prestige beauty brand
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+ Retail environment exploratory informed brand strategy, content development, features and messaging
+ Consolidated 35 global sites under a centralized global CMS
+ Enriched content strategy with silos for bloggers, beauty professionals, fashion elite and retail consumers
+ Aggregated social media feeds to capture real-time pulse of brand
Metrics:
+ 186% increase in non-branded search
+ 27% increase in conversion rates
+ 40% decrease in paid search cost per conversion
+ 195% increase in paid search click through rate
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+ Defined concept, creative for responsive blog and social content strategy
+ Creation of outreach strategy and inspirational collateral
+ Trained client on social media management, content creation and brand outreach
+ Results include many strategic partnerships with brands, bloggers and local influencers to rally community, spread the word and collaborate
Led creative and social content strategy for the largest Girl Scouts chapter in the U.S.
+ Field research with 100+ constituents defined the user experience for varied pathways
+ SEO-friendly landing pages give each national affiliate their own outreach area through a customized CMS
+ Crafted content that connects; Survivor stories, easy-to-use search filters and educational information broken down by stage transformed the way visitors interact with the site
"Mary Elise managed our site redesign from discovery to concept and programming through launch, and the resulting website exceeds our hopes for the finished product. We look forward to developing our site even further with Mary Elise and her team."
Virgina Falces, Website Manager, YSC
+ Built to support ongoing social campaigns across media types and primary platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram
+ Multimedia content feeds allow for searching, sorting and sharing
+ Adapted brand from traditional retail experience to elegant digital experience
+ Elevated brand content to offer clients and press a look behind the scenes
+ Above-the-fold design offers easy horizontal browse cross device
+ Inspirational editorial strategy places Mimi as the face of the brand and her lifestyle as the aspiration
+ Media-rich microsite drives television channel subscribers with teaser content and events lineup
+ Social integration and UGC features live feeds from fans around the world
+ Past, Present and Future game summaries keep fans up to date and engaged with their favorite teams, players and sports
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+ Captured social pulse by aggregating content using campaign-specific hash tags
+ Increased event awareness and class bookings
Metrics:
+ 28% increase in visitors
+ 43% increase in unique visitors
+ Exhale spa ranks for page 1 Google keywords including spa and yoga, Upper East Side spa, and Atlanta spa
Led design and translated a bland web portal experience into an easy-to-use utility-driven iOS app. Mana Health offers an all-in-one patient portal to store personal health records, notes and reminders.
Led brand identity, creative and social content strategy for major bulk candy retailer
+ Clear user pathways above-the-fold call out to key selling channels; online, corporate and catering
+ Dynamic map of locations is scalable for franchise growth and features real-time specials
+ Recently Chewed section features social feeds and coupons up to the minute
Wish, and you shall receive! That's the promise of this social consumer app. Users send wishes to the wish universe, as other users and merchants reply to ensure every wish is granted.
Mobile Technology Studio
VP, Creative & Strategy July 2013 - Feb 2016
+ Led firm in design, strategy and user experience
+ Led brand and digital identity development
+ Led creative vision for OysterLabs SaaS Mobile Analytics Platform; features include Mobile Analytics dashboard, Push Notification and Geo-targeted Campaigns and CRM
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Conceptual customer experience rooted in digital strategy to (1) drive visits, (2) increase social spread, (3) jumpstart user-generated content and (4) enrich the customer experience by delivering dynamic storytelling via mobile apps and on-ship interactive tools.
Approach addressed prior, during and after a visit to Circle Line Sightseeing to establish a new recognition for Circle Line as the Museum on the Water.
In today's fast-moving world, businesses need real-time data to stay ahead of their business - assuring decisions are proactive, rather than reactive. Design work crosses industries including publishing, health, wellness and social consumer.
Highly-personalized customer experiences | The fusion of technology, machine learning and beautifully-designed experiences enable us to deliver better, more meaningful interactions with our end users. Design thinking and application includes behavior-tracking of content and product engagement to serve back a highly-personalized experience a consumer loves, enough to take action.
