Menlo Park, California, United States
I lead Corporate Communications at Cohesity. Ex-Google, ex-IBM, ex-HP. I am a strategic marketing executive with deep expertise in corporate marketing, especially branded content, social media, public relations, and employee communications. I like to think through and launch big programs, especially when other people tell me something can't be done. Telling stories is my passion and I know my way around building innovative content strategies.
Established IBM's first Social Media Center of Excellence to drive an enterprise-wide strategy, establish common processes and guidelines, and build global a community of practitioners. This team was focused on: • Establishing best practices, opportunities for collaboration (either across internal teams or with new and unexpected partners), and radically reducing output while improving results • Ensuring consistent measurement through agreed-to KPIs for all social teams and transparent reporting • Investing in a single platform relations team to drive efficiency and identify emerging best practices • Establishing and enforcing brand standards, including the maintenance of IBM's social footprint.
This role is new for IBM. My job is to identify fresh ways of thinking about editorial and creative in a modern marketing context, and in so doing, to set a new standard for the company. To that end, my team and I are applying agile methodology to the creation of long-form content. We are experimenting with new asset types and with novel subject matter.
My role as director of digital content and editorial spanned multiple disciplines and teams. Firstly, I led branded newsrooms for both IBM Commerce and IBM Social and managed the two teams against daily deadlines and aggressive goals. Secondly, I ran internal communications for both IBM Commerce and IBM Social, along with executive communications for the CMO. Lastly, I drove client references across both businesses and established a brand advocacy approach. To develop editorial excellence and operational efficiency while also nurturing a deeply collaborative team, I built a shared resources model, requiring all three teams to work together and share expertise. I also continued in my role of leading TED@IBM for its second year. • Branded Newsrooms: Drove two separate newsrooms for IBM Commerce and for IBM Social. Developed editorial strategies, set KPIs, and led teams to deliver consistently outstanding results. • Internal Communications: Led strategic communications across IBM Commerce and IBM Social, including regular updates from the group’s CMO, Maria Winans. Ensured consistency of message while also driving new and creative communications vehicles, from video snippets to interviews to kinetic texts. • Client References and Advocacy: Expanded the team’s mandate beyond traditional references to true brand advocacy, working with clients to tell deeper, richer, more engaging stories for a modern audience.
As head of social media strategy, I built credibility and thought leadership for IBM Smarter Commerce, a new category focused on helping companies adapt to customer demands in a rapidly shifting marketplace. I developed a white-glove concierge service to welcome external thought leaders to IBM events with the longer-term goal of building a lasting community. In the spirit of unexpected campaigns, I orchestrated the breaking of a Guinness World Record for the longest, continuous handshake at IBM Smarter Commerce 2012. • Social Media Strategy: Defined, built and executed comprehensive social media programs, tying social marketing to increased visibility and user traffic for Industry Solutions division. Integrated social media into business strategies and broader campaigns, including PR, AR and demand generation. • Thought Leadership and Influencer Programs: Built thought leadership program for key IBM executives, defining key content areas to expand credibility in growth initiative areas, including CMO outreach and enterprise marketing. Established external influencer program, identifying thought leaders and cultivating strategic relationships to advance IBM credibility.
I was promoted to Senior Director in part thanks to my leadership in devising an aggressive PR strategy for bringing Coremetrics widespread attention across both business publications and broadcast media. IBM acquired the company during this period and I played a key role in devising the messaging around the deal and its long-term implications to external audiences—journalists, analysts, and clients—and to employees. With my colleagues across marketing, I also helped to ensure a smooth transition of all of our campaigns and programs to IBM. • Public Relations: Expanded public relations strategies and deliverables to reflect IBM priorities. • Executive Training and Communications: Partnered with CEO and chief strategy officer to serve as spokespersons before, during and after the acquisition. • Analyst Relations: Drove worldwide analyst relations programs throughout the acquisition period. Awards: Marketing Excellence Award, Special Performance Award for “Holiday Benchmark” Campaign
I joined Coremetrics—a digital marketing optimization and web analytics company— to help the executive team re-imagine the company’s image and revitalize public relations efforts. With the country in the grip of the Great Recession and journalists hungry for information about retail spending and trends, I launched an innovative PR campaign—the Coremetrics Holiday Retail Benchmark— offering online retail metrics in near-real time. Coremetrics became a media darling largely thanks to this single campaign. • Public Relations: Defined strategic objectives and business goals for public relations. Built new strategy for driving business press and broadcast stories, resulting in more than 12,000 hits and coverage in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, CNN, NBC World News Tonight, NPR, KGO-TV, KPIX-TV and KRON-TV among others. Drove global, coordinated approach to PR, and centralized messaging for Europe and APAC. • Executive Support: Provided regular and extensive counsel to executive team to build communications programs supporting business goals. Trained chief strategy officer to serve as spokesperson in broadcast interviews and with business reporters. • Social Media: Conceptualized, created and executed company’s first integrated social media strategy, including programs to increase blog and Twitter coverage, engage influencers, and launch corporate blog. • Analyst Relations: Drove worldwide analyst relations program, setting agenda for regular analyst briefings, strategy and vision reviews, and securing coverage in key analyst reports. • Corporate Marketing: Led logo and collateral refresh to support new corporate messaging and the development of new assets.